i was thinking about leasing a dakota instead of purchasing one. has anyone here had experience with dodge's leasing plans? how is it when you go to turn the vehicle in at the end of the contract? do they charge you for every scratch and dent and charge some absurd amount to fix the dents and scratches? i normaly only put about 10,000 miles a year on my truck and i don't modify my vehicles except for a bedliner, fog lights, ect. are the payments higher or lower compared to financing to buy the truck.

 

i never understood the concept of leasing a truck. A truck you use to haul, to get dirty, to really drive, and with a lease you cant (read shouldnt) really do that unless you pay the fees. Not sure about dodge specifically, but other leasing experiences have shown me that once you go over that milage, or scratch the truck up in any way, you end up getting screwed and it would have been better to just buy it outright. Thats been my experience at least, unless your looking for a truck just something to sit there and be pretty i would just go through the buying process so you can really use it. I'd only ever lease something like a BMW or Jag just cause i'd only drive it when necessary and really after a year it would loose its appeal :P

 

I leased my last truck and it was a good experience. I actually traded it in early and i only lost a little on it. I don't drive that much ...i might hit 10k a year. I have a Ram, Dakota and a motorcycle so i try to split my mileage.

 

Well leasing through Chrysler Financial isn't that bad at all

They usually give you a $1,000 extra bonus cash if you are approved thru them & lease thru them.....since there are some banks that do leases if you get turned down by Chrysler Financial

And they're very lenient credit wise, because I've gotten approved MANY times thru them without a problem and I don't even make that much money (but I have awesome credit). Whereas with Ford Credit....I know they are a little tougher/stricter on approving people.
Because when I had "negative equity" going into a new deal.....Chrysler approved without a problem. Ford was strict and wouldn't do the deal without more money down.
But I guess it helps when I used to work at the dealer and the financing manager is my friend...LOL

As for turning in the car (at the end of a lease)......I worked at a Dodge dealer and some of the cars that were turned back in were either cleaned up (the customer cleaned them up before turn in--for fear of getting charged) or they were just left looking like crap with trash and dirt inside them. The guy that inspected the cars did a half *** job and didn't really care. So it all depends on who is inspecting them, but it seems that the Dodge/Chrysler guys didn't really care that much.

I also worked at a GM dealer before too.....now the guy that did lease turn ins there was very picky and inspected the car VERY thoroughly.

So I would have to say that Chrysler is a easier company to lease from & probably doesn't care that much as the other 2 companies (GM & Ford) do

 

Also too...

Chrysler usually has GREAT leasing specials.....and when your lease is up and you need another car they ALWAYS have "Lease Loyalty" cash (varies from $500-$1,000) in addition to the rebates which helps you get into another new car (thru them of course) at a good price.

 

i paid a one time fee of 3500$ drive the truk for 2 years. give it bak. this is not a buyers market, its a borrowers. i can use the truk completely as anyone else would. get it derrty haul ****. just take care of it and you will be fine ya kno.

 

When I leased mine last March, i was mailed a credit card sized thing with info about how they charge for scratches. It said that any scratch, dent, etc. that could be covered by this card would not count against me when turning it in. As long as no part of the damage was visible when you put the card over it, you are good

 

Ireceived that credit card too... I had forgotten about that...

Anyway, I leased my truck because it was a pretty amazing deal. I think sticker on the truck was $32k, and my payment is almost half of what it would have been on a purchase, with next to nothing down.

As far as using the truck hard (what it was meant to be used for), I've done that. My bed has quite a few scratches in it. But, unless you're working at a construction site or something, the rest of the truck should be fine. And in my case, pretty much all it needs is a good shampooing and I need to address the bed. The solution for me, and anyone else, is a spray in bedliner. If that was done, I wouldn't have any concerns about ending the lease. Once you get that spray in bedliner, leasing a truck shouldn't be any different than leasing any other car.

 

I got a charge card sized thing in the mail too. It said if imperfections are bigger than that card when you go to turn the truck in, you "could" be charged.

Leasing is the only way to go. My MSRP was around 24,250. I got it for about 16,250, put a thousand down, and the payment is right at about half of what it would be if I had bought it. The dealer even showed me a side by side comparison...buying vs. leasing. You should have them do that for you. And I can get a brand new one at the end of next year if I want to without having to trade the truck in. I can even trade out of it early if I want to.

Go for the lease. You won't regret it, especially if you only drive about 10K miles a year. My lease has 15K per year, and I usually only drive about 12-13. You can even add or subtract miles throughout your lease. Of course your payment will go up if you add them. Have your dealer do a side by side comparison of leasing vs. buying, and it should really make sense.