Has Anyone leased the Mazda 3?

[AfterBurner]

I am new to the board and am interested in leasing the Mazda 3. I just wanted to know if anyone has leased the mazda and what they found the best terms to be (downpayment and otherwise).

I have just graduated from university (23 years old) and I am working as an electrical engineer but since I have recently started working (summer) I don\'t have a lot of extra cash (paid of student loans). I am interested in a Mazda 3 GS with manual, Power package and Air in either black mica or titanium gray.

Since this is my first car and I am taking care of ALL the payments, insurance included, i want to know what\'s the best deal I can get. As far as leasing goes what can I expect the dealer to discount the MSRP. And which would be better, a larger downpayment and smaller monthly payments or vice versa. With larger downpayments I find that you pay less overall for the car. But you have more money for yourself to gain interest in a savings account with a lower downpayment.

I know it\'s a lot of questions but any experience with leasing the mazda 3 would be greatly appreciated.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by AfterBurner


I am new to the board and am interested in leasing the Mazda 3. I just wanted to know if anyone has leased the mazda and what they found the best terms to be (downpayment and otherwise).

I have just graduated from university (23 years old) and I am working as an electrical engineer but since I have recently started working (summer) I don\'t have a lot of extra cash (paid of student loans). I am interested in a Mazda 3 GS with manual, Power package and Air in either black mica or titanium gray.

Since this is my first car and I am taking care of ALL the payments, insurance included, i want to know what\'s the best deal I can get. As far as leasing goes what can I expect the dealer to discount the MSRP. And which would be better, a larger downpayment and smaller monthly payments or vice versa. With larger downpayments I find that you pay less overall for the car. But you have more money for yourself to gain interest in a savings account with a lower downpayment.

I know it\'s a lot of questions but any experience with leasing the mazda 3 would be greatly appreciated.


when going in to talk to the dealer, talk final price FIRST with the salesperson, then when you have a price negotiated, then discuss leasing. if you go in with a leasing first approach, they\'ll try to ask you what monthly payments you\'re looking for and try to work you from there.

i\'m not sure what people are getting now, but MSRP is usually 8-10% above invoice... offer 4-5% above invoice and see what they say.

with a larger downpayment, you don\'t necessarily pay \"less overall\" for the car...if you don\'t plan on purchasing the car at the end of the lease, DO NOT put a large \"downpayment\" on the car. you\'re just throwing money into the wind that way. with leasing, a \"downpayment\" is referred to as a \"Capital Cost Reduction\", which reduces the leased amount. factor in the TOTAL costs paid on the car including Capital Cost Reduction AND monthly payments and it works out close if you were to put a small \"downpayment\" and have higher monthly payments. also, with a lease, your monthly payments are taxed GST and PST. the capital cost of the car isn\'t taxed.

at lease signing, you also have to put a Security Deposit, which is the monthly payment rounded up to the nearest $25 or $50. with $0 down, look to pay the dealer anywhere from $500-1000 to drive off the lot (depending on your monthly payment, with other fees and stuff).

i have a rudimentary lease calculator spreadsheet that i created back in 2001 when i leased my Maxima. it helped since the business manager tried to add $70/month to my payment and when i called him out on it and showed him the spreadsheet figure, he \"recalculated\" it and attributed the \"error\" to a \"newbie\" that typed it in (pure BS since he was the only one in his office before he called me in to close the deal). you will need to know the residual value of the car after the term, and the lease \"percentage\" rate (the \"percentage\" rate is really a \"money factor\" that is just a multiplier...it isn\'t the same, technically, as the interest rate on a regular financing loan)

having leased a car after graduating from uni, i would never do it again. i ended up paying over $1000 in after lease fees...most of it was from over KMs charge (i was ~8000kms over at $0.11/km) ...PLUS they charged me $350 to DISPOSE of the car...WTF was that fee for?! paper pushing fee is more like it. and then there was tax on top of it.

hope that helps

[DriverEd]

That is good info above.

I\'ll just add some other tips I learned.

I\'m on my 3rd leased car. I never put a down payment. You can expect to pay 1st month, security deposit (which is equivalent to the last month\'s payment), and a license fee. If you opt for the \"Wear Care\" program (Ford\'s leasing program that covers you for minor nicks, scratches, dents, wheel curb rash etc) then they waive the security deposit. Wear Care costs around $500 - I opted for it because I don\'t trust this dealer (Markham Mazda) and I don\'t want to be dinged for all the extra charges at the end of the lease.

