One pay lease

[brucek]

While I occasionally see mention of a one-pay lease, I was looking for some details. Does anyone have a copy of the fine print they can share?

My main concern is what will happen if I can no longer use the car during the term. If the vehicle is totaled during the first year, do I lose my payment, or how does this work? I assume my insurance policy comes into play here. Is there something special I need to do to cover the scenario in my policy? What if I win a Lemmon Law case on the car, and they take it back?

I can understand paying the one-pay cost for the savings, but I am struggling to understand my risk/exposure if I were to do this. Anyone with experience looking into it would be appreciated.

Mods - maybe consider a sticky for the subject

 

[G-835927]

Never put down a deposit or pay in advance for a lease. The reasons for this are already in your question

 

[brucek]

Never put down a deposit or pay in advance for a lease. The reasons for this are already in your question

It's important to note that a one payment is not the same as a deposit, and it can be a much better option. While I didn't opt for a one payment, it can certainly make sense in certain situations.

The sites that showed leasing rates showed the one-pay deal as " MF-0.0009". But that is not the MF, it is the discount from the standard MF. In other words a minus as opposed to a dash. If that were the MF, I would have done the one pay, but in the case of that being the discount, it only saved under $300, which was not enough for me to justify it.

What I did discover about one-pay is that it is treated as a prepay escrow account in most leases. So, if your payment is $18,000 for 36 months, you would get back $500/mo for the remaining months after the vehicle is totaled.