I was thinking, my next daily driver is going to be a nice car that I drive... not modify to the point of no return. (Firehawk)

Instead of buying a new one @ 72 months ($800+ payment) why not lease and pay much less and move on in a couple years?

Is anyone doing a lease now? How much do you think I'd pay on a 36 or 48 month deal?

I want a base + Z51... I'm set. Thnx

 

This is just my opinion. I would not lease a corvette C6 for 800 a month.

If it were me? I'd look around the various corvette forum sites and pick up a preowned C6.

Most Corvette owners (although not all) take excellent care of their cars..

Hell more than half probably take better care of their cars then themselves.

Shop around and buy an 05 or 06 light mileage C6..

A ton of guys bought them...and then moved on to MB or C6 Z06...

The economy is weak...and a lot of guys who bought one are now in money trouble so they are moving on and selling the car...

Just an opinion.....but I'd buy preowned from one of the forums before I'd lease the car..

1st year depreciations a bitch....so you could lower your monthly a lot easier that way for a daily driver..

Most are weekend toys too so the mileage is often very low..

 

I did mine on a 3-yr "Smartbuy" deal. It is $960/month and I believe the balloon payment at the end of 3 yrs is something like $27K. I figured the car would be worth more than the balloon at 3 yrs, so I went with this option. I'm also not known to keep cars more than 2-3 yrs anyways. I can return it to stock and turn it in, or sell it for more than the balloon and make a little profit. With the Smartbuy, you can sell it at any time for the payoff.

Summary: Even leasing or smartbuying a new Corvette is expensive.

 

A little more descriptive way to say it: A lease is you betting against the dealer on the depreciation of the car. Simply put, will the car be worth more than you owe after the lease, or less? Can you keep the mileage low enough? Will you get frustrated limiting your driving and paying the large note?

Using Tony's example, he'll have paid $34,560 after 3 years, be restricted to 12-15k miles, and have nothing to show for it. It should be mentioned that like he said, he might be able to recoup some money through resale. The value of Corvettes are dropping like rocks. With that in mind, I don't think its a wise move to consider a new vette, period. That said, someone leasing a corvette ain't exactly worried about a few grand here and there. Owning a Corvette isn't exactly a cheap endeavor, but leasing a new one is mucho dinero. It could turn out that the new Bluedevil comes out and the vette market really dives. In that case, Ton'y smartbuy deal might save him a few grand from the dropping market. You never know...

Good luck,
Ryan

 

The question I asked myself before jumping into a brand new Vette was, "Could I keep it and drive it for 10 years?" The answer on the C5 Z06 was a resounding "no" because it already had 20K miles on it when I got it. I've had the C6 for almost 6 months now and have only put ~2800 miles on it so far. Now if the C7 comes out and is equally compelling to me as the C6 was, I may re-evaluate. Meantime, I went with 84 months with a payment of $806.00/month (6.25% - fully loaded 3LT Coupe, $58K sticker). Once the truck is paid for, I'll add that payment every month to the Vette payment and knock it out much sooner (4 years or less) and save thousands in interest. That will happen within the next year or so. I am looking forward to zero payments and two nice vehicles to show for it.

 

Like others have said, pick up a used one and save a bundle. Let the first owner take the depreciation hit. I'm planning on doing that myself. A new C6 up here is $57,000 for a 3LT with no other options, if you load it up, it's another $10,000. But you can find loaded ones in the Auto Trader for $48,000. I'm waiting until they come down to the $35k to $40k range.

 

Man, decisions decisions.

How about have my company lease it and deduct some of the costs, and then -I- buy it after the lease? That's still just another way to save a couple grand. Still a burn. To keep a sane payment I'd have to put down 8k+ on a 3 year old car.

 

For those that have a company that can defray the cost of the lease? Then yes without a doubt leasing makes sense.

I leased my first corvette, a 1999 C5 Z51 A4. Great car. I enjoyed it so much I bought it as the lease came to an end. Then? I made the mistake of driving a z06.

That was it I was hooked. So I traded the 99 C5 in for the Z and paid the differnence in cash.

At this point in time most C5 Z06's are worth around 25 to 30 grand.

Most are extremely low mileage weekend toys....and if the guys are hooked and must have a c6 z06...? Then they are selling thier very very low mileage, never smoked in, never seen rain cars.. They just gotta own the C6 Z06.

My suggestion? Buy a C5. You can find low mileage versions for chump change. Have no payment and laugh all the way to the bank.

I want a C6 Z06 and have the money laying around to pay cash...Still the ridiculously low value of C5 Z06 and the fact its an awesome car make a C6 Z06 a no go..