Be very familiar with the Mazda Website prices - especially their monthly lease payments. They will try to sell you that BS window etching crap - don\'t do it. They will try to sell you that BS clearcoat / diamond coat / scotchgaurd crap - don\'t do it. My dealer (Markham Mazda) tried to add $950 freight and pdi charge on top of the advertised cost (as per the website). I called Mazda Canada about their web prices and was told that they ALREADY INCLUDE FREIGHT AND PDI - so don\'t let the dealer try to sneek it in again.

Most leases nowadays are walk-away leases, but make sure just in case. This will protect you in the event that your car is not worth the residual cost at the end of the lease. If it\'s not a walk-away, then you might be dinged with another charge to make up the difference. In a walk-away, you simply drop off the keys and well, walk away!

Many people think leasing is stupid, but don\'t always believe them. Leasing works for many people, while financing is better for others. I always lease one of our cars because I can write it off on my business - so it works for my case.

Last tip - BEWARE OF MARKHAM MAZDA. They repeatedly lied to me, easily making it the worst sales experience in my life.

[bluntman]

Don\'t get wtom started on Markham Mazda.

http://torontomazda3.com/forum/read.php?TID=629

[dredd2099]

dang, dont u just luv it here
answers are quick, to the point and informative

summary:

1. work from final price first and foremost w/o giving any indication that your thinking of leasing as well
2. mr majestics advice is dont put a large DP, mine is to totally forget about it
as he said, its throwing money in the wind, might as well give the money to me
3. make sure u got the \'walk-away\' lease
4. if your sure your going to need extra mileage allowance , work out a bigger mileage allowance and/or negotiate a lower per km charge for excess mileage

side note:
do not get intimidated by the sales tactics of the stealerships
just do your homework and dont be afraid to walk away if you think your not getting a good deal

[Melenium]

All of what has been posted has been fantastic info... just thought I\'d add a bit to it as well :)

First, check out http://www.carbuyingtips.com/ -- there is a section on leasing there as well. Read through everything on the site since it has some great info. Take some of it with a grain of salt though b/c the guy is making referal $$ on the sites that he mentions time and again.

Anyway, as others have mentioned, first haggle the price down and don\'t even mention leasing or financing until you\'ve got a good price. You can definately get a up to a few hundred off the MSRP depending on the model and dealership you goto. Search this site and you\'ll find some numbers that others have posted on the invoice and options prices.

Next up, figure out why you want to lease. Is it because you want a new car in a few years? Is it because of the low monthly payments? Is it tax related? Do you definately want to buy the car out when its over, or will you want to get something else?

I can tell you from my perspective, I didn\'t have the cash on hand to buy in full either, but I did want to buy. So what I was looking at was the TCO (total cost of ownership). This means you multiply out all the payments by the term, and add on the downpayments and such-- or just ask the dealer what it will cost in full when all is said and done. Remember some have an \"admin\" fee if you do buy out at the end. And leasing _CAN_ be cheaper than financing if you play the numbers right! The reason for that is that you don\'t pay interest on the buyout value, while with financing you are paying interest on the full amount. So say the car costs about $26,000, and the buyout amount is $11,000, that means you\'re only \"financing\" $15,000 instead of the full $26,000. The flip side is that leasing usually has a higher interest rate-- thats why you gotta play with some numbers in a spreadsheet. Another option is to get a line of credit or a loan from the bank and then pay cash to the dealer (depends what rates your bank can offer you and the flexibility).

Also, you don\'t necessarily have to lease from a Mazda dealership. If you want to PM me I can tell you about a contact I had at a GM dealership that had a better offer than Mazda when it came to leasing. The downside with that though is you don\'t get the grad rebate, and if you want the extended warranty its from GM, not Mazda. Still worth considering though.


Good luck!

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by DriverEd

Most leases nowadays are walk-away leases, but make sure just in case. This will protect you in the event that your car is not worth the residual cost at the end of the lease. If it\'s not a walk-away, then you might be dinged with another charge to make up the difference. In a walk-away, you simply drop off the keys and well, walk away!

Many people think leasing is stupid, but don\'t always believe them. Leasing works for many people, while financing is better for others. I always lease one of our cars because I can write it off on my business - so it works for my case.

