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Grand Am is "Collegiate Excitement"
by Julie Jaffe
A classy, versatile, yet practical car, the Pontiac Grand Am LE Sedan lets you look good and feel good while driving around campus.
The Grand Am LE Sedan's high performance 2.5L Tech IV engine can max out at 5300 rpm with its improved intake efficiency.
make enduring. The new suspension changes of 1989 provide a better, smoother ride with more precise directional control.
Pontiac's Grand AM LE Sedan can easily be purchased with the Pontiac "Collegiate Excitement" Plan, offered now through September. With this easy buying
plan, the Grand Am LE Sedan is available with more than forty standard features for $10,699. Four option packages are available from as low as $408. All undergraduates more than six months away from graduation, and with a valid KU ID, are eligible for the plan. You'll get a $600 discount coupon for use toward a purchase, and a free GM Travel Plan membership for one year.
At Frank Rohrbach Motors Inc., Leavenworth, the Pontiac "Collegiate Excitement" Plan's easy buying program makes the dream of owning the Grand Am LE Sedan a reality.
Leasing may be a good alternative by Rod Griffin
A new set of tires at 40,000 miles won't be included in the cost of a new car. But Paul Moody, leasing manager of Laird Loller Motors, 23rd and Alabama, can include them in a leasing contract.
can include Leasing a car can include a number of benefits and may be a good alternative to financing the purchase of a car.
to financing the purchase cost less up front. Moody said leases cost less up front. No down payment is required. And the monthly payments will run a little less than financing a car. Moody said that just how much difference depends on the current interest rates. "Take the difference between payments and put it in your house," he suggested.
Like the tires, virtually anything a customer wants can be included in the leasing contract including taxes, title, and license fees.
"Some people even have maintenance included in the contract," Frank Creason, president of Creason-Tawney Chevrolet Olds Inc., Ottawa, said.
And if the car is leased from a national firm such as the Ford Motor Credit Company or GMAC, the lessee carries some clout. Moody said, "Ford Motor Credit Company owns the car so you have problems getting the car fixed, you can tell them and they will make sure it gets done."
Creason said that a leased car may also be a tax benefit. "If it is used in business it may be a tax write-off," he said.
But along with the benefits there are also some drawbacks. Because there is no down payment, credit is checked much more closely. The lessee must also take very good care of the car.
"The lesse is liable for the miles and condition of the ear," Creason said. When the lease is up, the car is checked for damage. The lesse must pay for repairing any damage, Creason said.
The number of miles the car is to be driven is specified in the contract. "If they go over the specified miles, they have to pay for the miles they go over," Creason said. He said the typical cost was 10 cents per mile over the specified amount
But the greatest drawback to leasing may come when the lessee decides to buy the car. Moody said there are two kinds of contracts, open end and closed end. An open-end lease requires the lessee to purchase the car when the lease is up. A closed-end lease gives the lessee the option to buy the car or return it to the dealer. If the lessee decides to buy the car, he pays the residual value, the value placed on the vehicle according to miles it had been driven and equipment.
12 KANSAN 1989 KU Car Picks/March 22, 1989