Car leasing leaves most consumers confused. The following are some of the do’s that you should follow if you are soon to get into a lease with any of the reputed auto leasing companies :

Negotiate the purchase price - you can usually expect the lowest lease payments from the special lease deals from the manufacturer, but it is advisable to negotiate further. These subsidized lease deals from vehicle leasing companies offer inflated residual values and/or lower money factors which lead to a lower lease payment. The residual value or money factors are beyond the dealer’s control, but they can negotiate the suggested selling price that accompanies the lease deal.

Read the fine print - if you are buying a lease, you are sure to come across some ads that are too good to be true. And they are indeed misleading. Once you go through the fine print, you will notice that the ad applies to only certain undesirable trim levels, has a fixed driving limit, involves a large down payment, security deposit, etc. These additional costs, once factored in, no longer make the deal as lucrative.

Lease a car with high resale value - vehicle depreciation constitutes the biggest portion of your lease payment, and hence, you should only lease cars which will retain their value, so that the depreciation cost is minimal.

Lease early in the model year- the challenge is to limit depreciation, which is typically the biggest cost associated with business vehicle leasing. In order to avoid this, you can lease soon after the new model is released. The longer you wait, the more depreciation builds up, and consequently, when you turn the vehicle in, your residual value will be low. This does not happen only in the case of hot-selling cars where you cannot negotiate a fair price. In the case, it is advisable to wait for 2 to 3 months until supply catches up with demand.

Get GAP insurance - This lends you protection in case your leased car is stolen or damaged in an accident. It is not known to many that cars depreciate the quickest in the first 3 years, so your vehicle is bound to be worth less than what an insurance company will pay in the event of a theft or an accident. Gap insurance will cover this amount, which can go up as high as several thousand dollars in some cases. Many leases are accompanied by gap insurance, but the onus lies on you to ensure you have it. It is generally a small cost, but entails peace of mind.