What to Know About Leasing if You’re A High Mileage Driver

If you’re a high-mileage driver interested in leasing your next vehicle, this video is for you! Check out our video that explores what high mileage drivers should consider when leasing a vehicle and how it’s possible to find a car lease agreement on lease terms you love. 

 

Should You Lease if You Drive a Lot of Miles Per Year? | Video Transcription

 

Today, we’re talking about high mileage leasing. I hear a lot of clients talk about, they can’t lease cars because they drive too many miles per year. Well, I’m going to explain this to you and give you two options for vehicles that I highly recommend for high mileage leases. We’re starting right now.

Today, we’re talking about high mileage leases. Folks who don’t think they can lease cars because they drive too many miles, I’ve got some ideas for you and some advice. Before we get started, hit the subscribe button and ring the bell. That way you’ll be notified every time I go live or drop a new video.

Okay, today, I’ve got two major takeaways for you guys when you’re considering high mileage leasing. You may have found yourself in this position before where you’re like, I drive way too many miles to lease a car.

People usually look at leases and they’re either 12,000 miles per year or 15,000 miles per year. 

If you don’t fit into that box, you usually disregard it altogether out of hand, like I can’t lease a car, I drive more than that. 

Correct? 

Well, a lot of folks don’t realize that they can lease vehicles for up to 30,000 miles per year. Yes, you heard me right. That’s 30,000 miles per year.

Now you can’t lease just any car for 30,000 miles per year. It has to be a more expensive vehicle, something that’s around $30,000 or more, but it can be done. When you start looking at that, it opens up new options for you. Now, before we start considering this, I would like to tell you that you have to get your mindset and break it away from today’s thinking versus long-term thinking. 

Today thinking versus long-term thinking. 

When you’re looking at purchasing a car or doing a high mileage lease, and you’re like, okay, how’s this going to affect me today? Can I afford the payment today? Are we able to make the payment in three months? Is everything good? It all fits into my box. 

Well, that’s great, but when you’re doing a high mileage lease, you want to know how this is going to affect you over three years.

Let me give you one more example of what I’m thinking about. You may be thinking that you’re going to buy because you drive too many miles per year, and so you’re going to buy this vehicle and finance it for seven years or six years or five years, whatever your situation is like. You’re going to finance it for a long period of time, but you’re going to make that purchase. 

You know you’re going to drive 25,000 miles a year and you’re going to keep this car a long time. That’s what you’re thinking today. What happens three years from now, if you think about the types of mileage that you’re talking about right now? 75,000 miles in three years. 

Your thinking needs to switch to what’s this vehicle going to be worth in three years. Once you get that thought process down, you can understand it a little bit better. 

When you’re thinking about, wow, I’m going to do six years or seven or five years of financing. My car’s not going to be worth anything in three years, I need to rethink this and maybe look at some different options.

Step number two, when you’re considering doing a high mileage lease. It’s time to get rid of the likes and loves and replace it with the needs. Get rid of the likes and loves and replace it with the needs. 

If you only love one brand of vehicle, it’s probably going to cost you more over time to have that specific vehicle versus having a vehicle that works as a tool that gets you through three years of high mileage driving and doesn’t cost you as much. 

What am I talking about here? 

I’m talking about, if you love leather and you love a sunroof and you love a DVD player and that stuff is not working within your budget, it’s time to start considering that maybe you don’t need that stuff, you just like it and love it. If you can get on without having those items in your vehicle for three years, you can really set yourself up for success in the high mileage lease.

When I’m talking to my clients, it’s usually, first let’s look at the budget and what it needs to be, and let’s see how many options we can get to fit into that budget. You notice how that’s different. 

You don’t want to get all the options and figure out how to make your budget work. You want to look at the budget, it’s a marked point, and then we want to see how many options we can fit into that budget. 

Once you start thinking that way, it makes it a little bit easier to understand that, hey, I don’t need this, I don’t need that. Let go of some of these things that are just creature comforts. Remember you’re doing a high mileage lease, you want to keep this car for three years and then be done with it.

