How to Lease an Auto Vehicle

If you want to get a new car, leasing the vehicle is one of your financing options. Leasing allows you to keep the vehicle for a set period of time. At the end of that period, you can simply return the vehicle to the car dealer, keep the vehicle and finance or pay for the balloon payment amount, or trade it in for a new lease on a new vehicle. Leasing a vehicle does typically require a down payment, which varies by car dealer.

Instructions

1

Visit local car dealers to see new cars in person, and test drive those that you are interested in leasing. This allows you to select a vehicle that meets your needs in terms of price, features and performance.

2

Check your FICO credit score to make sure that your credit score is high. Typically you need to have top tier credit to qualify for a lease, which is above 720. You can check your FICO score on the My FICO website (see Resources) or use their free score estimator. As of November 2010, the price to check your score starts at $15.95.

3

Look at your current odometer reading in your vehicle to try to determine how many miles you drive each year, if you are not sure. This is important because when you lease a car it comes with an allotted number of miles that you can drive each year. If you drive over that amount, you have to pay a penalty for each mile that is over your limit.

4

Get quotes from all of the car dealers where you are interested in leasing your vehicle. Let the dealers know what term you want and how many miles you need per year. Terms typically range between 24 months and 48 months. Annual miles usually range between 10,000 per year and 15,000 per year.

5

Go to the dealer that gave you the best price to lease your vehicle. Before you sign the lease agreement, read over it to make sure everything that you verbally agreed to is reflected in the agreement.