Leasing a Car vs. Buying a Car

• Ironman92

  

  Take teh bus
  
  /ghetto'd
• Cher

  sleeper;1261298 wrote:Enjoy that new car. You subsidize the intelligent car buyer by recklessly purchasing a vehicle that depreciates rather rapidly right after you drive it off the lot. Your rationalization path is broken at best.
  
  I always laugh at the people who want to pay 25% extra on a car so they can be the first to drive it and enjoy that "new car" smell. What a waste of money. I'll happily take you car after 3-4 years at half the price you paid for it; even if it breaks down, I'll still have saved a ton of money to go out and buy another used car.
  
  It's EZ bro. EZ.

  The warranty was well worth the "25% extra".
• Sykotyk

  

  Buying new only matters if you A) Have the money or credit to get new and B) you intend to own the car for a long time to get a better ROI.
  
  If you intend to trade in for a new car every few years, you're probably better off leasing and have enough money to not care about always making a payment.
  
  Personally, I've never bought a new car. I buy used, either from family or at a dealer. I put a ton of miles on my vehicles, and beat the hell out of them. In the first three weeks of the HS Football season, I drove almost 3,000 miles seeing games. I also took a month off and did some touring on the way. If I were leasing, I'd be freaking out over mileage totals.
  
  Currently, I have a 1998 Pontiac Bonneville, a 1998 Buick Regal, a 2001 Buick Regal, and a 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage. Only the Bonneville gives me fits, but it's just a beater car. The other three are pretty solid cars. I let relatives drive my Mitsubishi since it's fuel efficient and I don't like to just have a car parked with no one driving it.
• sportchampps

  At no point is leasing ever better
• WebFire

  sportchampps;1261678 wrote:At no point is leasing ever better

  Disagree.
• queencitybuckeye

  sportchampps;1261678 wrote:At no point is leasing ever better

  Depends on the goal.
• Gblock

  i saw a commercial the other day you can lease two kia's for 229 a month for both
• ZWICK 4 PREZ

  

  Gblock;1261770 wrote:i saw a commercial the other day you can lease two kia's for 229 a month for both

  Yeah, but then you have 2 Kia's. That's the only thing worse than having a Kia.
• Gblock

  ZWICK 4 PREZ;1261773 wrote:Yeah, but then you have 2 Kia's. That's the only thing worse than having a Kia.

  i agree but dang that is cheap af for two cars no matter what they are
• ZWICK 4 PREZ

  

  Gblock;1261781 wrote:i agree but dang that is cheap af for two cars no matter what they are

  for sure
• WebFire

  ZWICK 4 PREZ;1261773 wrote:Yeah, but then you have 2 Kia's. That's the only thing worse than having a Kia.

  But with a lease, who cares. You don't have to worry about trade-in or resale value.
• queencitybuckeye

  WebFire;1261792 wrote:But with a lease, who cares. You don't have to worry about trade-in or resale value.

  and when one breaks down, you have a spare.
• WebFire

  I'll clarify...I mean as far as turning it in. It does affect the lease payment I believe.
• ZWICK 4 PREZ

  

  WebFire;1261792 wrote:But with a lease, who cares. You don't have to worry about trade-in or resale value.

  I was being facetious.
• Ironman92

  

  ZWICK 4 PREZ;1261773 wrote:Yeah, but then you have 2 Kia's. That's the only thing worse than having a Kia.

  
  Lol....yep
• O-Trap

  

  sportchampps;1261678 wrote:At no point is leasing ever better

  Same as renting an apartment. There are times when it's advantageous.
• Cat Food Flambe'

  

  Notes to items above:
  
  I've bought three used cars from Ricart - you --can-- get a good deal there and they'll usually have a car you'd like to buy. I've never had problems with the mechanical condition of the vehicles I've purchased from them.
  
  However, you absolutely must do your homework in advance. Look at the website, pick out the cars you'd consider driving, then research prices. When you get to the dealership, decline help at first and check the lot for those cars. They are -very- aggressive - if they have specific cars on the lot that they want to move, they'll tell you anything ("that cars isn't here, this care just came in") in order to steer you to what they want to sell. After they've observed you patrolling the lot, are aware that you know what's out there, and realize that you understand what a fair price is for that vehicle, they're usually very helpful. Don't be afraid to walk away if they're not - they'll usually circle back in a few days with an offer close to your terms.
  
  Always run a used car past an independent mechanic - they won't catch every potential problem, but they can screen out most potential disasters. Over time, the guy I use has a 50% kill rate on potential buys, and I've never had a serious problem with a car his shop has passed.
  
  I usually buy new (the used cars were in the days when my kids were driving the family cars, then buying cars for themselves) - but I put about 25,000 miles on my vehicle each year and keep a vehicle into the 175K-200K mile range. With that kind of mileage, there's not much difference cost-wise per mile between new and used.
  
  Lease vs. buy - unless you use your personal vehicle for non-compensated business use, it's virtually always much less expensive to buy rather than lease it unless you buy a new car every 3-4 years and drive it less than normal lease mileage allowance. There's not much in the way of valid economic argument otherwise (the money you "save on repairs" for what would be a normal lease period is not significant in most cases- unless you buy a Mini-Cooper ).
  
  That said - it's your money, and if you want to use your disposable income for a nicer ride, there's absolutely nothing wrong with doing so. It's like taking a vacation or buying concert tickets - enjoy it.
• Barry Badrinath

  appreciate it CFF
• Speedofsand

  

  Get a truck
  
  
  
• WebFire

  Trucks are a great option when gas is $4/gallon.