OT Leasing vs. Buying a car

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Strenuus

Strenuus

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What say you?

My car got broken into and they tried to set it on fire (at least the glovebox) about 3 weeks ago. Deemed a total loss. Settlement check is coming in next week.

Been looking at getting a new car and am getting somewhat attracted to leasing a car vs. buying. I've always bought cars (monthly payments, of course).

Leasing sounds great, since I get bored with cars pretty easily. It's always under warranty, better monthly payments. They say a 15k mile per year thing, which is fine with me since I only leave my moms basement to go to work and such.

What is your experience with one or both?
 
Strenuus said:
What say you?

My car got broken into and they tried to set it on fire (at least the glovebox) about 3 weeks ago. Deemed a total loss. Settlement check is coming in next week.

Been looking at getting a new car and am getting somewhat attracted to leasing a car vs. buying. I've always bought cars (monthly payments, of course).

Leasing sounds great, since I get bored with cars pretty easily. It's always under warranty, better monthly payments. They say a 15k mile per year thing, which is fine with me since I only leave my moms basement to go to work and such.

What is your experience with one or both?
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I've done both and both have their pros and cons. But make sure not to go way over your mileage allotment because they can tear you a new one if you do.

For me, the best argument for leasing is that you're not locked in to a long term commitment like purchasing and so you don't have to worry about being "upside down" should you decide to trade in your purchased car a bit early.

The other advantage is that when leasing you already know exactly what you can buy the vehicle for (residual value) and the end of the lease should you decide to do so. So if the vehicle no longer suits your needs or it has been a "lemon", you simply turn it in. But on the other hand, you still like the car you can always opt to buy it at the pre-agreed price.
 
Only leased Electric cars since we were not sure about the technology. It also helped that with the combination of incentives and my wife's ability to bring unsuspecting salesmen to their knees and give her amazing deals - the deals were pretty good.

However, there are some issues:

1. The mileage limitation. At least for us, first car was 10K a year which was too low. Other 2 were 12K which is fine, especially since Covid limited usage.

2. You really need to make sure it is in great condition when you return it - or they get all kinds of cranky about it. Our first one was a VW e-Golf, while it was very nice, it had a very shoddy build quality and things started falling apart immediately - so we made sure to have documentation from the dealer on all the plastic things that started breaking - because as you can expect it, they tried to claim it was from abuse where we had documentation that it happened very quickly and never fixed properly because of their shoddy build quality.

Over-all, I personally would not do it again, if I like something, I get it and keep it for a long time, but with new technology it made a lot of sense, especially since originally they over-estimated the value of the car on return which made the monthly payments very low.

Per usual, YMMV and it depends on the deal and the car.
 
yankeesince59 said:
I've done both and both have their pros and cons. But make sure not to go way over your mileage allotment because they can tear you a new one if you do.

For me, the best argument for leasing is that you're not locked in to a long term commitment like purchasing and so you don't have to worry about being "upside down" should you decide to trade in your purchased car a bit early.

The other advantage is that when leasing you already know exactly what you can buy the vehicle for (residual value) and the end of the lease should you decide to do so. So if the vehicle no longer suits your needs or it has been a "lemon", you simply turn it in. But on the other hand, you still like the car you can always opt to buy it at the pre-agreed price.
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Yeah I'm really attracted to the notion of having a shorter period of payments then giving it back and starting over. I dunno if I'd ever be in a position to pay it outright at the end of the lease. And I'm reading the down payment is less too which would be nice.
 
buying....cars last me forever...having equity is like buying a home compared to renting...you do have maintenance but that's life. If I lived in a city with good public transportation I would consider leasing instead of buying but living in the woods...you need transportation. I have friends in Portland that don't own cars and rent them when they need them. They bought a condo to live in so no yard to mow, etc....not my lifestyle but I understand the logic.
 
PPD isn't looking for or prosecuting car thieves so just take something different every month or two.
 
Sorry to hear about your car incident. That must have been a hassle. Leasing can definitely be a tempting option, especially if you enjoy switching up your ride every few years. With leasing, you typically get the latest models, lower monthly payments, and the peace of mind that comes with warranty coverage.
 
