As an accountant I have never understood the average person leasing. Unless you can write it off on your taxes you might just as well go to Hertz or Avis when you need a car. Most leases restrict you to about 15,000 miles a year. I drive 15,600 just commuting so I'd be over before I drove it much of anywhere. Add to that early termination fees, damage fees and so on and it can be as costly or more then owning. If you want a fancier car then you can afford, wait a couple more months and save your money before you trade. Or get one on the 0% interest deals. Or just get a lesser model fully loaded. At least when you finish the payments (84 months?) you will have a trade in. Better yet, buy a cheaper car, keep it 3 years past paid off and bank the amount of the payment every month. Then you can trade for the fancy car and probably pay cash.

As an ex automobile dealer, I can guarantee you that the end of leasing is a big hit to the dealers bottom line. When dealers were used to making 200.00 or 300.00 profit on cars, they could make thousands if they could get the customer to lease, as they don't have to disclose interest rates and only use a "lease factor" that most customers didn't bother calculating to let them know what the interest rates were. I have a feeling dealers will be losing, or laying off, finance managers who were paid off the finance and lease profits they generated.

If big cars are stacking up on lots why not do aggressive marketing to oil producing countries that have cheap gas? Venezuelans would snap those SUVs up like hotcakes! There you can fill a 15 gallon tank for about 2 US dollars. Ship the big cars overseas.

Here we go again. Good old oil companies posting record profits and auto makers taking it from the backside. Whats up with that? Before i go on a rant here I would like to get this little diddy out of the way. My wife and I leased a VW Jetta just over 2 years ago and i tell you that was the biggest mistake we ever made. I like the car and all but for what we have dished out in the last couple years would have bought us a nice little second hand Honda or whatever. I know times are tough and everyone has to tighten their belt buckles up a notch or two but i honestly never in my life thought the good people of the US would put up with so much nonsense. This new game thats being played on the Global stock markets with oil and gas speculating has to end and end quick. I live in Canada and can tell you we have about a 400 year supply of gas and oil right in our own back yard. Plus the untold billions of untapped bbls that lie under our oceans floor. So why are all these liars telling us we have hit peak production. When we have only started tapping into about less than 3% of our resource. Sounds kind of like that nonsense back in 2000. My computer didnt crash, the power didnt go out. The big thing is american automakers def have to get away from the gas guzzling V8's and start doing some serious competing with european and asian markets. If they can build something as sweet and sexy looking as BMW or Volvo i will dish out the money. But i will not lease.

I have a lease and want to know how to convert to buying prior to the lease end. I like the car and might as well pay it off if I can. Do I have to pay the full price. I still have alot of time on my lease. Thanks

I currently have a lease and have a lot of time left on it. I would like to switch over and buy it. Any ideas? Do I have to pay full price? Who do I contact to do this? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I currently have a car lease and have a lot more time on it. Any ideas on how to convert it over to a regular loan so that I can end the car at the end? Do I have to wait for the lease to run out? I am sorry I did the lease, but the dealer really got me. Thanks for the help!

I'm sorry but I cannot feel sorry for the dealers or car companies. They have virtually raped the public and now it is their turn in the barrel. Every time I go into these huge new dealerships I think to myself - all this was made off our backs. And yet they still cry poverty with $120/hr labor rates and parts like $15 each spark plugs. No tears from me guys.

Finally, the END of the SUVs and monster trucks in American cities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry but I cannot feel bad for the dealers. They have raped the public for so long and now it is their turn in the barrel. Every time I go into a dealership I think to myself - all this is here because of the money they took from us - don't feed me the $200 over cost line. It's the $125/hr labor rates and the $15 each spark plugs that shows the pure greed. No pity from me.

Have been leasing for a number of years. Bought a few back but that can get expensive also. My wife drives 10,000 a year and while I don't own the car at the end of the lease, I also don't have any repair bills if it breaks. It will be interesting to see if the dealers will negotiate on the price of the buyback now. Could be a pretty good deal if their lots are full. Yes you have to understand the actual costs and interest rates etc. but if you are going to a dealer and do not know this anyway, you are going to get the shaft.

I have been leasing for a number of years. Bought back a few that had a higher resale value, but that is tricky also. My wife drives less than 10,000 miles a year and while I don't own the car at the end of the least, I also don't worry about repair bills.

It will be interesting to see if the dealers are going to want to deal when the turn-in comes on our current lease. If they have a lot full of cars I wonder if they will negotiate on the price?

Another industry that I am finding it hard to feel sorry for. While the car leasers are scrambling to find business some of us are scrambling to find the cheapest beans at the supermarket thanks to the Republican idea of trickle down economics. Maybe the trickle will just take longer, like 100 years?

When will people wake up and smell the coffee. The only thing that makes sense is to buy a vehicle and keep it! I drive a 1997 pontiac with 150,000 miles and will make it last me till 300,000. All you people think it is way too important to impress someone else. If you want to be impressed I will show you the money I have saved by not being stupid and maintaining my vehicle. Not only have I not had car payments for years but I have also save thousands on insurance. Think about it, the only ones who really get impressed are the CEO's at the finance companies. No, I dont have hot girls or guys drooling over my ride, however they would drool over my savings account!

