stuka

OK, this is going to be a long post, so please bear with me.

Some of you might know me from my handle, I am a current owner of an 02 M3, and I might have an opportunity to take over someone's 996TT lease for a very easy montly payment. The truth is, 996 body style never did anything for me. And if I were to buy one for keeps, GT2 will be the only one for me. Anyway, the whole 996TT deal was what rekindled my boyhood (OK, so I was 23 at the time when 993TT first came out) dream of owning a Fly Yellow 993TT.

I have been attending CCA schools in my M3, and have been thinking about getting rid of the M3 and replacing it with an E30 325is. A painfully slow car that'll force me to preserve momentum and be a fast driver, and not a driver with a fast car on the track.

I have started looking around for the turbo about two weeks ago when I was at Laguna Seca watching the SpeedTV World Challenge series and had my "revelation" of sorts. I have been lurking on the Rennlist and Roadfly and have read so many posts that my eyes hurt. I have also scour lots of online and offline listings of 993TT's and the asking price of the 993TT is well within my price range. I have downloaded all the DIY documents and so far, the car looks pretty promising as far as doing maintenance myself (or amongst the group of track junkies that I hang out with).

I plan on leasing the car for two years to thirty months to offset the cost of the car with tax write-offs. Then buying the car outright afterwards. I financed this M3 with no money down and was smacked silly by a few of my more finance savvy friends about how that high monthly payment could have been used on a 996TT (not that I was that crazy about the 996TT, but it did get me thinking about my ultimate dream car).

One curious observation, I called my insurance today, and both the 03 and the 96TT's cost the same to insure. And about $300 more every 6 months than my M3, with the same 100/300/100 with $250 deductable.

So my question is this:

Could you guys help me with a few leasing/financing companies referrals that are 993TT friendly? And yes, this is for elite credit rating.

For the past two weeks I've got that Yellow 993TT on my brain, and I just need to get it. The only obstacle right now is finding a leasing company that actually think that the 993TT is worth something instead of quoting me some crazy low residuals.

Thanks all.

Andy

OldGuy

Premier Financial seems to be a good one. I did not
use it but I talked to them. I dont know thier web site
but they advertise on Dupont. They only do realistic
leases due to the fact that if you do 60 mo lease the
car will be 10-11 years old at the end. They are in conn
I think.

Jeff 993TT

If you can buy the car outright, I think that would be better. Saves all the intrest costs and other hassle.

Given the choice of some type of financing, I'd rather finance it over leasing it.

Good luck on getting your TT. Speed yellow is an awesome color. That would have been my alternate choice.

flatair

Few leasing companies that I've ever seen will lease a used car older than 3-4 years. Some places will do balloon financing to get your payments down, but you still have to pay the whole tax upfront as opposed to partial tax on a lease (based on lease payment) in many states. If you want to lease, you prob should go with a 2001 TT (I know, doesn't have the 993TT's beauty)- payments can be as low as mid $800's to mid $900's with 0 down, 36-39 months, for a decent mid 20K mile TT. Other option is to go ahead and bite the bullet - finance a 993TT, they'll hold their value and you'll have some nice equity, even if you decide you want to sell it in a few years.

OldGuy

In Dupont registry there are MANY leasing companies that will lease
MANY different kinds of cars. They even say they will lease any
car in that issue and there are many older classics.
By the way Premier leasing ph # is
203 267 7700
I am not affiliated with them as I chose to buy the car outright.

911/Q45

You must have a creative accountant to get tax write offs on a TT lease!

stuka

Thanks for all your suggestion. I'll pick up a copy of Dupont registry and see what's going on. I'll also give Premier a call.

And yes, I know that the 996TT can be had for a low price. But you know, it is not a car that I would keep, and I probably wouldn't be sad to see it go when the lease return comes.

I don't have a creative accountant. I am an IT consultant, most of the driving mileage for the car will be to different clients. I put no more than 3000 personal miles on the current E46 M3 a year.

I am sure I'll have more questions as the search progresses, and I really appreciate you guys helps.

