Seriously giving consideration to giving up the 5.0. Haven't broached the subject to the wife yet since she will probably have my balls on a platter for looking to maybe get into the third new vehicle since we bought her new '12 Beetle three years ago...
I've always been pretty anti-lease but it's starting to maybe make more sense for me, or at least maybe for one time to reduce expenses. I've had three cars since coming home from Japan in late 2011. I financed $32k for the Mustang at the top tier interest rate of 2% for 6 years and have a payment of about $475. It's a comfortable payment, comfortable enough I pay a little extra each month. I owe $25.5k, which is probably pretty borderline on breaking even (would not unload unless I was even or better on trade). Haven't looked into what Brembo GT Premiums with all the goodies have been going for, but trade should be around that area.
However since we just bought a house two months ago, I'm just thinking that if I downsized and did a true zero down lease on something, I could cut the payment in half. In the interim before that lease is up, my wife's car would be paid off as would the last tail end of my student loans. Next time around I could either lease something else and keep the cheap payments, or buy something again at that point and pay it down quickly. Also a factor here is a 23 mile commute I have to work each way now, though the job situation will probably change sooner than later. 19.9 mpg average with lots of rush hour traffic is amazing for a 420 hp V8, but it still eats away at your pocket. Insurance probably won't matter, my Mustang costs about the same as any other car I've had.
So I was looking to just get into something bulletproof, something that is zero hassle which brings me to - dare I say it - a new Honda. I was thinking of either a Civic EX-L, or an Accord Sport. Comparable sticker prices, and trying to limit myself to the sport trim on the Accord to really keep the payment low enough that it's actually worth giving up the 5.0. *Note* either of these would be 2016 models, which should be substantially better (refreshed Accord, redesigned Civic), so this wouldn't happen for a couple months at least.
The Accord is probably the better car overall, but in the Sport trim you give up quite a few features compared to the Civic EX-L. Too bad the sport trim is a trim and not a package that can be added to any trim, because it's easily the best looking Accord for sale which is a consolation on the features given up at least. It's also probably the more appropriate, "grown-up" choice for a 31 year old chemical engineer. Biggest downer to the Accord sport (which doesn't seem to be changing for 2016) is halogen headlights, swore I'd never ever buy another halogen headlight car.
The Civic has all the bells and whistles, and in 2016 a higher trim will likely have LED headlights to finally bring it in line with the Corolla. Better features, but maybe a bit more juvenile. Coming from muscle cars I don't at all want to get mistaken for an import tuner (either car would stay bone stock though so maybe no big deal).
Both cars are slow as ****, so who cares about that. The biggest benefit to either car is I wouldn't have to detail it and obsess about it like I already do the Mustang, the Camaro, and my wife's Beetle. I could just drive it, run it through the wash, etc. Just drive and not worry about having to be meticulous with it, which would be liberating.
What do you guys think on A) the choice to get into a lease to reduce the payment by a solid $200-$250 plus a gas savings, and B) which of those two choices? Just looking at the lease configurator on a local dealer's website with the advertised modest discounts, I could lease either of these, sign and drive with $0 out of pocket for about $285/month with 15,000 miles per year. I suspect I could negotiate the sticker price lower and get closer to $250/mo on either. I also realize at $300/month I could look at A3s and 320s, but not with 0 down and not optioned how I'd like - if I were to buy an A3, I would never go 1.8 FWD, it would have to be 2.0 Quattro etc., but by the time I did that and added options then I no longer have a substantial enough gap against the Mustang payment to actually make this worth doing.