What is a car? Many people are wondering how they will ever get one while the Bush administration is debating how many tax breaks they can give to big oil and get away with it.

I DRIVE A FORD ESCORT, A FOUR CYLENDER. MY GAS MILAGE IS 20 MI. CITY, AND 29 MI. COUNTRY.THIS AUTO IS MY THIRD ESCORT LEASE. NO PROBLEMS, GOOD MILAGE SAFE TRANSPORTATION, MY WIFE AND I COULDEN'T BE HAPPIER. THANK YOU HENRY.....

What will the automakers do with all the SUV's and other vehicles that they don't sell or can't sell because of gas prices?

Mine is more of a question then a comment:

What do the automakers do with the SUV's and other vehicles that they don't sell because of gas prices being so high?

The automakers generally sell them them to the government or they write them off as a capital gains loss which reduces or eliminates their taxes. Either way they come out ahead.

What a dumb move.

They had three options

1: Continue leasing and take a hit
2: Stop leasing or make it rediculously expensive
3: .... LOWER the price of these vehicles. Like come on ... a crossover or suv shouldn't cost as much as it does. .. its a car with a little more plastic and tin

They have stoped leasing to protect the margin of these vehicles. Give it up. A lincoln MKX is not a Lexus rx 330. Stop pretending it is and drop the price. Your in mass production. Drop your HQ and white collar staff. Hire a few key people to actually do design and engineering and put most of your staff back on the production and sales floors. Bloat Bloat Bloat.

Why are north american companies afraid of being reliant on the productivity of a few key smart productive people that actually get stuff done themselves. Everyone wants to be a manager or administrator and tell others what to do... and then they expect to get paid millions for it.

Leasing a car insures you will never own anything and always have money leaving your account. Perhaps initiating a lease is to say we have no faith in consumer goods- that is, we don't expect them to last so we don't want to really own them, we just want to use them while they still look good. For those who are leasing just to get the better looking/newer car every other year, does you have to let your ego entirely bankrupt you? Is an ounce of humility worth less than a lifetime of debt?

I have never understood the wisdom in living above your means and find it somewhat immoral when people allow others to do so then kick them after the honeymoon. The trap is too easy to fall into but at the same time it's just the human condition when banks, credit card companies and auto manufactureres set that out there for desperate buyers to walk into. Anything to stick it to our fellow man, but that's business, right?

For anyone in a lease, get out quick while you can. Buy a car you can afford, but not just any car. One that won't break your bank (new cars are sucker deals, buy one or two years old used from a reputable dealer like CarMax), is good on gas and won't need repairs every six months. There is a reason Honda and Toyota's leases aren't suffering- they make a product that holds up. They may be plain and look like death's door by the end of 15 years, but your checking account will look much better and that's the really important thing. At the end of that time, perhaps you'll have the money for the shiny new Jag, BMW, Lexus, etc.- but then again you might think twice about buying one when you realize how expensive they are to own. Also, one of the benefits of ownership- no more monthly payments!

As for me, I drove used cars since I could drive and kept them until the wheels nearly fell off. Sure, it was always a little hard seeing some sharp car on the road driven by someone my age or younger but I knew that either their parents had bought it or they were probably leasing. After 19 years of driving I was finally able to afford a nice new car (Lexus, BMW, etc.). Had more sense than to buy new. Instead I bought a certified pre-owned (15K miles) BMW X3 for a growing family. It's totally paid off and will be in the family for at LEAST 10 years, hopefully 15 or even 20. Would have bought a Volvo but the XC90's were too big and the XC60's didn't come out yet. Reasons for purchase: styling conservative and won't look dated in 2 years, reputable brand with reliable quality, large enough for my family, comfortable.

F&ck the big three for f&cking consumers with their lease deals. F&ck credit card companies and banks for doing the same. The big three were always happier to sell flash than real substance. Their cars look dated in FIVE years and break down just around then. They can't imagine Joe public wants a car that lasts. They're in such a rush to get the newest/catchiest style out that they could care less if the wheel falls off on the way off the assembly line. Meanwhile, labor unions were busy bending the company over a barrel and the CEO's were busy bending everyone else. Rome, while certainly great at one time, fell for a reason. I'm sure people were happy to let it go the way I'm happy to see the Big Three go down the tubes. Surely it's time to put that archaic system to rest and come up with something better. I'd love to hear the AFL-CIO make demands when they have no more companies to work for. I'd love to see the brilliant heads of GM, Ford and Chrysler take down another company and be esteemed as geniuses. I'd love for a company with some integrity to be reborn out of the mess and reform the ongoing corporate sludge machine model the Big 3 have perpetuated for too long.

Start walking! Or ride a bike. Use mass transit. Don't be so reliant on your car. Or buy a little used beater! This will drive gas prises down.

I leased a vehicle many years ago - it was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. Leasing may make sense for some people, but generally speaking, you're spending more money for the privilege of driving a vehicle that you really can't afford in the first place.

I have since learned my lesson - budget for a new vehicle and pay cash. You wouldn't believe how pleasant the buying experience can be when you're in control. It is not that hard to save up for a new car - just takes some disclipline, but believe me, its well worth it!