I just can't make the numbers make sense. Even if you have to get a loan for the full amount, if you buy a one year old car and trade every 3-4 years for a 1 year old car, your repairs are gonna be almost nil, and it's so much cheaper over the long run to own. It also seems like everyone who has leased is always worried about going over the allowed miles.
I love the commercials where they say you can lease a new car for 499 a month. And yeah, btw, you also owe 5K due at signing.
Cars are not investments, they're personal preferences. Some people will eat at The Palms or one of many other very expensive steak houses, while others think that's crazy and choose a Ponderosa while others won't eat out at all. Same value / judgement system is true for just about everything in life.
People lease cars because they get more car for the money in terms of monthly cash flow, because they never ever have to worry about costly repairs, because they like having a new car every 2 or 3 years. For some businesses in some years (depending on the ever changing depreciation rules), you can actually realize a bigger tax deduction by leasing than by purchasing certain vehicles.
From strictly a financial standpoint, leasing tends to cost more money but probably less money than many people lose gambling
My final thought on leasing, since the cost of the lease is based on the diminishing value of the vehicles, it makes more sense to lease a car that retains it's value. It's much more costly to lease a car that loses value. If you're looking at a car that depreciates very quickly, the best thing to do is to buy one that's two years old with 25,000 miles on it. If the car retains it's value, that strategy doesn't help nearly as much.
People lease cars because they get more car for the money in terms of monthly cash flow, because they never ever have to worry about costly repairs, because they like having a new car every 2 or 3 years. For some businesses in some years (depending on the ever changing depreciation rules), you can actually realize a bigger tax deduction by leasing than by purchasing certain vehicles.
From strictly a financial standpoint, leasing tends to cost more money but probably less money than many people lose gambling
My final thought on leasing, since the cost of the lease is based on the diminishing value of the vehicles, it makes more sense to lease a car that retains it's value. It's much more costly to lease a car that loses value. If you're looking at a car that depreciates very quickly, the best thing to do is to buy one that's two years old with 25,000 miles on it. If the car retains it's value, that strategy doesn't help nearly as much.
Cars are not investments, they're personal preferences. Some people will eat at The Palms or one of many other very expensive steak houses, while others think that's crazy and choose a Ponderosa while others won't eat out at all. Same value / judgement system is true for just about everything in life.
People lease cars because they get more car for the money in terms of monthly cash flow, because they never ever have to worry about costly repairs, because they like having a new car every 2 or 3 years. For some businesses in some years (depending on the ever changing depreciation rules), you can actually realize a bigger tax deduction by leasing than by purchasing certain vehicles.
From strictly a financial standpoint, leasing tends to cost more money but probably less money than many people lose gambling
My final thought on leasing, since the cost of the lease is based on the diminishing value of the vehicles, it makes more sense to lease a car that retains it's value. It's much more costly to lease a car that loses value. If you're looking at a car that depreciates very quickly, the best thing to do is to buy one that's two years old with 25,000 miles on it. If the car retains it's value, that strategy doesn't help nearly as much.
I've heard that businesses might have certain advantages to leasing when it comes to taxes, but I know nothing about that. From an individual consumer point of view, I've run the numbers and can say that leasing is never a good idea, even if you must have a brand new car rather than a 1 year old car. It's always better to buy.
I've done a lot of research lately. I've always tried to be as economical as possible with vehicles. Was driving a 20 year old car worth $500. I figured I'd always drive beaters and just rent a car if I ever needed to drive somewhere far. Having a vehicle worth nothing and paying $600 a year in repairs to maintain was okay. But I recently bought a vehicle with 25,000 miles on it from craigslist. Depreciation is only going to run about 1200 to 1500 a year, and the private sale had only $120 in sales tax, instead of 7.5%. So I figure having a good car that gets great gas mileage for 1200 a year is better than a piece of shit that costs 600 a year and is out of service at times. I plan on trading vehicles every 3 years or so and buying and selling privately. Screw the dealerships. I wish I had really run the numbers earlier. I love driving a nice car, never had one before.
I don't know if I'm lucky and out the norm but I have always bought new and then sold after 5 years.
I have never had to pay any major repairs on any vehicle ever other then normal things like new tires and new windshield wipers and things like that
I have to say vehicles are made very well these days.
I have never had to pay any major repairs on any vehicle ever other then normal things like new tires and new windshield wipers and things like that
I have to say vehicles are made very well these days.
I have no idea really.
What I do is buy a new vehicle every 5 years.
Finance it for that 5 years.
Trade it in to go towards a nice down payment for the new ride without having to come out of pocket for any money on my own.
I know there are better ways to do it math wise.
Like selling the vehicle I could get more then a trade in.
I basically always have a monthly payment just like a lease but I'm not restricted on miles and not being able to alter the vehicle like putting my own custom audio system like I would with a lease.
With a lease you pretty much have to keep the vehicle as is.
You can't customize it without the risk of violating the lease.
It's none of my business, but I think you'll do a lot better buying a newer used vehicle and selling it and buying another one every 3-4 years. Your payments will get lower and lower and then you won't have a payment anymore and just sell for cash and buy with cash. You will always have a very nice car that you can drive across country if you want. I only know this because I put a lot of time into deciding what I wanted to do, and now that I've figured this out, I'll do this for the rest of my life. A vehicle is never an investment, it's only a necessary expense. But it really doesn't cost much to drive a nice car.....100 a month or so.
This is what I do - I usually buy a premium brand that is 10 years old. If you shop around the Dealerships they usually hang on to Quality trade in's. Last year I bought a 300 Lexus - I love it 10 years old but was worth $55K off the line, I paid $15K - Only 50,000 Miles (85,000 KM) driven by a little old lady from West Van, car was in Mint condition. I'll probably drive it another 5 years.
