Leasing/Financing/Trade-ins/Credit

[kagemusha2662]

I'm revisiting this thread now that the '25 model year prices are out.

The GT California Special is still on the top of my list of cars I'm considering, with the 10speed, Active Exhaust, and Oxford White as "must have" options. With that in my mind, I have some new/possibly old questions.

1. If I finance with Ford, what are usually considered good/exceptional rates over five or six years?

2. How much does X-Plan typically take off on what I assume is the total cost of the vehicle?

3. Why can't I just settle with a fully loaded Prius or Mazda3? (Heck, I'd consider the GR Corolla now that it's likely it'll have an optional automatic...)

1. Finance rates from dealers/Ford are pretty high from what I've seen right now (7%-9%). If you can find a better rate from a credit union I would highly suggest you do so. Otherwise you will never make back the money in investments with that finance rate.
2. not sure
3. Mentioned in the 2025 thread, but for affordable sports cars it's really just the GR86/BRZ or the Miata. I had civic type R, but those get ridiculous markups; the GR Corolla could be nice, but I wouldn't put it past Toyota dealers to mark those up as well. The affordable sports car just is not a thing anymore and the Mustang definitely isn't in that segment anymore.

Sponsored

 

[agreywolfe]

I'm revisiting this thread now that the '25 model year prices are out.

The GT California Special is still on the top of my list of cars I'm considering, with the 10speed, Active Exhaust, and Oxford White as "must have" options. With that in my mind, I have some new/possibly old questions.

1. If I finance with Ford, what are usually considered good/exceptional rates over five or six years?

2. How much does X-Plan typically take off on what I assume is the total cost of the vehicle?

3. Why can't I just settle with a fully loaded Prius or Mazda3? (Heck, I'd consider the GR Corolla now that it's likely it'll have an optional automatic...)

1. That's all dependant on your credit score, if you have a credit union as your bank try and get pre approved through them. Otherwise avoid anything in the double digits.

2. depends on what you add to the car but for me my sticker price of 62,040 ended up being just north of 57k OTD with X plan.

3. Go sit in a 480hp V8 and step on the loud pedal. If you love it, there's your answer, otherwise nothing.

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

Recently someone close to me recommended that I lease vehicles instead of financing them, mainly due to my interest in multiple vehicles. They made a compelling case but at the moment I'm not wholly convinced to go that direction just yet. I'm most likely going to wait a year or two before I pull the trigger just so I can save some more money for a future lease or purchase via financing.

I hope that's enough background with where I'm at now. Here are my latest questions...

1. To anyone here who has leased a Mustang GT, what was that experience like, and what would you advise someone considering leasing as opposed to buying/financing one?

2. If I see listings for my EcoBoost trim being sold at a certain price point, should my objective be to trade-in or sell at or relatively close to that price point? Or should I expect to trade-in/sell at several thousands lower than said price point?

3. (kinda serious, kinda not) How do I become considered a "genuine" car enthusiast?

Once again, thank you for your time and input/advice. Have a nice day!

 

[Mspider]

Recently someone close to me recommended that I lease vehicles instead of financing them, mainly due to my interest in multiple vehicles. They made a compelling case but at the moment I'm not wholly convinced to go that direction just yet. I'm most likely going to wait a year or two before I pull the trigger just so I can save some more money for a future lease or purchase via financing.

I hope that's enough background with where I'm at now. Here are my latest questions...

1. To anyone here who has leased a Mustang GT, what was that experience like, and what would you advise someone considering leasing as opposed to buying/financing one?

2. If I see listings for my EcoBoost trim being sold at a certain price point, should my objective be to trade-in or sell at or relatively close to that price point? Or should I expect to trade-in/sell at several thousands lower than said price point?

3. (kinda serious, kinda not) How do I become considered a "genuine" car enthusiast?

Once again, thank you for your time and input/advice. Have a nice day!

Leasing a mustang would be the same as any other leased car. One of the reasons it stops is that they usually don`t lease well for whatever reasons.

I think leasing does make sense if find a cheap lease deal and want a new daily driver every few years. A co-worker of mine just leased a brand new silverado for 279 a month.

My biggest problem with leasing is that I am stuck with the car. Sometimes I like to get in and out of cars.

 

[kagemusha2662]

Recently someone close to me recommended that I lease vehicles instead of financing them, mainly due to my interest in multiple vehicles. They made a compelling case but at the moment I'm not wholly convinced to go that direction just yet. I'm most likely going to wait a year or two before I pull the trigger just so I can save some more money for a future lease or purchase via financing.

I hope that's enough background with where I'm at now. Here are my latest questions...

1. To anyone here who has leased a Mustang GT, what was that experience like, and what would you advise someone considering leasing as opposed to buying/financing one?

2. If I see listings for my EcoBoost trim being sold at a certain price point, should my objective be to trade-in or sell at or relatively close to that price point? Or should I expect to trade-in/sell at several thousands lower than said price point?

