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Corvette Lease - Why? |
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The Chevrolet Corvette is the most popular lease vehicle in the U.S. according to industry sources. Corvette has always been America's sport car but relatively high prices keep them out of the hands of the average automotive consumer. With base prices from $46,000 to over $70,000, loan payments are well over the $1000 a month mark. Affordability is a real issue for those who would like to drive one. Let's look for a moment at what Corvette is up to. For some years Corvette has held a top position in the high-performance sports car arena. However, competition from Porsche, BMW, Audi, and others has put pressure on Chevrolet to up the ante. For 2008, there is an all-new, power package in the form of a 6.2L V8, producing 430 hp and 424 lb-ft of torque. Also included are new wheel designs, improved interior trim, OnStar, and XM satellite radio. New suspension and exhaust options are available as well. This is a real screamer. Corvette is an ideal lease vehicle for a number of reasons. First of all many Corvette enthusiasts enjoy having the newest and more powerful versions every three years or so. Second, leasing provides a way to drive a car that might not be affordable otherwise. Third, lease residuals (resale values) are very high for Corvettes, which creates lower lease payments than for other vehicles in the same price class. Corvette Lease
vs Buy Comparison Our car will be a Corvette convertible with 6.0L V8 engine with 6-speed manual transmission. Add a 3LT equipment option package, and a Z51 performance handling package. Our MSRP is $60,650 (Invoice price = $53,898). Let's assume the discounted sale price is $55,393, a fair deal for this car. We'll use Bankrate.com's average national car loan interest rate of 6.86% and go with a loan and lease term of 36 months. We'll also assume a $2000 down payment or trade credit. For leasing, we'll use a 60% residual at 12,000 miles per year.
We'll ignore sales taxes for this scenario. Using an auto loan calculator such as the one at AutoLoanCalculatorOnline.com, we find that monthly payments will be $1645.20 for a 36 month loan. Payments drop to $1275.09 for a 48 month loan and $1053.72 for 60 months. With leasing, we'll make no down payment but we have to add an acquisition fee of, say, $695, increasing our vehicle cost to $56,088. Monthly lease payments would then be $811.50 for 36 months. Therefore, for 36 months, the lease offers 50% lower monthly payments. Lease payments are lower even when compared to a 60 month loan. This is one of the largest reasons for the lease popularity of the Chevrolet Corvette. It's possible to drive one of America's hottest and greatest looking cars for an affordable cost. NOTE: GMAC, the financial arm of General Motors, is not your only source of leasing for Corvettes. In fact, since tighening up on leasing in the summer of 2008, they may not be the best source. We suggest that you consider Primelease and compare their deal to the deal you get from your GM dealer.
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