Sprinter lease

[VegasVanGuy]

I just saw an advertisement to lease a Sprinter. I didn't know you could lease a cargo van. $500 per month. This might make sense in a high cost of living area. Thoughts?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

At some point, the lease will expire and you will either have to purchase the vehicle, at an agreed upon price, or you will have to give it back.  Also, there are often mileage limits written into vehicle leases, with penalties for exceeding the limits.

Frankly, it doesn't strike me as a financially prudent way to acquire a vehicle.

Regards
John

 

[VegasVanGuy]

In many real estate markets where you pay $1000 per month for a bedroom in a shared house a $500 a month van is attractive. You also get a new vehicle without forking out +$30k. You don't need to worry about reliability either. There are trade offs but it is an option.

 

[BC Guy]

In many real estate markets where you pay $1000 per month for a bedroom in a shared house a $500 a month van is attractive. You also get a new vehicle without forking out +$30k. You don't need to worry about reliability either. There are trade offs but it is an option.

Just remember that if you are not going to buy it at the end, you can not modify it without penalty. Talk to the leasing company. Tell them that you want to use it as a daily driver and for camping on the weekends.

 

[Patrick46]

Just remember that if you are not going to buy it at the end, you can not modify it without penalty.  Talk to the leasing company.  Tell them that you want to use it as a daily driver and for camping on the weekends.

No need to tell them squat about what you wanna use the van for. It's none of their business.

Just tell 'em you want it, and show them the money...no questions asked. (or answered)

 

[gcal]

There is going to be a limit to what they will allow you to do to and in their vehicles. Find out what violating those terms will mean before you do it. Why would anyome pay $500 a month for a leased vehicle when people right here on this forum have been able to purchase satisfactory vans for $4000 or less and own it outright? Discipline and planning is what it takes.

 

[Reducto]

With a lease you generally have to return the vehicle in undamaged, unmodified condition if you don't want fees at the end. Most of us modify our vans in some way.

I'm paying less than $500/mo for my NV200 and I'll own it outright in 4 years. You could probably get financing on a bigger van like a Sprinter for not a whole lot more per month but maybe a year or two longer.

 

[BradKW]

I don't think leasing would be a good answer, even though I understand your point about rent. The two (really) big downsides are that at end of lease you don't own anything, and you aren't able to do many of the modifications one might wish to. Often when you read the fine print on an "option to purchase" agreement, you'll find that in a 3yr lease you've done very little to make headway on the principle. If you choose to purchase, the remaining amount will still be high enough that you'd likely need to finance over 60mo in order to keep a $500ish payment. That's an 8yr payment plan which isn't good sense.

Generally, I believe that if your credit qualifies you for a lease on a $45k vehicle, you should be able to get financed to own on a used $30k...and that's going to put you in the $500/mo ballpark. Ford Transits are really having an effect on this market point, and for $25k to $30k there are many options in used sprinters and transits. Google 2015 Transits and you'll see you could get something for 500/mo and have a 1yr old vehicle with between 5-15k miles.

The reason you don't see that with Sprinters is because they ALL have the diesels which adds $5k+ initially, and seems to keep the first year prices high.

 

[gcal]

In many real estate markets where you pay $1000 per month for a bedroom in a shared house a $500 a month van is attractive. You also get a new vehicle without forking out +$30k. You don't need to worry about reliability either. There are trade offs but it is an option.

Oh, sure. But by the end of your lease, you will have forked over $6000 a year. You generally have to pay a chunk of money up front to buy that lease, too. So, at the end of, say, 3 years, you have given them a grand up front and paid them $18,000. You own zip, but will probably owe them for damages from your alterations. You can then either walk away empty handed or you can buy your 3 yr old vehicle for another $18,000 to $20,000. 

Go for it.

 

[gcal]

In many real estate markets where you pay $1000 per month for a bedroom in a shared house a $500 a month van is attractive. You also get a new vehicle without forking out +$30k. You don't need to worry about reliability either. There are trade offs but it is an option.

Oh, sure. But by the end of you lease, you will have forked over $6000 a year. You generally have to pay a chunk of money up front to buy that lease, too. So, at the end of, say, 3 years, you have given them a grand up front and paid them $18,000. You own zip, but will probably owe them for damages from your alterations. You can then either walk away empty handed or you can buy your 3 yr old vehicle for another $18,000 to $20,000. 

Go for it.

 

[VegasVanGuy]

All valid points so far. I agree that not being able to alter the van (bedding/solar) is a big downside. With any lease there are also mileage restrictions and if you live in it you will probably exceed them. Maybe not for a cargo van though.

A great point by Brad, if you qualify for the lease then you can get a loan anyways.