MikeAtLincoln

I will be purchasing a new car for my Wife's older Kia. I would like to lease but having never done so before I would like any good advise from fellow members.
What would be a fair Money Factor at today's rate?
Would a high credit score help to lower rates?
Can the Residual Value be negotiated?
Is Gap Insurance a separate charge?

Thanks in advance ​​​​​​​

bkdc

Residual value is not negotiable and gap insurance is usually included. Really the only thing negotiable is the capitalized cost. The "money factor" or interest rate can be negotiated unless your lease is part of a special incentive deal where the interest is already rock bottom. Higher credit score does reduce your rates but I tend to assume most people considering an S class already have rock-solid credit. You may be able to negotiate freebies or add-ons. The other major thing that's negotiated is any sort of trade-in value if you are trading in a car.

roviw1

9 years ago when I bought a brand new Jaguar XJ I did it over a 4 year term, there was a balloon payment at the end, this was flexible depending on the assumed mileage you would be doing. I was always intending to keep the car at the end anyway.
Regarding the gap insurance, I thought it was a good thing to have due to the large depreciation of the car, I did not want anything bad to happen where it would be written off by the insurance and the payout might be less than I actually owed on the car !
The dealer offered me gap insurance but I actually found it considerably cheaper by buying it from an independent online place.

mikey94025

Leasing with financing from the major manufacturers, like Mercedes or Audi Financial, often includes gap insurance. Mercedes and "gap waiver": https://www.mbusa.com/en/financial-s...inance/leasing. Otherwise, your own auto insurance company can also add gap insurance fairly inexpensively.

In the event of a total loss, remember that gap insurance only covers the gap between your car's value and what you owe. It does not reimburse you for lost value. Therefore, never put more money down up-front in a lease (often called "cap cost reduction"). Otherwise, you could just lose it all if you experience a total loss very early in your lease period. Besides, cap cost reduction is effectively just prepaying part of each monthly payment in advance and doesn't save you any financing costs. It's just a way to "think" you have a lower monthly payment.

cetialpha5

Only other tip would be to buy the maintenance package. Not really sure if you need to buy the 3 pack or if just the two pack will do if you're doing a 3 year lease. I would think you'd turn the car in before the 3rd maintenance package is due. They let you roll in the maintenance package into the MSRP. That means it's part of the residual that they calculate. So if you turn the car in at the end of the lease, if the residual is 50%, you'd only end up paying for 50% of the maintenance package during the lease even though you've used it all up by the time you turn it in.