Andy

OldGuy

I just quickly checked out Dupontregistry.com and there is
another company that deals in exotics Don L Leasing
Pn # is 1-888-553-6955 thier ad said vehicles up
to 15 years old so its easy to do just got to chase it down
again not affiliated or anything just pulled it off Dupontregistry.com
on the 993 search page

flatair

Ok correction I don't think you'll find any leasing companies that will lease a used 993TT to you for a reasonable amount. Ran some numbers for you from Don L. Leasing, who uses customleasequote.com, and peoplefirst.com, who does financing at good rates.

993TT - $65,000 from a dealer, you have A credit

36 month lease from customleasequote (from Don L. Leasing's site) with 0 down is 1130 a month, with a residual of $38,250 .

60 month loan from peoplefirst.com, 0 down, financing full $65K, comes out to 1220.39. So for $90 more a month, you can buy the car.

To lease the car and then buy it out at the end, you end up paying
36*1130+38250=$78,930, and that's if you have $38,250 cash at the end to buy it out - as opposed to financing that money, which will incur more interest.

To purchase the car ($90 extra a month)
60*1220.39 = $73,223, and if you want to get rid of it after 36 months, you'll have a good chunk of equity to put towards another car, much more equity than the $90*36 difference you'll be paying a month.

Now this can be compensated for by leasing the car for business and deducting this, but as with any tax breaks, be careful. I've met many business owners that end up 'abusing' the tax benefits of running a business only to be bitten later.

I guess my view and the message I'm trying to get across is, if you're getting a car that you want to keep instead of a car you're planning to trade up, buying is the better route.

just my 2 cents for what it's worth

OldGuy

Premier will offer you up to 60 mos if you need it. When I considered
leasing I was looking at a 10K down and a 20K residual. at 5% money
with upper tier credit I was looking at a $600/mo payment. They
will let you make more down or increase your residual based on the
cars price/worth. (at that time I was looking at a C4S) Premier is
geared for people like Stuka who plan to buy their cars and dont
penalize for paying it off early. Again not affiliated with any of these
but at one time it was a worthwhile alternative. I ended up buying
outright because of some gains in real estate.

flatair

BTW OldGuy, your other posts are killing me! I'm going to be in the market for a 993TT, but financially I'm going to have to wait until early next year. That's a looooong wait and I'm extremely envious Congrats!

OldGuy

Flat
let us know if you need any help. Took me 5 mos to get it done.
they called less than an hour ago and the baby is on the truck and
on its way. This week is going to be brutal!!
thanks

stuka

Guys, the reason why I am looking into leasing for a big ticket car like the 993TT is that banking on the car having equity when you want to sell it is not always a good proposition.

What if someone hits your car that's just bad enough that you'll lose quite a bit of $$ in the cars worth, but not quite for total? Some states don't even have deminished value. This is a very likely nightmare that my friend is currently dealing with. With leasing, and with tax write off, it lowers the risk of seeing the equity of the car going down the tube. And then, when you buy the car at lease end, you can capitalize it again with the much lower residual that the car is now worth. Capitalizing is never good for a car like TT while still new (or newer), since you are only allowed a max of not even 10K. Factoring the % of mileage used for seeing clients, and you are left with a paltry few grand for deduction.

Thank you all for all your ideas about financing, this definitely makes owning a 993TT much more feasible. And please someone smack me if I ever want to give in to the 996TT.

Andy

stuka

Guys,

Why are the sports seats and sunroof delete option so hard to find? Being 6'2" with a 32" inseam and a track junkie, my ideal spec is speed yellow, sunroof delete, and sports seat. I ordered my M3 without sunroof, and with my helmet on, I BARELY have enough headroom.

Of course, black is a close running second.

I am just afraid that my ideal spec doesn't exist, and that I'll have to spec a 996TT with no sunroof and speed yellow.

Any thoughts?

Andy

flatair

Thanks OldGuy, I will definitely be depending on the knowledge and contacts of this execellent board and the excellent people on it to get me through the brutal buying process early next year Any suggestions on how to pacify myself until then? We're all looking forward to a full report on your maiden voyage in the turbo!

Stuka, good points on the wreck/depreciation thing. I try to block out any thoughts about someone damaging your future 993TT, it's just too disturbing....