Richard J Kinch wrote:
Don White writes:


Does your lease even permit towing?



Why wouldn't it?


Lot more wear and tear on the vehicle.

I would check the fine print. Make sure you won't get nailed for double
mileage or something for having installed a hitch.

I've never heard of that. I've had leased Jeeps, an Acura, and a BMW
with towing packages from the dealer. The most "towing miles" are a
with bicycle on a rack. The boat moves maybe 1500 feet and back unless
there is another destination outside of the yard. How could they double
the mileage based on a hitch when additional wear and tear can't be
measured?

Dan

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

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.



Actually, I took delivery of the Ranger on March 30.

"Don White" wrote in message
...
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.



Actually, I took delivery of the Ranger on March 30.


I think some folks here assume that you cannot think for yourself Don. ;-)

JimH wrote:
"Don White" wrote in message
...

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.




Actually, I took delivery of the Ranger on March 30.



I think some folks here assume that you cannot think for yourself Don. ;-)


If the dealership stays under current management, I doubt I'd have a
problem. If some new hardass took over...who knows.
My first thought was to lease a vehicle I planned on keeping.....
or find enough of a downpayment to keep the monthly purchase payments
reasonable. Couldn't decide if I wanted a new RAV4, a Sienna or a
Tundra 6 cyl 2WD. I compromised.
This Ranger deal just seemed too good to let slide.

Dan Krueger writes:

How could they double
the mileage based on a hitch when additional wear and tear can't be
measured?

How could they? By putting it in the lease contract. You install a hitch,
you pay extra by some formula.

Short-term car rentals prohibit towing altogether. You pay infinity extra.

Long-term leases would not surprise me if they did the same, or charged a
penalty rate. It certainly would be exploited if they didn't. Heavy
towing is *very* expensive because it shortens the life of the transmission
before a rebuild is needed. The towing package just makes it possible to
do so.

But the same could be said of living in a mountainous region versus South
Florida.

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.


You also can't drive it hardly at all. Believe me, I've known people
who've leased, three different people, and all three say never again.
They look for reasons to ding you at the end.

Richard J Kinch wrote:

Dan Krueger writes:


How could they double
the mileage based on a hitch when additional wear and tear can't be
measured?


How could they? By putting it in the lease contract. You install a hitch,
you pay extra by some formula.

Short-term car rentals prohibit towing altogether. You pay infinity extra.

Long-term leases would not surprise me if they did the same, or charged a
penalty rate. It certainly would be exploited if they didn't. Heavy
towing is *very* expensive because it shortens the life of the transmission
before a rebuild is needed. The towing package just makes it possible to
do so.

But the same could be said of living in a mountainous region versus South
Florida.


Dick,

"Some formula"? You don't lease a vehicle with a contract that allows
the manufacturer to add their policies later. I doubt anything like
this exists.

I don't get the rental and "infinity extra" thing at all. Are you
talking about a short lease?

I'm going to guess that you have no idea. I've leased a lot of cars and
trucks and never seen this. Maybe someone else has had that in their
contract. I doubt it.

Dan

Dan Krueger writes:

You don't lease a vehicle with a contract that allows
the manufacturer to add their policies later.

Your typical car rental contract prohibits "towing or propelling any other
vehicle".

Wouldn't surprise me if a longer term lease did, too.

Richard J Kinch wrote:

Dan Krueger writes:


You don't lease a vehicle with a contract that allows
the manufacturer to add their policies later.


Your typical car rental contract prohibits "towing or propelling any other
vehicle".

Wouldn't surprise me if a longer term lease did, too.

Dick,

Wrong again. Stop guessing and check the lease - that might "surprise"
you. Why would they install a towing package on a leased vehicle if
towing wasn't allowed?

Dan