Buy or Lease My FFH Titanium?

[McGarrett50]

I'm wondering if it would be smarter to lease or buy my new Fusion when it arrives in April?

 

Equity, payments, realized gas savings, taxes etc. are NOT the considerations as pointed out in most "Lease or Buy" sites. Here are the considerations I'm hoping this community will weigh in on:

 

• With all due respect to Ford, this is a new vehicle and 36 to 48 months from now, there is NO question technology will have changed, and in a resale this wonderful new 2013 FFH may look "old" and 47 (or so) MPG may be less impressive.

 

• Part of me says it would be great not to have a car payment (through paying cash), but on the other hand, I should would like to have the ability to slide into a new 2016 or 2017 FFH (which may even have a body style change) without having the worry of disposing of the depreciated 2013.

 

• My previous experiences with imports are that those manufacturers incent owners to stay with them at the end of a lease, either by flipping them into a new similar model with no penalty on the lease and/or fees to stay with the make. Is Ford good with encouraging their customers to stay with them at the end of a lease?

 

• Do any of you have experience with previous Hybrids (Prius?) and how they hold their value?

 

Thanks for your help. I think this will be a good discussion for all of us considering options to pay for our new FFHs.

 

 

[rjent]

Well, I will say right up front that I do not like leases. Too many restrictions, and too many unknowns (mileage, life changes, etc)

 

Secondly. Ford has just spent a fortune on a technology upgrade to the fusion and hybrids in general. Don't look for any major changes for at least 5 years, but probably 10. They are claiming and are probably getting an EPA 100 mpg on the energi, our FFH's are just a little sister to that technology. No one is going to be competing with that any time soon. I think the FFH will keep it's look for a long time. Just like the major change in their pickups in 97, they did only minor changes to the body and interior for almost 10 years. The Aston Martin "look" that is designed into this car is kind of a corporate "look" as most of the other front ends of the other models are taking a similar look or are changing to that look. And lastly, If you purchase, and you allude to purchasing outright, I think these cars will have very good resale value at trading time in 3 to 5 years. That is what I am going to do. I expect to trade at 3 maybe 4 years, with expectations of a retail value of somewhere around 20K or so which goes a long way towards the next one.

 

Just my 2 cents! :)

Edited March 23, 2013 by rjent

[acdii]

The first year model is a lease +, if you drive less than 12K a year lease +, If you flip cars often lease +. If you drive a lot of miles like I do, Lease -. The only thing that keeps me from having a lease is the fact I put a lot of miles on. Case in point, 8 months on an F150, over 12K miles, About 18 months on a Fusion Hybrid, 39K miles, 4 months with the 13 FFH 8300 miles.

[ace8726872]

I think leasing is a good option. Like acdii said above, if you like to drive new car every few years, leasing is great. If you buy the car and keep it for 10 years as opposed to leasing it for 3 to 5 years, the financials come out to be surprisingly close.

 

With leasing

 

1. you are always in warranty

2. you don't have to pay the sales tax up front

3. Mileage is not a big deal. Just don't wait until the lease is over. Either lease another or buy new car and the dealer will buy it off you without any significant mileage penalties.

4. There are often incentives to lease another from the same MFG

5. Leasing does require that you carry larger liability insurance which cost you a bit more in insurance

 

There are lots of reasons for and against leasing. You have to identify the most important things that matter to you and decide accordingly.

 

Good luck!

Edited March 23, 2013 by ace8726872