Last tip - BEWARE OF MARKHAM MAZDA. They repeatedly lied to me, easily making it the worst sales experience in my life.

returning the maxima was like returning a rental (well, in essence, it was ;) )...hand the keys over, they do an inspection, you get a copy of the inspection report and an invoice in the mail (if you don\'t have any over KMs charges, then you get your Security Deposit back...otherwise, it\'s credited to the invoice and you pay the difference).

it was sad to see the maxima go and, i would\'ve bought it out if it were a manual but, c\'est la vie and i\'m loving the 3 so no regrets.

a lease worked for me as I was able to claim a %age of it in income tax as well as being reimbursed from work. so, it made sense, at the time.

however, if people can\'t write-off a lease, and they like driving a new car every 2-4 years, then they\'re stuck paying a monthly payment for life type of thing. when the lease is over, you need a car to drive so you either have to lease a new one, finance a new one, or buy a used car. if you decide to buy out the lease, you\'ll end up paying more in the long run.

also, it is harder to \"break\" the lease contract mid-lease. there are Early Termination Fees associated with such a transaction which amounts to 1) paying off the rest of the lease term (i.e. monthly payment X months left in the lease), 2) early termination fees (which is another paper pushing fee) and 3) whatever else the contract wants to ream you for... if you do lease read the contract carefully before you sign ...EVERYTHING should be disclosed on the lease as most contracts these days are Full Disclosure leases.

most of the time, the \"buyout\" value of the car is higher than what the market commands for it (depending on the car)...dealers/manufacturers sometimes set a ridiculously high residual value to keep the monthly payments low. your either stuck with riding the lease out or going to a company like www.leasebusters.com

on the other hand, if you financed, you can stop paying the bank and have them repo it :p or sell the car to pay off the majority of the loan and cover the rest. if you\'ve put a large downpayment on financing, then the value of the loan when/if you have to sell it will probably be less than the selling price so you can recoup some cash or cover the entire loan amount.

like Ed said, leasing works for some and doesn\'t work for others. make sure you know everything you need to know before going into a lease.

and, with all the negative stuff about Markham Mazda, i\'m surprised they\'re still in business :hoho

[AfterBurner]

Wow. Thanks guys (and girls) for all the info. Here is a little more information and more questions.

The reason I am getting a lease is cause coming out of university I don\'t have a lot of capital to spare and I am not interested in buying the first generation model of any car. That means, come lease-end I won\'t purchase the car but I will probably buy a new one. The lease term I am going for is the 36 month term at an ALR of 6.85%. I am going for a Sedan GS model with PP and air (would love to get a GT with GFX but too much $$$).

I have tabulated an extensive spreadsheet of various payment plans so I am prepared to compare the dealer prices.

I currently share the driving of a 2003 Dodge Caravan (Recieved in february of 2003)with my mother and the van to date has less than 10000 kms on it. I am projecting a mean of 8000km a year with a max of 10000km a year for the mazda. I have factored in a Low Kilometer Lease but I don\'t know what KMS are allowed under that plan. Anybody have an idea??

According to the mazda website, with 0 down i can expect a monthly payment of ~$400. That seems a bit steep for me. I calculated the TCO as per Milenium\'s description and found that not including the lease-end buy in the TCO decreased with increase in downpayment.

[majic]

have you considered to buy and then after 2-3 years sell? i know u take the biggest hit in the first year but that could be an option - also ssomething taht could cost you LESS than a lease. problem is i don\'t knwo what kind of depreciation to expect on the 3 but you COULD try and compare it to the protege/p5

also i know when my dad leased a grand prix.. at the end he had to pay some crazy amount for new tires and something that went wrong with the tailpipe so they\'ll try to get as MUCH out of u as possible.. i guess that would be equivalent of trying te sell privately.. eveyr little knick would decrease the price..

[Melenium]

Originally posted by AfterBurner


Wow. Thanks guys (and girls) for all the info. Here is a little more information and more questions.

The reason I am getting a lease is cause coming out of university I don\'t have a lot of capital to spare and I am not interested in buying the first generation model of any car. That means, come lease-end I won\'t purchase the car but I will probably buy a new one. The lease term I am going for is the 36 month term at an ALR of 6.85%. I am going for a Sedan GS model with PP and air (would love to get a GT with GFX but too much $$$).

I have tabulated an extensive spreadsheet of various payment plans so I am prepared to compare the dealer prices.

