Professional Elite Seek to Break New Car Leases

Professional Elite Seek to Break New Car Leases

There’s no question that the struggling U.S. economy has taken a toll on the middle-class, but doctors and lawyers, too? A new study from LeaseTrader.com shows that wealthy professionals are ditching their Lexus’ and opting for a cheaper mode of transport.

The study is an interesting read, demonstrating that the traditional “professional” class is starting to toss nickels around like manhole covers.

That’s at least true when it comes to choosing a new Car Lease.

LeaseTrader categorizes five upscale professions, and measures how many drivers in each class are trying to ditch a high-price lease deal over a two-year period (from 2008 to 2010). By high-priced, LeaseTrader cites luxury rides like Maserati, Mercedes S Class and the BMW 7 Series. The study also breaks down the professionals by gender, which shows that men, in mostly far greater numbers, are seeking to break their new Car Lease.

That either suggests men are more aggressive about cutting their losses on expensive car deals or that women are more value conscious than guys, and thus feel no need to break from a car they deem affordable in the first place.

Here’s how LeaseTrader.com breaks down the list:

A deeper look into the number reveals some possible reasons for the suddenly tight-fisted financial
behavior. Let’s take a look at the most interesting cases:

Category
2010 Listings
Men vs. Women Listings
2008 Listings

A deeper look into the number reveals some possible reasons for the suddenly tight-fisted financial behavior. Let’s take a look at the most interesting cases:

• Doctors have a fever – but it’s not for pricey wheels. As the data shows, doctors are at the top of the list of “gold collar” professionals who’ve got the vapors over high lease deals. It could be a coincidence, but physicians, outside of real estate agents, are the professional class that’s really feeling the biggest cash squeeze (primarily over health care reform, and to a lesser extent, what insurance companies and the federal government will pay for medical care). LeaseTrader believes this to be so. “Experts believe the problems facing the nation’s health care situation are the biggest reason for the jump in listings from doctors,” the survey says.

• Lawyers, leases and leverage. It used to be that self-respecting lawyers chased ambulances and other moving vehicles, now it’s the other way round. Upscale car manufacturers must be uneasy about the number above – twice as many lawyers are looking to abandon their car leases in 2010 than there were in 2008. But are lawyers really hurting financially? Maybe not – at least in relation to other gold-collar professionals. The financial analysis firm Sageworksr eports that of all the major professional classes, lawyers are faring best. According to Sageworks, the U.S. legal profession has seen an 8.8% up tick in revenues in 2010. Compare that to the 17.7% revenue drop suffered by the engineering and architecture industries. Even flush with cash, more lawyers are looking to cut back on their car costs.

• Reality check for realtors. This one seems obvious enough. Only 43% of real estate professionals are opting to cut out of a Car Lease in 2010, compared to 68% in 2008. But in 2008, realtors had a good grip on how bad the housing sector was hit. In fact, the housing sector was the first industry to be cut down by the Great Recession, so realtors have had two years to run through their seven stages of financial grief, and are now at “acceptance.” They’ve already cut their budgets to the point where there may not be any more meat on the bone to cut.

• Laughing all the way to the bank. What should really gall consumers is that the Wall Street fat-cats, who’ve spent the past three years gorging on taxpayer dough, are less prone than any other category to give up their Mercedes or Cadillac’s. According to the LeaseTrader report; “Financial executives’ standings seem to improve the most, rebounding from the harsh credit freeze of two years ago and enjoying a robust stock market in 2010. Insurance brokers remain in relatively good standing, possibly benefiting from high prices placed on consumers in health, auto and property categories.”

Call it a tale of two eras. Back in the halcyon days of the 1990’s—or even 2005, for that matter—no doctor or lawyer would be caught driving a Toyota Corolla or a Hyundai Sonata.

But only a few years—and one major recession—later, the professional elites are battening down the hatchbacks like the rest of us.

This story posted by LeaseTrader.com, the automotive service company that lets people transfer out of their Car Leases early. If you're looking to swap a lease or transfer out of your car lease, please visit www.leasetrader.com