Ready to buy, but crappy day at the dealer

[lamric]

The lease may be more profitable for the dealer. The numbers for a lease contract are difficult to decipher and kind of work like this:

Dollar value in [a miracle occurs] you owe us $400 a month.

If you plan to do any modiifcations to the vehicle a lease isn't for you unless you want to bring the vehicle back to original condition prior to turn-in. Also, normal wear and tear is acceptable but subject to interpretation, if you scratch a fender chances are you'll have to pay to have it repaired.

If you drive more per year than allowed by the lease then you'll have to pay a mileage penality that's usually in the area of 50 cents per mile.

Insurance costs are higher with a lease to due to the fact that the leassor will want $300,000-$500,000 in coverage.

The plus sides of a lease are you get a new vehicle every few years, there are less up-front costs and the monthly payments are usually smaller than if you went with traditional financing.