Fees involved in leasing

vintage wedding car closeup

Mention auto-leasing and most people will automatically assume a low-
monthly payment. There is actually more than what meets the eye, and a
number of fees are involved at various stages of the lease process.

At the beginning of the lease, you have to pay a refundable security
deposit, typically equivalent to one monthly payment, to safeguard against
non-payment and any incidental damage done to the car at the end of the
lease. You are also required to pay an administrative charge, called
acquisition fee. Other fees include licenses, registration, title and any
state or local taxes.

During your lease, and you expected to honour your monthly payment
obligations. Any failure to do so will result in late-payment charges.
You have to pay any traffic tickets, emission and safety inspections and
ongoing maintenance costs.  Ending your lease early will result in
substantial early termination charges.

At the end of the lease, expect to pay any excess mileage costs, charged
at 10 to 20 p a mile. Any incidental damage done to the car, and deemed to
be above normal, will result in excess tear-and-wear charges. Finally, if
you choose not to purchase the vehicle, then you have to pay a disposition
fee.



Go green and save on your lease

Hybrid vehicles’ popularity has sharply grown from a couple of thousands
in early 2000 to close to 300, 000 by the end of 2005. The trend is
rapidly catching with the auto-leasing industry with generous tax credits
and incentives on offer if you go green.

Beginning in 2006, businesses and taxpayers who lease, or purchase, an
environmentally-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicle will be eligible to
claim federal income tax credits worth thousands of dollars. Individual
states also offer generous incentives, including hybrid state tax credits,
new High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes access and discounted thruway tolls
for alternative-fuelled vehicles.
And that’s not all you can save from going green! You can now save on your
parking fees at a number of universities and some auto-insurance companies
are offering insurance discounts for hybrid-vehicle owners nationwide.

If you want to take advantage of these incentives and contribute to energy
conservation then visit HybridCenter.org and complete a personal profile
about your driving needs and habits. You will get in-depth advice on hybrid
models that would make economic sense to you and local, state and federal

incentives available where you live.

No comments