Leasing a car is quite popular a trend in the world of automobile business as it allows a user to drive a newer vehicle for less money without having to buy one. But it is found that many drivers tend to commit a few common mistakes. And these could start right from the stage of setting up a car lease or while signing up for the terms and conditions attached.
Here are five such common mistakes that are committed by the car-leasing consumers that they should avoid.
- Paying the Majority Amount as Upfront
Car dealers while advertising their leasing models like Acura Lease specials would show lower monthly lease payments on the newly launched ones, but while settling up a lease, they ask the consumers to pay a huge amount right at the beginning of the term to avail that low payment. But if something unfortunate like a collision or stealing happens, the insurance company would surely reimburse the leasing company the value of the car, but that is more unlikely to happen with the money that the customer has paid upfront. So, finally the consumer would be left with neither the car, nor the money.
- Forgetting about the Gap Insurance
For any new car, its value drops significantly once it has driven off the insurance covered miles and the same things happen to the leased cars as well.
If any leased car gets stolen the car insurance company would reimburse the value of the car, but that amount might not cover the total obligation of the consumer under its terms of the lease. The customer in that case might have to pay the balance amount out of his pocket unless he has subscribed for the gap insurance which would cover up the difference amount.
- Driving off the Entire Distance Covered by the Insurance
Low monthly payments generally have low mileage limits. It has been commonly observed in the leasing contracts that they insure only for driving a maximum distance of 10,000 miles to 15,000 miles in a year. Exceeding the limits would entail a charge of an additional 10 cents to 30 cents per mile that the customer must pay during the closure of the lease. This could end up in owing a lot of money for the miles that have been driven extra. To avoid this extra payment, the consumers should learn to be under the limits as much as possible.
- Ill-maintaining the Car
A leased car getting damaged beyond normal wear and tear is subject to additional fees during the time of its return to the dealer. Though the definition of “normal wear,” can differ, the drivers cannot have expectations from the leasing party to be lenient and forgiving. So, one should maintain a leasing car well and not treat it carelessly.
- Lengthy Leasing Contract
According to an Acura Lease company, the car-lease terms in most cases range between two to four years. Signing up for longer period, could end up in risking extra money for both the lease and maintenance bills.
Summary
To sum up, customers who like to ride new vehicles should keep in mind all these mistakes to avoid while signing up for a car-leasing contract.