The decision to lease a car should be based on the financial attractiveness
of the lease compared to borrowing the funds to buy the same car. With a lease,
ownership of the car rests with the leasing company, the lessor, which enters
into a contract with the person leasing the car, the lessee, for use of the car
over the term of the lease. Financially, the size of a lease payment results
from the interest rate of the lease and the principal to be repaid over the
lease term. Evaluation of the attractiveness of a lease is much more than a
simple assessment of the proposed payment. Leases vary dramatically in their
assumptions, conditions and buyout privileges, which determine economic benefits
at the end of the lease term.
The major legal and financial difference between leasing and buying is the
ownership of the car. With a purchase, the ownership of the car remains with the
purchaser, although financing might be registered against the car as collateral
for a loan. The purchaser owns the car, but agrees to "secure" the car
loan with the car. When the loan is repaid, the purchaser owns the car. If the
purchaser fails to pay the loan as agreed, the lender has the legal right to
seize the car and sell it and keep the proceeds.
With a lease, the leasing company own the car. The leasing company or "lessor"
contracts with a user or "lessee" to use the car for a lease payment
over the term of the lease, subject to certain conditions. At the end of the
lease, the leasing company owns the car. The lessee might or might not have the
right to buy the car at this point.
The repayment or "amortization" of principal is the most important
difference between a loan and a lease. A loan must repay all of its principal
over its life. A lease, however, only needs to pay back sufficient principal to
equal the value of the car at the end of the lease. The value of a car at the
end of a lease is called the "residual value". This value is the key
factor in deriving the amount of the lease payment.
Forgetting about interest rates for a moment, let's consider the purchase
and finance of a $30,000 car. With a loan, we would borrow the $30,000 and then
repay the principal over the term of the loan. With a 3 year loan, we would pay
$10,000 per year for three years. Let's now contrast this to a 3 year lease. The
leasing company looks at the car and projects how much it thinks it will be
worth in 3 years. Let's assume the car will be worth $15,000 at the end of the 3
year term. This means the leasing company could sell the car for $15,000 when
the car "comes off lease". The leasing company, the owner of the car,
only has to repay $15,000 in principal since it assumes a sale value for the car
of $15,000 at the end to the lease term. This means that they only have to
provide for $5,000 per year in principal repayment over the lease term.
We can now see why lease payments are usually very much lower than loan
payments since they repay far less principal over the same term. In our example,
the loan repaid $10,000 per year in principal where the lease only repaid $5,000
per year due to the expectation of $15,000 in "residual value". We can
also see why there are mileage restrictions imbedded into leases since high
mileage cars are worth less and will reduce the eventual sale proceeds to the
lease company. If the lease company is expecting $15,000 in residual value and
high mileage has reduced the realizable sale price to $10,000, the leasing
company would be out $5,000!
Buyout clauses on leases are also determined by the mathematics of
amortization. If the leasing company projects that the car will be worth $15,000
at the end of the lease, they clearly won't set the buyout price at $10,000 and
lose money. They will set the buyout price above the outstanding principal
balance at any point, the higher the better from their point of view.
As for a loan, interest rates have a major effect on the cost of a lease
financing. Since the outstanding principal balance is paid after the interest
is calculated, higher interest rates result in higher lease payments. Think of
the example of a $30,000 car lease. Simplifying things to annual payments,
there would be a $3,000 interest payment after the first year with an interest
rate of 10% and $1,500 with an interest rate of 5%. This would make a total
payment of $8,000 at 10% ($3,000 interest plus $5,000 principal) compared to
$6,500 ($1,500 interest plus $5,000 principal) combining the interest payments
with the $5,000 principal payment.
The interest rates charged on leases vary with the leasing companies' costs
of financing. Most automobile dealers have access to the manufacturers "captive"
(in-house) leasing subsidiaries like General Motors Acceptance Corporation
(GMAC) and Ford Motor Credit Corporation (FMCC). The dealer sells the car to
the leasing company which then leases it to the customer. These "auto
finance" companies borrow money in the capital markets to finance their
leasing portfolios. This means that leasing rates move up and down with
interest rates in the bond market, actually tracking similar term bonds quite
closely. In Canada, the banks have been restricted from financing leases
although they are lobbying the government strenuously to allow them into this
lucrative business.
When is it a good idea to lease a car? Your motivation for leasing a car is
important to the decision. If you like to change cars frequently, it's
probably better to lay the depreciation/ market value risk off to the leasing
company. Will the car be tax deductible? A lease allows the full deduction of
principal, which makes for a higher payment and higher tax deduction.As in all
things financial, it pays to shop around. A lower dealer price means a lower
lease payment. Take a look at the purchase price for the car and then compare
between dealers on this basis. Compare between a lease and an outright purchase.
The interest rate is important, so ask the dealer for the interest rate "implicit"
in the lease calculation and compare this to one from another dealer or
financial institution.
Above all, remember that cashflow is king. As Uncle Pipeline would say, "lower
payments do not a better financial decision make". |