Calling all LEASING gurus

[neergnevets]

Hey guys, looking to lease prob an s15 and looking for some leasing info.

Know about Prosperion and the major agents, though wondering if anyone has done their research and found any standout deals in terms of $saving and loose contracts?

id be looking for an agent providing insurance deals ideally and swallowable early exits i guess. though that seems unlikely.

thanks in adv.

steveo.

[mini2]

Probably best to call them I suppose...with Prosperion, any car will do so long they aren't over 8 years old at the end of the lease (ie say a 3 year lease, the oldest the car can be is a 2000 made) and their insurance isn't as cheap as they used to be. They bundle with a Shell fuel card by the way, that could be an issue for some of us that prefer BP for example.

[Bass Junky]

Yep, car needs to be 8 years or younger at the end of the lease.

I spoke to Lauentide Financial in Sydney when I got my finance, interest rate was only slightly higher than home loans, about 7.65% I think. Doesn't get much better than that.

[mini2]

Leasing is only good (IMO) when you're earning a decent income, don't want Johnny pocket too much of your not-so-loose change and wants a decent car. If you're using leasing for tax purposes, gotta take a note you really have to drive a lot of km's in order to reap the rewards.

One of my cars are on leasing thru CBFC and must travel over 25k km a year before I am ahead of Johnny. Your situation could be different though...also one thing, depending on who you work for, they might not use Prosperion. My company just won't deal with them at all but only with CBFC.

[Bass Junky]

Come tax time, you need a log book which details all of your kilometers and you need all your reciepts for the car.

No capital improvemnts, ie, mags, suspension etc can be claimed, but consumables like petrol, oil, servicing, repairs, tyres can be. Your pertentage of work driving if what you can claim on all the above things.

I work out fuel by estimating my fuel usage per kilometer, I use 14.7 litres per hundred ks (340 to 50 liters) and extrapolate my cost against the average price of fuel during the year.

My log book sits at around 71% driving for work.

You can log a 6 week period and then use that for 5 years. Do a heap of driving and you are laughing.

I use the % method of use, including depreciation. I can then depreciate my car by 22% each year and I can claim the 71% of that depreciation.

Once you figure out all the above, you can work out the cost of your car and how you go against the tax man.

At the end of the day, if you are buying a more expensive car, you are still paying more each month for it, so it a decision you make yourself about what you want to drive and then work the tax as best you can.

BASS OUT

[neergnevets]

thanks for info,

have a killer opportunity cost spread sheet running at the moment. key assumptions are not paying FBT on maintenance costs which is an opportunity for exploitation, and the fact that insurance is fair bit cheaper through a lease. My employer has outsourced salary packaging, giving me freedon of choice in lease providers which means my spreadsheets are stacking a fair bit. It is quite complex and at the end of they day i think i may only be marginally better off leasing over financing through a car loan, pending on the difference in price buying privately and through dealer as required by some lease providers. im thinking car loan now as less assumptions involved and if i decide to bail a year or so into a 3 year loan it is a simple process of selling car and paying off loan or most of it, wheres leasing ive discovered causes shit to hit the fan!

[blind_elk]

From personal experience, unless you are planning to get rid of the car at the end of the lease, DON'T LEASE. Just go and get a bank loan.

[mini2]

From personal experience, unless you are planning to get rid of the car at the end of the lease, DON'T LEASE. Just go and get a bank loan.

Out of curiousity, why? All the numbers crunched out and compared, I am couple of grand better off a year compared if I go grab a loan to buy the same car.

[ferni]

Each situation is different, do the figures before deciding how to finance your ride.

As for "No capital improvemnts, ie, mags, suspension" - this would come under 'maintence' if your suspension 'broke' and you replaced it - thats maintenence - if your wheels got 'damaged' and you needed to replace them, maintenence Works for me

Most companys done like the car being older than 5/7 years old at the end of the lease, but I managed to find one that would do it - with a 30% deposit.

[blind_elk]

Out of curiousity, why? All the numbers crunched out and compared, I am couple of grand better off a year compared if I go grab a loan to buy the same car.

At the end of the lease, you still owe them money (the residual) (if you are keeping the car). Probably better off getting a bank loan over the same period, then at least you own it at the end of the finance period.