Leasing can be attractive if you like driving newer cars, enjoy lower monthly payments, and want to stay under warranty. Plus, the mileage limit shouldn't be an issue if you don't drive much.
 
I’ve thought about this as well. I already own 3 vehicles outright but they are showing their age. I’ve wondered about leasing a “nice” car while having my Toyotas I own just as back up, or I to use when the snow gets crazy. Put the majority of miles on something I don’t own and preserve my personal vehicles. New vehicle prices are simply unjustifiable right now. I foresee a collapse of that market.
 
jonnyboy said:
I’ve thought about this as well. I already own 3 vehicles outright but they are showing their age. I’ve wondered about leasing a “nice” car while having my Toyotas I own just as back up, or I to use when the snow gets crazy. Put the majority of miles on something I don’t own and preserve my personal vehicles. New vehicle prices are simply unjustifiable right now. I foresee a collapse of that market.
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I've been predicting a collapse in autos for a few quarters now and even shorted some Carvana stock hoping they would go bankrupt. Hasn't happened yet. Maybe in '24 after all the student loan defaults catch up to the youngins'. Hate to see it, but I do think there is going to be a correction somewhere. I just hope I'm on the right side of it.

Back to the topic, leasing a car has it's pros and cons like anything else. Wouldn't work for me, but chatGPT would be an amazing tool to use if you wanted to see if it works for you.
 
andalusian said:
That guy has been predicting that China is on the brink of collapse since 2005... Not sure how much one should put into his opinions.
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They're getting so old so fast that it's bound to happen...
 
I’d recommend never buying, leasing, or financing a Ford. Maybe even include rent on that list too. If it weren’t for Bezos, Ford would be dead sooner than later. Despite the lost jobs in the states, the increase in need for manufacturers overseas which can actually make cars would mean more jobs for them.

I’m just bitter because I bought a Ford unbeknownst that it was the era when they were testing out hiring Chimpanzees as their developers.
 
PDXFonz said:
I’d recommend never buying, leasing, or financing a Ford. Maybe even include rent on that list too. If it weren’t for Bezos, Ford would be dead sooner than later. Despite the lost jobs in the states, the increase in need for manufacturers overseas which can actually make cars would mean more jobs for them.

I’m just bitter because I bought a Ford unbeknownst that it was the era when they were testing out hiring Chimpanzees as their developers.
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What's Bezos got to do with keeping Ford alive? I must have been out back smoking when they covered that topic in school.

barfo
 
barfo said:
What's Bezos got to do with keeping Ford alive? I must have been out back smoking when they covered that topic in school.

barfo
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Amazons delivery vehicles are fords

Not actual Ford
 
I love my 2013 F150 with the 6.2 gas, & trailer package. Paid $28K for it 3 years ago with 26K miles. I put about 6K a year on it pulling Trailer & Boat. Not at the same time.
 
Hoopguru said:
Have you seen the pricing on the Rivian?
They look like an amusement park kiddy ride.
$70K Plus
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I doubt the Rivian Truck and the Rivian delivery truck cost anywhere like each other, I am sure the van does not have a lot of the tech than makes the R1T as expensive as it is.

But, if we are talking about the Rivian truck, let's remember that the average price of a new car in the USA nowadays is $50K. So, $70K is only 40% above the average price of a new car in the USA. It's not like it is a completely out of whack price for what you get.

A Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 with an off-road package is a $80K+ proposition. A Ford Raptor starts at $76K. The R1T (with the 4 motors) is basically the same kind of off-road beast - it's price does not seem out of touch. Personally, I don't need a pickup truck like that, but if I wanted a pickup truck that is super-capable off-road - I can't think of anything that I would rather have, at this point, over the R1T.
 
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My ex wife and I leased a car when we had twins with the thought of buying it after and selling it. We put so few miles on it that it made it an anomaly and we didn’t end up getting the value we thought we would. Not really a story for or against, but just my experience.
 
SheedSoNasty said:
My ex wife and I leased a car when we had twins with the thought of buying it after and selling it. We put so few miles on it that it made it an anomaly and we didn’t end up getting the value we thought we would. Not really a story for or against, but just my experience.
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moral of the story: don't lease a car or you'll gain an ex-wife and twins.
 
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