Thinking of leasing a new car.....

[TexasErin]

I have been kind of starting to do some research and am interested in a Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, or Subaru.........but the problem is that it seems very hard to find one with a DVD player, which is essential. (We drive to WDW every year and my two kids would kill each other before we got out of the driveway if they weren't able to watch their movies.)

I have a 2000 4Runner which really doesn't have any problems, but we take DH's 07 Toyota FJ which has DVD players in the headrests for the kids to watch. His FJ has HORRIBLE visibility so I really don't like to drive it. We do have a portable DVD player which we could use in my car, but its a PIA compared to the built-in DVD players in the FJ.

So.......to get to the point....I'd like to get rid of my car and lease a new one, but I can't really find anything affordable that I could lease with built-in DVD player. And can you even choose options on a lease? It seems like with anything I have found with a DVD option, you have to get like the super-expensive version of the vehicle for that to even be an option....

Sorry so long!

 

[msmayor]

First, leasing is rarely (if ever) a good financial idea.

Second, I wouldn't replace a perfectly good car just to get in-headrest video screens.

 

[mat5]

Keep the car you have, just take it to a good local audio shop, and have them install dvd headrest or two over head units. It should run about 1,000-1,500.00. I think even some of the Best buy stores do some of install work.

 

[TexasErin]

My car has 135,000 miles on it- I kind of hate to spend that much to have DVD players installed in it.....of course, I hate the idea more of driving 2100 miles with two kids and no DVD player..........

I also was kind of dreaming about a Subaru Outback or Forester......

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

My sienna car have 175000 miles on it and I love it. I am not ready to give up on it yet. Honestly 135K on a Toyota is not the same as 135K on some other vehicles

 

[minnie1928]

Leasing rarely makes financial sense, and getting a new car so you can have built in dvd players REALLY doesn't make sense. If your current players are that much of a PIA, then buy new player(s). I got some great ones for about $90 each and they work beautifully.

 

[RN2003AZ]

I have the VW Routan which comes with optional 2 screen DVD player factory installed. LOVE IT!

 

[TexasErin]

I have the VW Routan which comes with optional 2 screen DVD player factory installed. LOVE IT!

Did you lease it or buy it?

 

[santa's surpriz]

IMO , it's pretty rough to say leasing is bad idea for everyone. Everyone has their own financial, tax, and driving situation. I just leased my first car in 12 years and have no regrets. I only drive about 750 miles a month so limiting my miles was not a big deal. I love the fact that if I chose, I can walk away after the term. I drove a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee since it was new, after 175,000 my repairs were getting expensive. My biggest concern about leasing was keeping the car clean with a child. If I managed to keep a 12 year old car looking good, a new car should be easy. So far (3 months) it has been great. I had no idea how much safer I feel and how much better I feel driving my DD places. It is truly amazing the amount of new safety features that 12 years can make! Not crazy about the car payment, but I have been lucky not to have one for 7 years. Leasing seemed to make sense in my financial situation. You just have to weigh the pros and cons to decide if it is right for you.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

The DVD angles could be taken care of by an installer of such equipment.

Please research possible makes/models with a publication such as Consumer Reports. You don't want your rolling DVD player to be in the shop more often than the average vehicle.

 

[gshumaker]

(We drive to WDW every year and my two kids would kill each other before we got out of the driveway if they weren't able to watch their movies.)

leases have mileage limits and if you are putting 2000+ miles for your vacation you are going to go over your mileage limit and pay for extra miles - not a good idea at all

 

[msmayor]

IMO , it's pretty rough to say leasing is bad idea for everyone. Everyone has their own financial, tax, and driving situation. I just leased my first car in 12 years and have no regrets. I only drive about 750 miles a month so limiting my miles was not a big deal. I love the fact that if I chose, I can walk away after the term. I drove a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee since it was new, after 175,000 my repairs were getting expensive. My biggest concern about leasing was keeping the car clean with a child. If I managed to keep a 12 year old car looking good, a new car should be easy. So far (3 months) it has been great. I had no idea how much safer I feel and how much better I feel driving my DD places. It is truly amazing the amount of new safety features that 12 years can make! Not crazy about the car payment, but I have been lucky not to have one for 7 years. Leasing seemed to make sense in my financial situation. You just have to weigh the pros and cons to decide if it is right for you.

