My wife and I are transitioning from a two income household to one, since she's going to be a stay at home mom. We're selling our '09 Mazda 6 with a payment of $320/month and looking to cut our payment below 200 a month.

If we purchased a car to attain a payment of this, we're looking at 05 or older, with at least 75000 miles and no warranty. I'm seriously considering leasing a Civic. Unfortunately there are no lease specials right now, with 0 due at signing. I know there is an Accord deal, but it's more than we want to spend each month. I like the thought of having a warranty and a low monthly payment, knowing we'd purchase the vehicle outright when the lease is up.

The earthquake seems to have sputtered any lease specials on Civics, but does anyone know when Honda typically has a 0 due at signing Civic lease special? Any insider info would be great!

 

For any brand of car, the only way those "$199 per month" lease advertisements work is by having at least $2500 up front in the fine print. When you include that, divided over the 36 month term, the true payment ends up closer to $300. Also if there is any chance you're going to want keep a car after the lease ends, it is going to cost less in the long run to do a purchase deal in the first place.

The car that you already have is usually your best deal on a car. This is especially true if you still owe more than it is worth-- you have to pay it off sometime. Trading when you owe more than it is worth means that difference gets added to the new deal, so part of every payment is going toward a car you don't even have any more.