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Help leasing a new car (2008 Ford Focus)
JimJimBinks
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I own my current car. A 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 127,000 miles on it.
It works fine except in the Winter when it stalls. It's freakin Hoth up here in Michigan right now so it's stalling constantly. About a week ago it stalled while I was going 70 on the freeway. I find this to be slightly unacceptable.
About 3 minutes after it froze I heard that a dealership right by where I work was offering a 2008 Ford Focus on a 2 year lease for $135 a month with 10% down. My jeep would work as the down payment because it's worth much more than 10% of the price of the Focus (Its closer to 20%.)
After doing the math, switching from a Jeep Grand Cherokee to a Ford Focus would save me $145 a month in gas. So that savings alone would cover my payments. It seems like a good idea.
Of course, I go to the dealership and test drive it. I like the car a lot. They start out telling me they can give me the focus with the two features I want (Microsoft SYNC, and Anti-Lock Breaks) for $199 a month plus $600 down and my jeep.
I basically told them I'm not interested and gave up on leasing the car right then. Half an hour later they call me and say they can do $169 a month with $600 down. I tell them their ad said $135 a month. They tell me that's a manual transmission with no extra features. After a bunch of back and forth calls they finally get down to $135 a month with $600 down and the jeep.
I'm starting to lose my advantage here because I'm starting to really want this car, while before I really didn't care.
I just really didn't want to pay that much money down on a 2 year lease. Giving up a fully paid off Jeep is hard enough even though it sucks in the Winter.
One thing I hate is that they keep pressuring me saying they want to get it done right now. There's a car in a lot a few miles from them with all the features I want and they want to make sure they can get it for me right away. It's a 2008 car, and I live in Michigan. The factory is in this fucking state. There will be more with these features. It's not like I'm asking for the fucking Tumbler here.
tl;dr Does anyone have any advice for ways to get them to lower that down payment? Should I talk to another dealer?
It works fine except in the Winter when it stalls. It's freakin Hoth up here in Michigan right now so it's stalling constantly. About a week ago it stalled while I was going 70 on the freeway. I find this to be slightly unacceptable.
About 3 minutes after it froze I heard that a dealership right by where I work was offering a 2008 Ford Focus on a 2 year lease for $135 a month with 10% down. My jeep would work as the down payment because it's worth much more than 10% of the price of the Focus (Its closer to 20%.)
After doing the math, switching from a Jeep Grand Cherokee to a Ford Focus would save me $145 a month in gas. So that savings alone would cover my payments. It seems like a good idea.
Of course, I go to the dealership and test drive it. I like the car a lot. They start out telling me they can give me the focus with the two features I want (Microsoft SYNC, and Anti-Lock Breaks) for $199 a month plus $600 down and my jeep.
I basically told them I'm not interested and gave up on leasing the car right then. Half an hour later they call me and say they can do $169 a month with $600 down. I tell them their ad said $135 a month. They tell me that's a manual transmission with no extra features. After a bunch of back and forth calls they finally get down to $135 a month with $600 down and the jeep.
I'm starting to lose my advantage here because I'm starting to really want this car, while before I really didn't care.
I just really didn't want to pay that much money down on a 2 year lease. Giving up a fully paid off Jeep is hard enough even though it sucks in the Winter.
One thing I hate is that they keep pressuring me saying they want to get it done right now. There's a car in a lot a few miles from them with all the features I want and they want to make sure they can get it for me right away. It's a 2008 car, and I live in Michigan. The factory is in this fucking state. There will be more with these features. It's not like I'm asking for the fucking Tumbler here.
tl;dr Does anyone have any advice for ways to get them to lower that down payment? Should I talk to another dealer?
JimJimBinks on
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Posts
However I think it might be wiser to get your jeep fixed so that it runs in the winter. There are not that many parts that fail in cold weather. Getting the few that do fixed and or replaced should take care of the problem.
That would probably save you more money in the long run. What happens when your 2 year lease expires? They you are stuck with a car that isnt paid off.
The other problem with the Jeep I forgot to mention is the transmission really feels like it's going. Though I guess the cold could contribute to that too. Last year I put $1800 into fixing one big problem in the car (It kept leaking water into the passenger seat.)
My biggest problem with fixing it is the huge out of pocket expenses. I can't afford another $1600 repair bill, but I can afford a $135 a month payment easily (especially with the difference in gas saving me at least that much) Also, right now I could trade it in and get $3000 minimum. If I wait 'till it's finally dead I probably won't get anything.
As for the lease. If I'm going to get anything right now, I'm going to lease it. Mainly because in 2 years my wife will be done with her doctorate, so I'll be able to afford more, and we're going to want kids which means I'll need a bigger car. The big downside is I won't have the large down payment I have now with the Cherokee, but there's no way this car is going to last another 2 years.
Satans..... hints.....
I highly recommend you look into getting a used car. You can still use your jeep as the down payment. And the payments should be fairly similar. Surely a 2006 or 07 focus will be almost identical yet thousands cheaper on the price tag.
The only people that get brand new cars are suckers and people who dont care about the money. Let someone else put the first 10k on and take the 2000$ bath.