Buying vs Lease

[bokelley]

We are going to trade in my new car for something else.... Seem rant post for me details...

What would you do buy vs lease and why??

[Chrisada]

We leased for the first time and are happy with it. Our lease payment is way less than our car payment would be for the same loaded car. I don't like driving cars into the ground so it works very well for us plus I don't drive that much. I honestly plan on leasing forever. I rather like getting a new car every two years and don't mind having a permanent lease payment in exchange for that. It seems that leasing works best for people who like new cars and you can typically afford more car with a lease. We went back and forth between leasing and buying. I finally made the executive decision to lease because I knew I wanted an SUV next and even though DH claimed he would, I knew darn well he wasn't going to drive this car for the next 5 + years.

And remember if you do decide to lease do NOT tell the dealer until you have negotiated a price on the car.

BTW I expect to be the minority in this opinion.

[MrsK]

Buy and drive it until the wheels fall off. Leasing is a waste of money.

[scrub-jay]

Buy and drive it until the wheels fall off. Leasing is a waste of money.

I'm in this camp. I prefer to own my cars at the end of the day. Sorry about your other car!!

[Deebs]

It depends. Financially, it makes more sense to buy slightly used and drive forever. Cars depreciate (rapidly) the second you drive off the dealer's lot. DH and I both get tired of cars quickly. I drive few miles, he drives a TON - 90,000 in less than three years - not a leasing candidate. When I got my last car, we wanted to lease. However, some cars are more to lease than buy (basically if a car is not desirable for the manufacturer to lease, they will make it ridiculous to do so). We ended up buying because our payment would have been much more to lease the same car. I basically determine what kind of car I'm going for and make my decision from there.

[MarissaNicole]

I think a lot depends on the car and the cost. Many expensive high end cars are a good idea to lease because the car loses so much value the moment you drive it off the lot. If you have to pay for financing the car may not be worth how much you owe on it in 2 or 3 years, hence the benefit of leasing.

If its a more moderately price car, that you plan on driving into the ground then there is more benefit to buying.

I guess it depends on how often you want a new car?

[SoonerTexan]

This is the SAAB, right? If you are going to buy, you might want to go domestic or with something like a Honda or a Toyota for maintenance's sake. I know I pay a heck of a lot less for repairs on my Ford than friends with BMWs or VWs do.

[Chrisada]

This is the SAAB, right? If you are going to buy, you might want to go domestic or with something like a Honda or a Toyota for maintenance's sake. I know I pay a heck of a lot less for repairs on my Ford than friends with BMWs or VWs do.

Good point. We have had two BMWs and you typically do not drive them into the ground because maintaining it is so insane. We sold the 5 Series in January because there was literally $5,000 worth of repairs to be made. We knew something major could happen at any moment and wanted the security of a new car. I like not having to worry about maintaining cars.

[Pollyanna]

Buy and drive it until the wheels fall off. Leasing is a waste of money.

Ditto. We have a 1993 and 1999 Suburbans. DD has a 2010 F150 (yes she has the newest car because we expect it to last her until she is out of college and even grad school). We expect our cars to last a minimum of 12 years and keep them much longer than that. The only hiccup in that plan was the 2004 Toyota Sienna (biggest piece of crap and money suck we have ever owned. Likely because it was the first year of a new model and my guess is that it was built on a Friday before a holiday Typically Toyotas are far more reliable).

[v-girl]

We're in the drive it until it dies camp. Wheels can be replaced. . '92 & '97 Hondas at our house.

[scarlett09]

I am financing my car, and I will own it in 1.5 years. I plan on driving it until I can't drive it anymore. With both of us starting back up on student loan payments, it will be good to know that once the car is paid off we will have one less payment each month. It all depends on what you want out of the car, how much you plan on driving it and what kinds of deals they are offering for financing and leasing. Good luck in picking out your new wheels!

[lovelight]

I have a complete fear of breaking down on the side of the road in an old jalopy (thanks, Dad!) so I prefer to lease so I can get a new car every three years. Last month when my 8-year-old car (we bought this and I planned to get rid of it long before this point due to my fear...) started showing signs of beginning to breakdown it didn't make sense to pour thousands in it to fix it when I could trade it out for a new one. So to me, the extra costs involved in leasing are worth my peace of mind.

One word of caution on leasing though - you have to have a pretty high credit score for them to even consider leasing to you. Other things to look into would be how much they allow you in damages before you have to pay. We talked to Honda and they were VERY reasonable with damages allowance, but I've heard some other companies are not as gracious.

[SoonerTexan]

Oooo--one more thing. Sell the car yourself--you'll get a heck of a lot more than if you traded it in directly to the dealer. We're talking thousands.

[peggyfromwastate]

We will never lease. I think with kids I'd be so stressed about damage they do to the car... Our 2008 suburban has only 22k miles on it but dd-2 has torn the behind the seat pocket-- she put way too many books in it. We will drive that thing til it dies. We own dhs camry- the ac doesn't work and it squeals all the time (No mechanical reason) but we own it and at 160k miles... We are keeping it til it dies too.

I like new cars, but not the stress of keeping them nice.

[poky]

I bought my car new, and have driven it for almost 16 years, and it's never been anything short of perfectly reliable. I'll replace it eventually, with something more fuel-efficient, but that'll wait till at least residency, and possibly even attendinghood. Whenever it is, we'll just buy a replacement outright (how we bought DH's car 6-7 years ago). My current car is a good car, and I love that it's been paid off for over a decade and is still nice.