This is more the model for buy-here-pay-here type lots. They make their money reselling the same car worth $2,000 for $4,000 to desperate people with few optio

This is more the model for buy-here-pay-here type lots. They make their money reselling the same car worth $2,000 for $4,000 to desperate people with few options and no hope of paying it off. These 0% deals are the lending arms of the manufactures performing some financial wizardry to keep the metal moving, so to speak. These companies abso-fucking-lutely do not want a bunch of new buyers defaulting on their loans and flooding the market with cheap, lightly used cars. This for two reasons. The first is obvious, a 1 year old used car is absolutely competition for a new car. The second is much more subtle, a glut of comparable used cars suppress prices below lease residuals. That second fact is critical because, depending on market, leases can make up to 70% of new car sales. The losses from leases can pile up quickly. Imagine selling 80,000 cars on lease and have the fair market value come in just $2,000 less than expected, that's a $160,000,000 loss in a single year. It's a lagging loss too, so you made the money from the sale when times were good, and now you have to pay the penalty for the mistake in three years when times are lean. It's a balancing act for sure. They want to keep the cheap money flowing to get people in cars, but they know going too far over that line is a kiss of death. Mitsubishi crossed that line during the last recession and couldn't recover. Also, these lending arms act as a solid asset that can be disposed of when times get tough, so it's a good idea to keep them financially healthy.