Not because I don't love the C6 Z06. Not because I don't have the money laying around...but just because doing so is in my opinion irrational.

My suggestion...buy or lease a preowned C6....or better yet..

Buy a waxers C5 coiupe, convertible or Z06. YOU CAN"T BELIEVE HOW LOW THEY ARE SELLING FOR! (actual transaction prices not asking prices)

Corvettes are the best preowned cars to buy...(most owners are extremely **** about them) Just beaware of the few guys who beat the crap out of them but by meeting the owner you can use common sense as to how they treated their cars..

For brand new daily drivers I suggest leasing deals only when they are subsidized by the manufacturer. Corvettes are rarely subsized. As far as leasing and getting the best pricing? Look for the hot advertised deals and then realize the options are depreciated 100% over the period of the lease where the vehicle is often 54% or there about...on a 36 month lease.

39 or 42 month lease deals are usually the best and again...Minimize options cost they cost you big time....(comparatively)

Check your state as some require leasing deals to pay full sales tax on the vehicle. Some states only require sales tax on the depreciation portion of the vehicle. I would only ever suggest leasing if your state only requires the sales tax on the depreciation portion.

Thats when leasing makes the most sense. but its just an opinion.

I really like the preowned option better.

GOod luck.

 

^^ That's a great write up... thanks!

The only reason I'm looking at the C6 is because I want to settle down in life a bit and that's a car I could keep for 7 years and be happy with.

I like the C5 ALOT, but I'm really wanting to luck upon a C6 option.

 

Well guys,
I also tought about a lease but, shopping around here in Los Angeles almost every dealer is overstock on vettes and they are willing to talk, I have got mine C6 07, vel.yellow, M6, chrome rims and Z51 for 4K under MSRP. Total price $ 45.280 + tax & lic.

 

Good lord I don't know how you guys make huge *** payments like that. There have been times when I have had 3 vehicles (02 lightning, 04 Crew Cab HD, 01 Formula) and their combined payments were less than that. My thought process has always been if I can't put half down on it then I don't need it

I just bought my Z06 a few months ago and went ahead and paid it off because I got tired of paying interest on vehicle notes for so long. Now I just put the money I would have been paying for a car note into savings and investments so I am the one making money off of my money instead of the bank.

Most vette's, especially Z06's, have very low mileage anyways.


To answer your question, there is no way in hell I would lease a new vette.

 

This is nothing. I have a friend who is leasing a new Mercedes (subsidized by his company) for $1800.00 a month.

 

My combined vehicle notes cost more than my house does. But, I enjoy vehicles more than houses

 

Yep, you can sleep in your car, but you can't drive your house!!

 

They must be in the oil business with all of this disposable income .

I looked at some late model Porsche 911s the other day. For 40 grand, I think I'd rather buy a Porsche than lease a new C6.

A guy I work with was complaining about his boat payment being 4500 buck/month . It can be pretty humbling to talk to high rollers. Money really is no object to some people. Regardless of my income, I'd like to knock out my house note and secure mine and my family's future instead of toys. That said, there are nice toys that aren't such poor investments. Used C5s, for one .

Ryan

 

My home mortgage was 3200 a month. What a pain in the @ss that was.... I glad to say I just finished paying that sucker off. I'm now a big fan of having no debt and I totally agree with you. Some of these car or boat payments are way out of control. A lot of people live way beyond their means...

Did you realize that if you put away a grand at a simple investment at age 18 you would by the age of 65 derive a monthly income of 1,000. Food for thought anyway...

Still

IMO if you want a C6.........

Buy a preowned C6 and let the first owner take the largest depreciation hit.

Although I believe a well kept low mileage C5 (ie. from a private owner moving up to a C6 Z) I totally understand a desire for the latest and greatest version of the corvette.

FWIW

I am of the belief that it is smarter to invest in appreciating assets rather than depreciating ones. ie. real estate....and .. If you could shop the various forums for a preowned C6 I think you might find what your looking for. Plus with the various search features you can also see how the owner treated his car during his ownership period.

I have seen and read about more Corvette owners are really into caring for their vehicles..(some crazy and abusive people too but you can find out with the search feature)

We all dig cars so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Buy preowned. Lots of guys upgrade to the C6 Z or unfortunately have lost thier jobs etc and need to unload their relatively new pride and joy quickly. (or the guys wife threatens divorce or the car payment is just too much and they realize it after the fact and they need to get out from underneath) Some guys have stick shifts and decide they really want or need automatics for their daily commute too.

These are the stories and people to look for when shopping.

Since most leases cost around 7 or 8 grand a year for a vette. Thats about what should be deducted off of the price of a new C6 today for each year(in the first three anyway) of ownership they experienced. Give or take a grand...

HTH