Corvette Lease - Why?
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 $49,000 to over $110,000, loan payments can be well over the $2000 a month mark. Affordability can be a real issue for those who would like to drive the "real American sports car.".
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.
The 2012 Corvette comes in a variety of body styles, trim levels, and sub-trim options. Both the base Corvette and GS come with a 6.2-liter V8 that puts out 430 hp and 424 pound-feet of torque. All Corvettes come with a standard six-speed manual transmission and launch control. A six-speed automatic is available on all but the high-performance models. The Z06 is powered by a 7.0-liter LS7 aluminum-block V8 that makes 505 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque and goes 0-60 in only . What a 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
Let's take a look at a typical lease for a new Corvette and compare with a loan:
Our car will be a Corvette Z06 coupe with 7.0L V8 engine with 6-speed manual transmission. Add a Z06 Preferred Equipment Group package and our MSRP comes out to $80,810. Let's assume the discounted sale price is $79,825, a fair deal for this hot car.
We'll use Bankrate.com's average national car loan interest rate of 4.39% and go with a loan and lease term of 36 months. We'll also assume a $3000 down payment or trade credit. For leasing, we'll use a 60% residual at 12,000 miles per year.
“ What you pay for your car loan or lease directly depends on your FICO credit score ” |
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 $2,281.53 for a 36 month loan. Payments drop to $1748.08 for a 48 month loan and $1428.41 for 60 months.
With leasing, we'll also go for 36 months, 12,000 miles per year, and make the same $3000 down payment but we have to add an acquisition fee of, say, $695, increasing our vehicle cost to $80,520. Using these numbers in our Lease Calculator, monthly lease payments would then be $1040.66 for 36 months.
Therefore, for 36 months, the Corvette lease offers 45% lower monthly payments than loan payments. Lease payments are still lower even when compared to a 60 month loan.
In order to get the loan rates and lease deal we outlined above, you must have a good credit score. You can get your most current credit score online for free from FreeCreditScore.com with a simple signup.
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.
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