Lee's Car Shopping Pt. 1: And So It Begins
While the lease on my Murano doesn't end for another 17 months, I have already begun shopping for a replacement.
So as I begin to look at new vehicles, I want to share with you my journey. My purpose in doing this is not to preach what the best vehicle is, since that really is an individual decision. Rather, I want to give you some insight into my thought process in the hopes that it may help you look at car buying, and the various aspects involved, in ways that you might not have considered before...
Hopefully it helps you make the most informed decision you can, the next time you go shopping. This will be an occasional series.
As issues come to my mind that impact my car buying journey, I will share them with you. In turn, you can share your insights and opinions with me. Call it a hazard of the trade, but being around cars so much tends to create a wandering eye, of sorts. I tend to look at all kinds of vehicles, even ones I am not remotely interested in, and just think to myself, "How would I equip this? Would it meet my needs? How much would it cost?" But, the fun really starts when I shop for real. I will research endlessly in the hopes that my decision will satisfy me for the next three years.
Seventeen months early may seem a bit early to begin shopping, but that is life as a car nut! I start out this early 1) because I enjoy exploring all the possibilities and 2) research. Since I lease, I tend not to get vehicles that have just been introduced (due to lack of lease programs). This means that by the time I am ready to buy, a vehicle will have been out long enough for me to start reading opinions of owners posted on various forums, including our own Edmunds forums. While these opinions are just that, read enough of them and you can begin to see certain patterns and trends for a specific vehicle.
An example is the expansive dash on my Murano. Many owners complained that you would get reflections on the windshield with the beige interior color. Since this is an interior color I prefer, I knew to be on the lookout for this effect when I did my test drive. While I did see this reflection that some talked about, in the end, I didn't deem it an issue for me. But it could have, and these are the types of things that you might not notice during a test drive.
Of course, before I can research specific vehicles, I have to figure out what vehicles interest me and meet my needs. So on Thursday, I'll talk about what I am looking for in a Murano replacement.
- Posted by
- Lee Scott May 20, 2008, 4:59 AM
- Permalink
- Categories:
- Auto Leasing, Car Buying
I'm glad I'm not the only one who shops for cars more than a year ahead of time. We plan to buy or lease our next car around 15 months from now, and I've already been forum surfing for almost two months.
I'm really hoping we have a diesel option or two by that time, but if some have arrived, I might have to jump on some European forums to get general opinions on actually owning one.
Well, Lee, do you still want an SUV?
Diesels have been on my radar too. Even though diesel is more expensive that premium, and much more expensive than regular, it is still generally less expensive per mile than gas.
However, if you like to lease, you will likely not want to get a diesel. My experience has been that the captive lease companies almost never put as lease rates on their diesel vehicles that are as low as their gassers. So in addition to the higher MSRP and lower discounts, diesels get hit again with less favorable lease rates.
For example, the current lease rate on a gasser VW Touareg is .00024 for 36 months. On the TDI it is .00163, or about 7 times higher. You can probably get a gas Touareg right now for pretty close to invoice, plus there is an additional $1000 lease cash on them. Good luck paying less than full MSRP on a TDI, if you can even find one.
This is the same issue I have seen with hybrid vehicles too. Plus, when it comes to hybrids, if you lease, you can't get the tax credit you get when you buy one.
BA: short answer yes (crossover, not SUV). Longer answers in the coming days. Stay tuned.
Wow. Is the residual higher on the TDI? I hope things will change if we see an influx of new diesels available to the American consumer. I'm not opposed to buying a car and keeping it long enough to make it worthwhile, and perhaps that will be the best option for diesels.
In any case, I'll narrow my choices down to two or three cars before I decide whether to lease or to buy. Lease and incentive programs vary so dramatically between makes and even models that comparing MSRP is simply no longer an apples-to-apples game. Certain cars like the BMW 3-Series are extremely lease friendly (at least until recently), while others like your TDI example are obviously not.
The TDI has a higher residual than the V8, same as the V6.
Even in the 3-Series, some lease better than others. The rates on a 3-series wagon are higher than on a 328 sedan. That is one of the down-sides of leasing. You don't always get the lowest relative payment, depending on what you want.