The Short-Term-Lease Dilemma
With more than 40 new-car models available for lease for $200 or less per month, according to Edmunds.com, leasing is definitely making a comeback.
Vehicles in the average American’s fleet are aging, and a low-payment lease option is tempting. If the choice is a $200-a-month payment for 48 months on a used car or the same monthly payment for a 24-month lease on a new car, I’m guessing the lease option would win much of the time.
And for OEMs, getting consumers back on a 24-month trade-in cycle is ideal. Or is it? While used vehicles are currently in short supply, a couple years of high lease volume might overcompensate.
Not only that, but I wonder if lessors have forgotten their mantras of 2009, when they vowed conservative leases on only select products. Are we headed down a dangerous path?