3. (kinda serious, kinda not) How do I become considered a "genuine" car enthusiast?

Once again, thank you for your time and input/advice. Have a nice day!

1. Leasing only makes sense if you know you're not gonna keep the car at all and that it's a temporary car. The thought process is to lease most EVs because those are definitely not gonna be forever cars as the tech on those is still developing and the change of the next year model being a better choice than the previous year is very high. For most people, with a mustang or any sports car, they plan on keeping it more than 3 years, so finance deals make a lot more sense.
2. if you sell private (fb marketplace, craigslist) you will always make more money than trading it into a dealer. Dealerships will offer you less than what you can get so they can sell the car at a profit. Check edmunds true value for a good price you should sell your car at.
3. There's no criteria for this. Completely subjective in anyone's eyes. For me, it's about loving cars, not necessarily owning cars. Loving cars and how they are made is more important to me than owning a car. Owning multiple cars just means you have a lot of money, not necessarily a car enthusiast. Car enthusiast is getting to understand not just your car, but also other cars and how they are made and how they drive. But again, this is all up to you how you define being a car enthusiast, no one can define this for you.

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

My biggest problem with leasing is that I am stuck with the car. Sometimes I like to get in and out of cars.

I thought financing/purchasing was how someone gets "stuck" with a vehicle, whereas leasing let's them get in and out. In any case, in my situation there's only two cars currently out (Mustang GT and RC350 AWD) that I could see myself owning for many years to come, whereas the others I've test driven I'd be more likely to lease.

 

[Mspider]

I thought financing/purchasing was how someone gets "stuck" with a vehicle, whereas leasing let's them get in and out. In any case, in my situation there's only two cars currently out (Mustang GT and RC350 AWD) that I could see myself owning for many years to come, whereas the others I've test driven I'd be more likely to lease.

It depends on how long you can keep a car. I struggle keeping a car for 3 years.

Every time I leased a car I wanted to get out of the lease early. You have limited options. With a loan all you need to do is find a buyer and cover the difference or take positive equity. Anyone can buy a car with a loan.

You are only stuck with a loan if you are underwater and cannot afford to pay your way out.

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

If

It depends on how long you can keep a car. I struggle keeping a car for 3 years.

Every time I leased a car I wanted to get out of the lease early. You have limited options. With a loan all you need to do is find a buyer and cover the difference or take positive equity. Anyone can buy a car with a loan.

You are only stuck with a loan if you are underwater and cannot afford to pay your way out.

So if I understand right, if someone buys your financed car for the remainder of your loan balance (more or less) and gives you cash or a check, then you would just pay back whoever lent you the loan in full hopefully?

As for the lease, I do understand one option to get out of the lease but I forgot what it's called. And then there's some leases that can become lease to own...has anyone here gone that route?

 

[Mspider]

If

So if I understand right, if someone buys your financed car for the remainder of your loan balance (more or less) and gives you cash or a check, then you would just pay back whoever lent you the loan in full hopefully?

As for the lease, I do understand one option to get out of the lease but I forgot what it's called. And then there's some leases that can become lease to own...has anyone here gone that route?

Here`s the way it works from my personal experience. I have sold cars to both Carvana and a dealership.

When I sold my mustang to my local Ford dealership. My loan balance was ~30k and they offered to buy it for 38k. They paid off the loan directly to Ford Credit and gave me a check for ~8k. I then signed the title over to them. If the current balance on the loan was the same 30k but the car was worth 22k. I would have to give 8k to get out of the car.

The key to a car loan is putting enough money down so that you won`t be underwater. Or buy a car that holds value better.


With regards to leases:

*Every lease can be made to own (unless stated in contact otherwise). You can buyout your leased car at any time during the lease. (payments you owe+ taxes + remainder of cars agreed price). You can also finance a lease buyout into a car loan. Ideally this is the best way to get out. You buy the car and then sell it right after.


*You can sell the leased car to a dealership that has the ability to buyout the car. They will tell you what the car is worth if they bought it from the leasing company. Depending on how much you have paid off during your lease and what the car is worth will be the price. Most leases will cost money to get out. This is the part I don`t like about leasing. You are restricted on who you can sell your leased car to. During the pandemic a lot of leasing companies stopped allowing 3rd parties (carvana) from buying out the lease. You probably will have to sell the leased car to a Ford or Lincoln dealership if you use a Ford financing institution.

* You can voluntary surrender leased car:

"When a leased vehicle is voluntarily surrendered, the lender will usually sell the vehicle at auction, and then apply the money received at auction to the balance owed on your auto lease. If the lender receives less money at the auction than you still owe on the lease, the difference is called a deficiency balance."



As you can see a lease is similar to a car loan but its more restrictive.

 

[BoostRabbitGT]

Thank you again for the information.

Sponsored