Well after 175,000 I would expect repairs to get expensive.

Leasing doesn't mean no car repairs. You still have to pay for all the regular maintenance. And after the term is up its not just a matter of 'walking away', because there's a good chance you'll be presented with a bill for all the nicks, dings, scratches, dents and marks the dealer considers more than normal.

And then you've paid all that money and have nothing to show for it.

Don't get me wrong: I get that leasing does make sense in limited situations. Heck, I even leased a vehicle once...but did so with every intention of buying the lease out. We had no downpayment money, but knew that with careful budgeting and saving we could have what was needed to buy the car at the residual at the end. It was a Volvo, a car that held its value pretty good and we knew would be reliable. Sure enough, at the end of the lease term the blue book value of the car was $3,500 more than what we had to pay as the residual, and we had diligently saved it. Held on to that car another 8 years...13 years total.

But to replace a car that by the OP's statement has no major problems with a leased vehicle to get a dual DVD player? That makes no sense.

 

[humboldthny]

Honestly, if your car is in good running condition and you are happy with the mileage it gets it would be way cheaper just to buy a portable DVD player and a charger that works in the car. We've done that for years....heck, buy 2 and each kid can watch their own movie and you can take turns charging them.

We're headed for purchasing a new car as well, but our '97 CRV is nearing 150K and going strong, but I'm after better safety features and improved gas mileage...we'll be buying a VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI (clean diesel technology that gets upwards of 40mpg depending on how you drive it).

 

[TexasErin]

I have researched through Consumer Reports. That is how I narrowed it down to Toyota (even though not currently recommended due to the recalls), Honda, VW, and Subaru. I know better than not to research.

And my car would not just be a rolling DVD player.....its about more than just the DVD player. Its just that the DVD player is an important feature to me. Its like making sure you have a good stereo in the car- that's not the only reason you would buy a car, but it is important.

I have thought about the mileage issues- I put on 30 miles a day 6 or 7 days a week which would be 210 per week- at the most. I calculated earlier if I can get a deal for 15000 miles that would be more than enough, even with one annual trip to WDW and one trip to Oklahoma to see my dad each year.

I do have a portable DVD player that you can plug into the car, but find it gets in the way and just makes the drive less comfortable.

And after having my car for so long, I would like something new. My carpet is old and the paint has chips. Plus as a previous poster mentioned, there are better safety features these days. Plus I'm just plain tired of my car.

And for anybody trying to judge my financial reasoning, I have no credit card debt because I worked hard to pay that off. I have a very high credit score, so I'm not exactly a slouch in the financial department.

I was basically only wanting to ask a question about whether you could choose your options when you lease a car.......

 

[RN2003AZ]

Did you lease it or buy it?

We bought it last year. We got interest free for 5 years and free scheduled maintence for 3 years/36,000 miles. I know they still have the same deal going on right now too. If you have any more questions you can email
me @ RN2003AZ@aol.com!

 

[pklein09]

When we drove to Disney's Hilton Head, we didn't want to drive our Oldsmobile Silhouette (100K miles), so we rented a van that had an overhead DVD player for the week. We're in central Jersey, and I called for availability at Philly and Newark airports. Easy! Philly had it, and the kids LOVED it!!! When we replaced the Oldsmobile last June, we bought a Toyota Sienna without the overhead DVD - it wasn't worth the $5000+ price tag to get the package with the DVD player. It was much cheaper to buy each of my kids their own portable player so there would be no arguing over what movie to watch. Also, much cheaper to replace a broken portable DVD player than repair a broken overhead unit.

