Anyone out there leasing these cars so far? If so do you mind sharing the lease details? TIA!!

 

I lease mine. Ford doesn't do leases on mustangs.

http://www.leasecompare.com/

The process was a little long but realatively painless. But the prices were good. They are very popular on the BMW boards I used to frequent.

Tarry sabatha is the owner and he will actually respond to your emails and is a very nice guy.

Good luck

 

shotzy - thanks so much! The prices do look good! I am debating to lease this car and wait for the 50th to come out and but it plus I am starting a business so I can use the lease to my advantage.

 

Yep I do it through my company as well. It has big advantages. Plus I usually kill a car in about 3 years anyway. This way I give it back and start over. The only bad part is the extra money i spend on mods I usually loose. But the tax savings offsets some of that cost.

 

Wow, you kill a car in three years? What are you doing to them? And how does that work with the lease when you give it back dead?

And how do they react to the mods when you turn it in?

(inquiring minds want to know )

 

Well not literally.....


I just drive alot so pretty much a 3 year old car with 60-70 k miles needs alot of things. Think brakes, tires and expensive services. So instead of paying for all that. I turn the car in a lease a new one. I pre buy the mileage so as not to have any surprises at lease end.

I usually only do basic mods that are really not noticable to any one but someone who drives the car and I always keep stock parts. Since driving the car is not part of the end of lease inspection at least in NY they dont notice. I have never had to reverse any those mods when returning the car. But I would if I had to. Since I will probably due exhaust on this one Axelback I will just take it off when I return it.

 

I would have never leased a car but now I'm thinking it is the way to go. Think, in the summer of 2004, you could have leased a 2005 GT and had the hotest car on the market. Then in the summer of 2007, you could have turned it in and leased a Challenger and had that beast for 3 years. When you were sick of that in summer of 2010, the Mustang GT is updated with the 412 horse 5.0!!! Seems like a good 6 year run, right?!?!? In 2013, something else you want will come along...

 

That does sound good. But after all that you own nothing. If money is rolling, then that does sound like a good idea... and most people do lease in that situation.

 

yeah it can be done through 3rd party banks. Your dealer should have info for you. I leased mine through US Bank, for me leasing is the only way to go. I'll never keep a car long enough to see the benefits buying a car.

 

every time I have done the math on a lease I was better off buying, if you count the residual value of the car at the end . . . I guess if you can deduct the lease payments as a "business expense" that might make the difference

(good example of why the tax code needs to be simplified . . . but that's a different topic . . . )

 

When you count the residual value at the end do you count the repairs that will need to be made to get that repair. That is also a big advantage to a lease. The only car I have had to do brakes on has been my m3 on my last 7 cars. The brake job would have been over $1000 if I had to keep it because the rotors were close to needing replacement but still within specs. Instead I only paid $250 to change the pads because I was turning in the car in a few months. Also the 2500 major service that was due at 60k miles was pushed off and not done for the same reasons. No charges were incurred because of this. But it would be a huge factor if I was trying to privately sell or trade in the car. Also how much resale value do you think I would get in a 3 year old car with 70k on the odometer.


What I like about leasing cars is there is no unknown in the transaction. I go in and negotiate my lease for all the extra mileage that I know I am going to drive. And that is all I am ever going to pay. Plus maybe a few oil changes here or there.

When you buy a car you never know what the true cost of that car is until you actually sell it. And after 3 years of driving thru NYC potholes and crappy roads. I have yet to have a car that I said I could drive this for another 3 years.

BTW ......I drive a lot almost 20-25k per year.

 

There are several advantages to a lease, especially if the car is going to be used for business. My partner leases her car because:

1) She gets a new car every 3 years. This may sound like a status thing, but it's not. She drives Hondas, and their warranty is 3 years. So the whole time she is driving the car, she is in warranty. We have no out of pocket repair expense since we never have to buy tires, brakes, etc.

2) There is no lump-sum sales tax due on a lease. It is included in the payment.

3) If the car is totaled or stolen, she gets a new one.

4) If the car is wrecked, she doesn't have to worry about loss of value after it's repaired.

5) There is no worrying about resale or haggling about the value of her trade-in. We turn the car in at the end of the lease.

I had a friend of mine who leased a car for his wife. He had a Harley payment at the time, and didn't want a big car payment and didn't want to put any cash down. So he leased the car under a special-rate program for 3 years. At the end of 3 years, when his Harley was paid off, he bought the car. It cost him $500 more overall to do this as opposed to financing it from the start, and he felt it was well worth that.

Leasing is not for everybody, but for some people it works out quite well.

 

He said it much better than me.

