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Enjoying Your Cadillac

Lease or Buy?  - by Bruce Nunnally

New Cadillac advertisements often seem to offer amazing lease deals.  What are the things you should consider when leasing seems attactive?



What is the down payment assumed in the lease?
A very attractive lease offer may assume you put down $4K or 5K as a down payment.  Obviously, you usually want to minimize your cash out of pocket.  Note the small print and see what down payment the lease offer assumes.

How many miles per year does the lease assume?
The more miles per year a Cadillac will be driven, the more wear is to be expected.  This raises the cost of a lease.  So, offers intended to be very attractive often assume only 10K miles per year, instead of the 15K or 16K miles per year people frequently actually drive. 

Which Cadillac is in the lease offer?
In the case of a CTS, for example, a lease offer will often be the ISA CTS base model, with 2.8L engine and manual transmission.  If that is the car you want, then great (and it is a nice car).  But if you had in mind a fully optioned sport model with 3.6L, then the lease price will be higer.
 
Should I lease or buy my new Cadillac?
A car lease often allows you to lower your payments as compared with a car purchase.  The key thing to consider is, how long do you plan to keep the Cadillac?  If you want to be able to trade to a new Cadillac every year, or every few years, a lease may save you money over time.  On the other hand, if you plan to keep your Cadillac for the life of the car, or if you want to modify the Cadillac -- body work, audio, TV monitors, performance -- you should consider purchasing it instead of leasing.