Reginald P. Smithers wrote:

I have listened to Clark Howard, it there are many people who do have
problems. If you keep the car well maintained, keep documents of following
mfg. suggested schedule, park your car away from others in the parking lot,
keep the interior spotless you should not have a problem.

Since I keep my cars as long as possible, I do all that already, but there
are some who think you can let things slide, ignore the dings on the side of
the car, and not worry about it because you are returning the car in 2 or 3
years. They normally are very very surprised at what they charge to repair
these items.

Don, since you have just closed on the deal with the Ford dealer, I would
ask them to put the "credit card gage" in writting. It is much easier to do
that before, but even now, would be better than at the end of the lease.




The end of lease allowances are readily available in advance. Even
though I lease most of my cars, I still take care of them as if they
were the last car I'll own. If you abuse you car, leasing isn't for
you. I have heard that different manufacturers are tougher at trade in
time but I haven't paid a dime to Honda, Nissan, Acura (Honda), Toyota,
Jeep, or BMW. This gauge you refer to is usually a simple ruler.
Nissan actually sent me one prior to my lease expiration. No dents over
2" in diameter, no more than one dent per panel, tire wear less than xxx
thousands, etc. It's really just normal wear and tear.

The one thing I have learned with leasing is that you need to pay
attention to the tires. I made the mistake of buying new tires for a
Jeep when I lived up north only a few months before I turned it in. I
should have done it several months earlier so I would have benefited
from their better performance. On the other side, I have waited a bit
longer to change tires on my BMW's so I don't have to buy a third set
right at trade in time. That can save you north of $1000.00.

Dan