 

Question for the business owners...I "started" a drafting business last year. By "started", I mean, I got my business license, ficticious business name, opened a checking account and sent out letters trying to drum up business, but alas, no customers. So I technically have no income from the business. If I lease a car, how can I write it off? I have not claimed taxes on the business yet, not even loss statements from the start-up costs, so would I have to start filing taxes with no customers and then claim a loss (car payments or depreciation or whatever) and then get that money back as a return?

 

VALCAD -- somebody else can probably answer better, but here are the basics as I understand them:

If you are "doing business as" or a sole proprietorship, or basically any form of business that is not incorporated, the business income and expenses are mixed with your other personal income. So you can effectively take the business expenses as deductions against your other personal income, though it's a little trickier that in the tax forms.

I believe you can start a "business" and lose money for three years without any problems from the IRS.

 

That makes sense. So what part of the car payment/insurance/gas can be written off? I plan on driving to the coast at least twice a month to look for potential clients. And I am well on my way to losing money the first 3 years

 

So basically the Mustang has zero to do with your business and you just want to cheat the system. Nice.

 

Hey don't be judging or alleging fraud against the guy. What he is suggesting is perfectly legal - and done by every other business. Deducting the purchase (via Sched 179 Depreciation) and leases of new vehicles - regardless if its a sole proprietor or a large corporate fleet - is a major part of vehicle sales - and the IRS provides the incentive to deduct it from income.

For mixed use vehicles (pers & bus), the easiest way is the mileage deduction.
Or if you want, you can deduct actual expenses for the business mileage.

Either way, record keeping is critical. My CPA always appreciated my record keeping system. I bought those 6x9 manila envelopes and kept one in every glove box. When I start the car I enter the mileage. When I'm done with my business driving, I'd note the ending mileage - a note of the client or town you were seeking customers, etc. is helpful to jog your memory later. Plus the envelope holds all business related receipts. I did one per month.

If I took mileage deduction, just add the business miles and multiply (.50/mile for 2010) and deduct from your taxes on your Schedule C (if Sole Prop).
If I deducted actual expenses then you have to know the beginning and ending mileage for the year. Then find the percentage of business miles to total miles. Then you deduct that percentage of gas, oil, insurance, etc.


Note that if you don't have an office, you can deduct miles from your driveway. If you have an office, you cannot deduct driving to and from home to your office.

Even if this business is on top of a wage job, you can still claim the expenses as you build your clientelle. You will likely show a loss for the beginning years. But as long as your records demonstrate you were trying to earn a profit, the IRS has no problem with taking a loss on your Schedule C - which offsets wage income from your W-2.

 

Thank you Cdynaco, that was extremely helpful. Of course I am not trying to game the system, but if I am going to be driving 3000 miles trying to drum up business, I would like to know how I can write it off. I have never run a business before, so all help is greatly appreciated. And I always heard about business cars being great write offs, but never knew why.

Plus, pulling up to a potential business client (generally engineers and surveyors) in a 6 year old SUV with 125,000 miles on it does not scream raging success. However, pulling up in a very cool muscle car says a lot about a person. First, it is not a Merc or BMW, so the potential client does not feel like he will be paying your car payment via your expensive fees. Second, it will be a great jumping off point for the conversation. Either it helps or it is neutral, but I do not see how it would hurt.

And just because WE know how much Mustangs cost, does not mean that my potential client will know it is equivalent in cost to a BMW. The perception would be, Ford = cheap. But not as cheap as a 6 year old family hauler.

 

And another thing...the Mustang does have something to do with my business. My business is me. So all of the marketing, business cards, letterhead, advertising, t-shirts, final products should all reflect me. When I pull up to meet with a client, I don't want them thinking about any other business than mine. Magnaflow reps do not pull up in Yugos. I know my business does not have anything to do with the auto industry, but so what? Image is image.

I always pictured myself running my business in a way that would reflect professionalism, honesty, hard work and quality. I believe, call me crazy, that if you pay an employee a little more than the rival pays, you get more loyalty. I believe that if you include a new catalog, a quarter pound of coffee, some chocolates, a company pen or magnet, a thank you note, in your shipped items, the client opening the box will get a pleasant surprise along with a quality product. So part of that image - self-promotion, sucking up to the client, call it what you want - includes me pulling into their parking lot in a machine that reflects who I am. If I drink too much at a business lunch, pull up in a rickety Geo Storm, or I give them crumpled papers as a final product, then I am not trying hard enough to present the image I want to.

I believe that is why people drive company cars in the first place. It is boring people who are more into sports than sports cars that have made the Audis, Bimmers, Mercs the business car standard.