Just my opinion.

[Jordan]

Hire-purchace all the way. But if you can get a personal loan, the better.

I want to be an old man with a rare and "Classic" R33 in the shed out back come 2059, nicely modded so I can laugh at all the younguns driving their hotted up electric/hybrid future-buggies. IF my kids are lucky they will inherit it, or maybe not >.>

[IML337]

If you're doing a novated lease, sacrificing the payments out of the segment of your income that's in the top tax bracket, and are doing 25000km a year, you're more than marginally better off, I can tell you. I'm about to enter my third 3 year/25000km a year novated lease and it's worked.

It's a lifestyle decision though... and the 7 year rule isn't hard and fast either - a colleague is currently leasing an early R33 GTS-t with no hassles.

I've not had to dispose of cars mid lease mind you, and that could get difficult if your residual is high (50%) and the car is worth less than the payout figure.

If you're not sacrificing out of the top tax bracket and you're not doing at least 20000km a year, then forget it - buy the car "conventionally"

[Col-GTSX]

Not for eveyone.

Leasing can work out to be quite expensive. But in some cases leasing is the best way to go. You are best off having a chat to an accountant. State your needs and you income etc. The accountant will be able to push all ypur figures and give you a YES/NO answer.

Take advice from a professional. Also be aware of the out clauses if you lose your job etc.

[ferni]

You can do the figures yourself insurance/petrol/maintennce will all be the same regardless of lease or not. With my novated lease at least all my maintenence/petrol/insurance is pre-tax so thats where i save a lot of $$.

I agree with IML337... you have to do at least 25,000ks to get into the 11% FBT bracket, anything less than 25,000ks will jump to 20% FBT...

[neergnevets]

all very good points for those looking to lease. even myself working/studying in accounting it is hard to get a true picture to see whether i'd truely be better off. id tend to agree with top marginal rate and 25000km quota, if your position is any less youd want to really looking into it.

problem in getting professional advise is that you'll pay for hours fees and if you dont earn top marg rate and want to do 25k km pa he will take your money and say no without really analyising the situation, such as the opportunity cost factors of insurance externally and 'maintenance' as someone else mentioned.

though what did it for me, the exit fees are nuts and i like knowing that if i lose my job or decide to move to the bahamas next week i wont be 'as' ****ed.

[Duncan]

well the actual $$$ for petrol, maintenance, insurance are the same, but with a lease they become fully tax deductible

We've had 3 lease cars now and they've all treated us very well financially

[ferni]

When i did the figures before i bought it, it worked out i was going to end up with about 3k more in my pocket per year if i didn't go for the lease (thats not including the fact that i got insurance half the price through the lease compared to privatly insuring it, and that i've spent 3x more in maintenence than i estimated when doing the figures - so it would of worked out even better for me.

My exit fee is 1 month of a lease payment i think, so not too much.

I still don't belive you need an accountant to do the figures - its just a few numbers, punch them into an excel sheet and compare them. Compare what it woudl cost if you paid for everything post tax, and then what it would cost if you did it through the lease (pretax) plus FBT.

[mini2]

What's so hard to call up Prosperion (for example) and ask them for a quote and see for yourself? They're quick to come up with the numbers, sent to you in e-mail as a PDF file. You don't need an accountant to work out these numbers

Also as ferni as suggested, just knock some numbrs out of the word to compare - find the leasing cost for that car thru CHP, estimated fuel price/needed to do the 25k km, insurance, rego and maintenance. Now repeat, if you're in the top end then half it and add FBT..that's how I did it and came out very close to the actual figure thus far.

[Boostzor]

If you work for a govt dept, especially health, it gets even better. Dont know about over east so much but health WA has it dam sweet. If you are talk to your payroll dept and they will point you in the right direction.

Novated leases are really designed for new cars because of the depreciation, mm deductability. Unfortunately:rolleyes: a 'line will hold its value pretty well so its not quite as attractive for a lease.

[mini2]

If they hold their value better that's a good thing - say you get a 30% balloon at the end of the term but your car is still worth over 40%..you pocket the payout difference minus FBT or some crap like that. The benefit is really just with the use of pre-tax money to pay for it.