Saw this article on the economics of leasing. Leasing is not something I am at all interested in, but this breakdown of lease prices sure makes the case for our cars...

Relevant part quoted here:

A Mercedes at a Chevy price

Take a Chevrolet Tracker with an MSRP of $17,155 and a residual value of only 17%. A simplified transaction would look like this: After three years, that car has a residual value of only $2,916 and would have used up $14,239 of its value. Its monthly lease payment (not including interest and fees) would be $14,239 divided by 36 months, or $396 a month.

Now compare that with the Toyota Tacoma that has an MSRP of $22,235 and a residual value of $13,100 in three years -- 43% of its original value. Dividing the depreciation into 36 monthly payments produces a monthly lease payment of $254. Its original price was $5,000 more than the Tracker, but you could lease it for roughly $140 a month less (or about $43 a month less if the Tracker’s current $3,500 rebate is figured in).

A Mercedes CLK with an MSRP of $50,670 loses only 36% of its value over three years ($17,770) to produce a monthly lease payment of $494 -- just $100 more a month than the Tracker.

That is the power of residual value.

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Cannondale ST600 XL
Redline Monocog 29er
2011 Mini Cooper Clubman
2005 Honda Element EX

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