Car lease deals scarce as Big 3 pulls out
Saturday, April 26th, 2008It’s getting harder to find a car to lease these days. Chrysler’s financial arm recently pulled out of the car leasing business, and Ford Motor Credit, GMAC and many large banks also have announced pullbacks.- advertisement -
The reason? Lease financing companies, particularly the Big Three automakers’ captive finance arms, are being pummeled by the falling residual values of trucks and SUVs coming off lease, which have fallen as much as 20 percent in just the last few months.
The impact? If you’ve got excellent credit — 700 credit score or above — and are looking to lease outside of the Big Three, you’ll likely still qualify for a decent deal. Otherwise, you’ll either be out of luck or will face much higher lease payments.