I currently share the driving of a 2003 Dodge Caravan (Recieved in february of 2003)with my mother and the van to date has less than 10000 kms on it. I am projecting a mean of 8000km a year with a max of 10000km a year for the mazda. I have factored in a Low Kilometer Lease but I don\'t know what KMS are allowed under that plan. Anybody have an idea??

According to the mazda website, with 0 down i can expect a monthly payment of ~$400. That seems a bit steep for me. I calculated the TCO as per Milenium\'s description and found that not including the lease-end buy in the TCO decreased with increase in downpayment.


Don\'t knock it just cos its a first generation.. and at this point you\'d probably realistically be looking at a 2005 which will be the 2nd year of production. As long as you get the comprehensive warranty for however long you plan to keep the car (be it 3 yrs or 7yrs), you don\'t really have to worry about anything aside from finding the time to take it in (assuming stuff goes wrong).

Don\'t make the mistake of going so low on your KMs. They won\'t save you all _that_ much off the lease, but if you go over they will cost you a fortune. Consider if you plan to go up to a friend cottage a few times during the summer and that alone could account for another 1000km (@ 11c each = $110!). They add up, and now that you\'re out of school, you may end up working at the other end of the city.. who knows, right?

As for the TCO and downpayments, consider as well that if you put down say $5000, you\'re not paying interest on that amount @ 6.85% (from Mazda). On the flip side, if you put down $0, but instead invest that $5000 in a GIC or mutual funds, you would be almost breaking even. YMMV though.

The GM guy I spoke to was offering a lease rate of 5.1% IIRC, and that was just a month ago (beginning of September), whilst Mazda wants 6.85%. I\'m not very good with the number crunching off the top of my head, but that difference alone over 36 months is probably worth more than the grad rebate. As I said, check into what your bank has to offer as well-- they have also developed new fangled financial instruments.

Something else, don\'t take the numbers written on the Mazad website calculator as written in stone. When you actually go to buy the car you\'re probably looking at AT LEAST another $300 added onto the bill (Gas Tax, Air Tax, Plates). If you\'re leasing/financing they\'ll almost certainly throw on an extra \"admin\" fee and \"disposal/buyout\" fee. You should also be able to drop a bit off the MSRP though, so it may come out in the wash--- or not. Just be prepared. Here a fee, there a fee, everywhere a fee fee :P

[billyfo]

it depends how often you want a new car, 2-3yrs or at least 5 yrs, if you always have temptation to have a new car, then lease is good for you. if you want to keep your car longer, go to finance instead, don\'t use any \"I don\'t have enough $ to pay the car\" to lease you car, cause you end up paying more when you decide to keep the car.

Honda, Mazda and Toyota have reputation for creating great cars, though lemon is sometime happening, so 1st yr car (I think you want to say 1st yr car, not 1st gen car) don\'t have many problems than others.

[chaser]

Originally posted by AfterBurner

I have factored in a Low Kilometer Lease but I don\'t know what KMS are allowed under that plan. Anybody have an idea??



i think the Low km lease allows you to drive 2000kms/year ... not 100% sure though

[DriverEd]

Low km lease is 20,000kms per year (that\'s what I\'m on). Regular km lease is 24,000kms. You can add more before you start the lease (it would be cheaper than adding after you\'ve leased the car), but it might be difficult to predict in your position as a new grad.

[AfterBurner]

Thanks everyone for all your help.

I just leased a 2005 Mazda 3 GS w/PP in Titanium Gray. Got a good deal and the wear care plan so don\'t have to worry wbout the end-of-lease costs. The low km lease is 20,000 kms which is good for me. Can\'t wait for it to be delivered.

[jlefk44]

Lots of good info in this thread.

If you work for a large company that has fleet cars that happen to be FORD, you may want to check to see if Ford provides \"X-plan pricing\" to employees of your comany. (Since Ford owns Mazda - the benefit applies). Many may not consider this possibility. It ends up as a fixed mark-up and a lower Freight&PDI.

I chose to lease instead of financing....
36 month Lease w/option to purchase early.
Max allowable D/P ($6K I believe).
Increased refundable Security Deposit by 4x to reduce the lease rate by 1%.
Payment is $239/mth with a $10K residual.

Then, I opened a GIC account to save monthly for the residual payment. Total payout monthly is about $475, I earn interest on part of it, and I avoid paying about $1K in interest over the term.

Intent is to keep the car.

cheers...