Stoneman

Next March I have to get a used vehicle as my current car lease will be up. In 2003 I filed BK and was discharged in 03/05. I've been trying to re-establish my credit ever since. I make a good income, have one active credit card (although the utilization ratio is a bit high: 70%) I have never missed a payment. I never missed any payments or was late on any bill. I pulled my Equifax credit report and it showed my BK from 2003. It says "Closed" in 03/05. I assume that's when the BK was discharged. I visited my local bank and I have a feeling getting a loan, or even a line of credit to buy a used car is going to be impossible. No wonder more people steal cars. Anyone else been in the same boat?

This company tried to contact me on a debt that I had from over TEN YEARS ago! It was earlier this year. I had filed BK about 7 years ago and included this in my debt. The only way I was ever able to get them to stop calling was to threaten them with legal action. Even if you specify the debt is beyond the legal collection limit, they don't care. Personally if I had the money I would have gone after them for unwarranted harassment. The people who work for them are lower than cockroaches.

I'm currently leasing a 2007 Subaru Impreza Sedan (manual). LOVE the car. $336 tax-in, 48 months. I can zip around trucks and perform power slides in parking lots. Stoneman My car is the silver one behind the WRX STi. Boy what a rush it was to drive the Sti!! (The salesman picked me up in the car at my old Chevy dealership when I dropped off my old car).

My personal experience with leases is the car usually is not worth the residual amount the leasing company specifies for it. Yes, buy the car if you are at your last resort and don't want to pay mileage penalties. -Stoneman

It's quite simple, actually. The Mazdadealer screwed up and typed out the wrong dealership and vehicle. I had thought someone else had applied for a loan in Toronto (identity theft). All is well. -Stoneman

Before I leased my Subaru Impreza (I get it tomorrow! ), I applied for a lease on a 2007 Mazda 3 Sport sedan. The letter I received from Mazda Credit stated "I had been declined due to not enough credit history". However the dealership (Mills Mazda), and the Vehicle (a 2007 Mazda B3000), was totally off the mark! WTF??! I am very concerned. Identity theft or mistake? I phoned the Mazda head office and I left a voice message about this. Anyone ever have this happen? I would never buy or lease a Mazda B3000. I hate 'em. Stoneman

What you're doing when paying money down on a lease is called Capitalized Cost Reduction. The smart way to lease is to put no money down at all. Get the lowest possible price on a car, or "Out the door price". I spent 30 minutes arguing with a Mazda sales person to get him the "TOTAL" cost of a car. All he would do was push a paper around with the monthly payments. I said I don't give a damn about monthly payments - just the total cost of the car. Because your lease payment is calculated on the total cost of car minus residual value. And the money factor, another great number to keep an eye on, is your APR divided by 2400. Always get a closed-end lease. GMAC is the best, but, SAAB, I think is GMAC. They also roll in GAP protection in their lease too. Personally, if you want to drop 4500 dollars on a car, buy it out right instead of leasing. It just doesn't make sense. Did I mention Subaru has better lease rates and they are also through GMAC? I'm stoked about my new Impreza.

FYI, You should Consider a Subaru, as their lease rates dropped to 0.9 %. (Get a Legacy GT !)

I think you should visit outbound link disallowed- a great site that even includes a free leasing spreadsheet. In leasing you are paying the depreciation of a vehicle, and you don't own it. It's more expensive to lease in the long run than outright buying it; however it may be more convenient (financially) to lease than to buy. It is for me. Good luck. Stoneman

Thanks! What's weird is Subaru dropped their lease rate from 4.8% over 4 years to 0.9 % - saving me thousands of dollars in finance charges. I love it when a good plan comes together!

My credit history is not good. I handled money poorly in my past, and 4 years ago I filed BK. It taught me great things about credit and managing finances. 4 years later that BK haunts me, because it's damn near impossible to get credit these days. I'll be reviewing this board to get more info on how to restore my credit. I've got a secured card which I manage well (I always pay it off), and my bills are all up to date. I recently completed a 4-year lease with GMAC, so I wanted to see if I could quality for financing for a new lease. The car was a Mazda and the finance company was Ford credit. It didn't go well. They wanted 10K DOWN on a 4-year lease worth maybe 18K. I refused it. I went back to GMAC who got me in a Subaru for only 900 down. I'm very grateful for that. I was never late on any payment with GMAC, so that counts for something. A word of advice for anyone: GMAC likes to keep your payments near the last amount, which is why I needed to put money down, to lower the cost of the lease. I figure after this lease, it will be my final one, and I'll get a car for purchase then. Cheers, Stoneman