And my 2 cents on the lease - not worth it in my book. I've had my new van for 11 months and already have over 18,000 miles on it.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Choosing options on a lease car would work one of about 5 ways.....

--pick a car off the lot "as is"

--pick a car off the lot, have them do a dealer install, and add it to the lease financing

--pick a car off the lot, pay cash for the dealer install

--order a vehicle to be built for you and watch them drive it off the truck (sometimes it takes several weeks for it to get built and delivered. Also, you can't order one during the entire year. There are order and/or production blackout dates to accomodate the model change over and certain holiday periods)

--have the dealer do a search of your region and transfer the perfect vehicle to the dealer nearest you.

 

[Shleedogg]

DH and I are kinda looking at leasing a new car too, pending the possible second child. We test drove a Toyota Sienna and I loved loved loved it! I still can't get on board with the whole mini-van thing though, it's just too big for me. I've always driven small cars. But I know they have built in DVD players. They not only play DVDs, but you can hook up video game systems to them, and each is their own thing. So one kid can watch a movie and the other kid (or husband ) can play games.

I don't know why everyone is cramming financial advise down your throat. You didn't ask for it. You asked for recommendations on vehicles.

Sadly, Toyota didn't have any good lease deals on the Sienna when in April. DH and I had said that we really wanted the entertainment system, but couldn't justify the $2000 price tag. Have you thought about looking around for better portable dvd options? Not due to price, but just because it would broaden your search options. Good luck!

 

[jodebode]

I've leased 3 vehicles. When car shopping, I picked out the exact vehicle/options I wanted, and negotiated the lease price to get a payment I was comfortable with.

Have you tried going to the manufacturer websites and doing the "build your own" option? This would be a good way to see if the ones you're interested in require a special package to get the DVD player or if it is available as an add-on. It will also give you an idea of price; with some you can send a request to local dealerships to get an online price quote.

Bottom line, you should be able to lease any vehicle, with any options, as long as the manufactuer offers a lease option. If you've seen a newspaper ad or a tv ad for a certain lease price, chances are those prices don't include all the options you may want, but you would just pick the options you want and the dealer will tell you what your monthly price would be to lease it. Of course, there's always room for negotiation, just like if you were purchashing

Also, I've never been charged for anything when turning in a vehicle, even if I'm not re-leasing from the same manufacturer or dealer, so what a previous poster said about being charged for every little scratch isn't always the case. My last car, I had even lost one of the remote key starters and fully expected to have to pay for it, but never did have to.

Good luck finding a vehicle that works for you and makes you happy!

 

[woodkins]

Well after 175,000 I would expect repairs to get expensive.

Leasing doesn't mean no car repairs. You still have to pay for all the regular maintenance. And after the term is up its not just a matter of 'walking away', because there's a good chance you'll be presented with a bill for all the nicks, dings, scratches, dents and marks the dealer considers more than normal.

And then you've paid all that money and have nothing to show for it.

Don't get me wrong: I get that leasing does make sense in limited situations. Heck, I even leased a vehicle once...but did so with every intention of buying the lease out. We had no downpayment money, but knew that with careful budgeting and saving we could have what was needed to buy the car at the residual at the end. It was a Volvo, a car that held its value pretty good and we knew would be reliable. Sure enough, at the end of the lease term the blue book value of the car was $3,500 more than what we had to pay as the residual, and we had diligently saved it. Held on to that car another 8 years...13 years total.

But to replace a car that by the OP's statement has no major problems with a leased vehicle to get a dual DVD player? That makes no sense.

Just an FYI...this is not necessarily true. We own 4 cars, an always lease 1 of them. We have never had to pay for the maintenance on our leased cars. The lease has always included oil changes, regular maintenance (tune ups etc). We have leased over 6 cars and also have never had to pay a dime for "excess wear and tear" or mileage. We know our mileage allowance and make sure that we are under it.