Top-10 Car Leases: December 2008

Friday, December 19th, 2008 at 2:07 pm

The 2009 Nissan Altima tops the list for this month's lease special based on its low, 1.17 Lease-To-Value Ratio. (Total Monthly Payment Cost / MSRP). For a more details explanation on how I rank these auto lease values, visit my article on leasing: Car Leasing

$199.00 per month plus $2759 down averages out to a monthly payment of $265. For $265 a month you can drive a car that lists for $22,500 for 39 months. Not a bad deal, and probably explains why you see so many Nissan Altimas on the road.

Model	Term	PMT	Down	MSRP	MO Cost	Total Cost	Mileage	LVR
Nissan Altima 2.5S	39	$199.00	$2,759.00	$22,545.00	$264.64	$10,321.00	12,000	1.17%
Toyota Corolla LE Sedan	36	$169.00	$1,799.00	$18,154.00	$214.28	$7,714.00	12,000	1.18%
Subaru Legacy	36	$219.00	$1,216.00	$20,795.00	$246.69	$8,881.00	10,000	1.19%
Honda Civic LX Automatic	36	$189.00	$1,999.00	$18,925.00	$239.28	$8,614.00	12,000	1.26%
Honda Accord LX	36	$209.00	$2,899.00	$22,375.00	$283.72	$10,214.00	12,000	1.27%
Mazda6 I Sport AT	36	$229.00	$2,824.00	$22,000.00	$301.08	$10,839.00	12,000	1.37%
Mazda3 I Sport 4-Door AT	36	$159.00	$2,595.00	$16,260.00	$226.67	$8,160.00	12,000	1.39%
Jetta 2.5L S Manual	39	$269.00	$0.00	$17,970.00	$269.00	$10,491.00	12,000	1.50%
Acura TXS	36	$309.00	$3,579.00	$26,138.20	$399.83	$14,394.00	12,000	1.53%
Veracruz GLS FWD	27	$369.00	$2,599.00	$27,045.00	$451.59	$12,193.00	12,000	1.67%

At first glance, the VW Jetta with no-money down and $269 a month sounded like a winner. but the payment to value ratio didn't come out as favorably as the Altima and Hondas. The Mazda 3 I Sport 4-Door is a nice little car and returns the very lowest total cost: $8,160 over 3 years. Really, there is not a bad car in the group. The Veracruz rates last in the list due to the 27-month, short lease period which makes the average monthly cost very high at $451.59. This is why I generally try to stay away from down payments on leases, particularly for such short term lease periods. No lease deal is set in stone. The idea is to use these specials as guide lines, and ask your dealer for a better deal. There are always other certain other dealer incentives that might result in even better deals, particularly in desperate economic times.

...and don't forget to shop eBay for very competitive prices on 'near-new' cars. See how this month's lease special on the 2009 Nissan Altima Compares used on eBay.