Where Can You Shop For Car Leases?

Contrary to what many people think, car dealerships are not the only places that offer leasing.

A car lease is simply a different method of financing. Any company or organization that provides car loans could potentially offer leasing as an option. In fact, many large banks do offer leases, although you won't see them promoting it heavily.

For a company to offer leasing, they need to invest in forecasting tools that can determine the residual values of each car they lease out. They end up taking more risk on the deal, but usually make it up through acquisition and disposition fees. Because of these added costs and risks, not all financial institutions offer leasing.

The main places where you can get a lease are:

• Captive Finance Companies
• Banks
• Credit Unions
• Independent Leasing Companies

It's important to note that car dealerships don't actually provide the lease. They just merely have relationships with banks or independent companies that offer leasing through them. They're also the only place where you can get a lease through a Captive Finance Company (the finance division of a manufacturer such as GM Financial, or Toyota Financial).

The best lease deals will usually be through the Captive Finance Company, so your first call should be to a couple of local dealers to see what kind of lease rates they're offering (See: How to Find out the Manufacturer's Lease Rates).

If the manufacturer is not offering any special lease deals, the likelihood that you can get a good lease deal is low, but your best bet after contacting dealerships is to call a few banks, credit unions, and independent leasing companies to see if they offer leasing options.

A few years ago, there were a lot of independent leasing companies that got burned when the value of the cars being returned were not worth as much as predicted. They were left with millions of dollars in losses, and as a result, a lot of companies shied away from leasing.

You won't find as many independent leasing companies these days, although leasing is starting to heat up again so your options will likely get better soon.