Okay. Let’s talk about why we are thinking this way. Why do we want to do this? This is a different way of thinking about your vehicles. It’s not the end-all, it doesn’t fit everybody. Let me tell you why. 

Just imagine for a second that you do a long-term finance contract on a car that you’re driving 25,000 miles a year. That vehicle is going to run out of its original manufacturer’s warranty within about a year and a half. 

You could still have some of the powertrain warranty remaining, but you’re going to be responsible for all the repairs, like the sunroof, the power seat, all of those things, after about a year and a half of driving. I like high mileage leases because you transfer the risk to the manufacturer.

I’m going to give you a couple of examples in a minute, but just think about that in your mind. 

Just imagine 25,000 miles a year, 75,000 miles of driving. Most of the time you’re in that vehicle, that vehicle is under warranty. There is the why that we’re looking for. We don’t want to have high mileage driving and repairs that we have to take care of. 

When you’re looking and considering this type of option, this is the why. You want to be able to drive as long as you can, without having to worry about major repairs. To sum that up for you, you basically want to make sure you’re leasing a car that you’re driving for a high mileage lease that is under warranty for a long period of time. Here’s the examples coming up right now.

The first example I’ve got for you today is the Volkswagen Jetta. Or should I say, the insurance agent special. You’ve got people and friends and family, they drive all over the place for business, they’re doing 20, 25,000 miles a year, and they like to have a payment that’s less than 400 a month. 

Volkswagen Jetta is for you. 

Why? 

Six-year, 72,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. The oil changes are only due 7,500 to 10,000 miles. Throughout that lifetime of that lease, you’re only going to be responsible for a few oil changes and probably a set of tires. Anything that breaks in that vehicle is going to be the responsibility of Volkswagen to fix.

The next example is for you family people out there that need room for the kids and maybe all-wheel drive. I like the Volkswagen Tiguan. It’s a bigger SUV that provides room for all types of people, has all-wheel drive, as a nice turbo motor, and it doesn’t cost that much to drive for 25, 30,000 miles a year. 

If you need a sport utility with all-wheel drive, the Tiguan is an amazing choice. 

I was just blown away by how much room it has inside. I can sit in the back seat, people my size can sit in the front seat. We all have room. That vehicle is covered under the six-year 72,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty as well.

The next choice I have for you is the Hyundai Tucson. It’s a smaller SUV, about the size of a RAV4, a Honda CR-V, those types of vehicles, like a Nissan Rogue

What I love about it for high mileage leasing is it has a five-year, 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. I know some of you may think it’s got a 10 year, 100,000-mile warranty. That’s incorrect. 

The 10 year 100 is for the original owner for the power train, not the ancillary things like the sunroof and the dials and electric and radio. You want bumper to bumper warranty if you’re doing a high mileage lease. Hyundai’s a good choice. For a smaller SUV, I really like the Tucson.

For you moms out there who like all-wheel drive, the Santa Fe is a great option for a high mileage lease. Once again, five-year, 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. It has a 10 year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty. Not as good as the Volkswagen as far as bumper-to-bumper stuff, but if you need to move kids around and you need a third seat, the Santa Fe is a solid choice for a high mileage lease.

Let’s recap a little bit what we’re talking about. Basically, today thinking versus long-term thinking. If you’re driving a lot of miles per year, you do not want to finance a car for a long period of time. Maybe reconsider looking at a high mileage lease as long as it fits into your budget.

The next thing is to get rid of the likes and loves and only deal with the wants. That will keep your budget intact as you’re looking at a high mileage lease.

Don’t forget the major, why you’re doing this. You’re doing this to transfer the risk to the manufacturer of the car. If you are going to be in love with a specific brand, it’s always going to cost you more money. When I bring up Volkswagen, it’s only because it has a six-year, 72,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.

I hope that helped you out today. Please subscribe to the channel, click the like button on the video, and share this with your friends and family. If you ever have any questions, put them in the comments box. My name is Ronnie Haskins, AutoSearch USA.

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