5 Leasing a Car Problems to Avoid
Posted: Tuesday, March 29, 2011
by Jim Klark
Car Buying How to and More!
Making the decision to lease an automobile is not one to be taken lightly. There many leasing a car problems that can make your life miserable if you make the wrong decision. The last thing you want to do is to lease a vehicle simply because the monthly payments are lower. There are several areas of the auto lease agreement that need to be considered before you sign.
5 Potential Leasing a Car Problems
#1. Underestimating the Financial Obligation of an Auto Lease.
Leasing a car has the same legal and financial obligations that buying a car has because you are responsible for the full amount of the cost of the vehicle. The main difference is that you have the option to return or buy the vehicle at the end of the lease period and the full amount of the car is shown on your credit report as a debt. Once the car is returned at the end of the lease the debt is cleared.
#2. Getting Out of an Automobile Lease Early.
No matter what you may have heard about getting out of a lease agreement early it is probably wrong. The lease is an ironclad contract where two parties agree to the terms of the agreement and in order to get out of the contract early it will probably cost you several thousand dollars. If you return the car early and stop making the payments it will be reconsidered a repossession and cause severe damage to your credit history. You can trade in you lease early on a new car purchase, but you will most likely be several thousand dollars upside down (negative equity). You will either have to make up this negative equity with a large cash payment or bury the negative amount in your new car purchase which will substantially raise you new car payment if the amount can be financed at all. That’s what you call leasing a car problems that will cost you dearly.
#3. Normal Wear and Tear on Your Leased Vehicle.
What exactly is normal wear and tear when you are talking about a car and the potential leasing a car problems that can cost you plenty. Damage from an accident would be repaired by your insurance company, but what about the minor dents, door dings, upholstery cuts, interior fabric stains and scratches that is very common when you live in a city environment. What you may consider normal wear may not be considered normal by the dealership that inspects your vehicle at the end of the lease period. Any issues beyond what the person inspecting your vehicle considers normal are your responsibility. You could end up paying for paint work, body work and upholstery replacement when there are uncommon car leasing problems.
#4. Manufacturer’s Warranty and Leasing a Car Problems.
What happens when your leased vehicle has major mechanical problems that total a few thousand dollars and the factory warranty has expired because of mileage restrictions or a longer lease term than the warranty period? The correct answer is that you will be paying the auto repair bill even though your lease may be ending in the next few months. That would make you sick to have to fork out big money to repair your automobile that you will be returning in a few months. Before you decide to lease an automobile make sure that the lease term matches or exceeds that car maker’s warranty so you never find yourself with that kind of car lease problem.
#5. Potential Mileage Problems with a Car Lease.
A very common leasing a car problem is putting too many miles on your vehicle. You may have thought that twelve or fifteen thousand miles a year was sufficient, but sometimes things change. I have seen it many times in the auto industry where a person has moved farther from work or was transferred to a different office for their job and before they realized that they had several thousand more miles per year than the car lease agreement allowed. Now they had to come up with a large amount of money at the end of their lease which can be a big problem for many people. You can sign up for more miles at the beginning of the lease, but if you don’t use those extra miles you lose. You won’t have to pay for extra mileage, but your monthly lease payment will be higher. The mileage needs to be taken into consideration when leasing or buying a car, but you won’t pay a penalty when buying until you trade in your car.
You can see that there are many things to consider before you decide to lease an automobile so take the time and weigh leasing versus buying a car. Fail to make the correct decision and you could end up with a financial disaster or even worse destroy your credit rating. Make sure you go over all the details, conditions and stipulations before you end up with leasing a car problems that could have been avoided.
This article about Leasing a Car Problems was written by James Klark who is a auto industry insider and a consumer advocate that helps car buyers avoid being taken. You can learn more tips on buying a car at James' website CarBuyingHowTo.com.
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