Cartards: If you're low on dough is it better to lease a new car or buy a used shitbox?
 

So say I have $5,000 I can spend on a car. I dont have a lot of money now but think I'll make more money in 3 years.

So for $5k I'd end up with a used car that's so old a bank or credit union won't even give a loan on it (theres a red flag right there if a bank wont give a loan on it).

Or, I could lease a car, drive something decent, and then in 3 years I'll be making more money to get my own instead of leasing. I know 2 people who lease and both love it.

Anyone here lease? and glad they did?

Leasing a car is almost always a bad idea. For $5k you can get a non-shitbox car, at least around here.

Leasing only really makes sense to me if you have a business that can write off the payments.

For $5k you can get a pretty decent used car. Not having car payments is pretty nice.

Gorgeous selection
http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2006/11/rx7.jpg

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0001_large.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Chevy-Nova.jpg

where do you live that a 1990 Camry is a $5,000 car?

clickhappy... dude...come on, dont sell yourself so short... 3 years - you think you're going to make more money? Three years? come on man have a little faith in yourself,.... look goto the mirror and say self... I - am - a - motherfucking - winner!

No but seriously dude you can make your goals a little shorter... fuck three years is like...well, 3 years... personally if I was in your place, Id get a bike...then take the 5k and invest into something and turn that into 5k a month... there is a diff between existence and living... go against the grain... build something... and may the force be with you...

if you get a car that holds its value, is reliable, you take care of it, and most importantly watch how much the final price is - are also on the up and up with the lease terms so the dealer doesn't fleece you - then you could end up in the black at the end of the lease term.

Right now I'm 3-8k in the black on my leased Lexus if I were to just sell it. It was 6-7 months old with very low miles when we got it. Would be even more ahead had it not been a certified pre-owned car which adds a couple of grand (and still came with wore out tires and brake pads) and if didn't get fleeced on the stupid wear and tear warranty

I'd never lease again, went over mileage $2,400

Yep, 12k - 15k miles a year is NOTHING, I'd have to have 30k/yr and I doubt thats even offered

But I did do a 27 mth lease, which went by like a breeze, so I'd recommend shorter the better

http://wichita.craigslist.org/cto/2283497632.html Sebring Convertible
http://wichita.craigslist.org/cto/2212572789.html Sebring Convertible
http://wichita.craigslist.org/cto/2268964792.html Cadillac
http://wichita.craigslist.org/ctd/2208854495.html Another Cadillac

Fuck I'm in the middle of nowhere, I'm looking for a god damned fucking car and the god damned loan company just turned us down for five fucking grand in spite of amazingly good credit!!! We were offered a 3% "promo rate" but our DTI is 42% and it has to be below 40% for god damned christs fucking sake there :(

christ on a cracker with nude nuns man

If you can't figure out how to buy a decent car for 5k, give up just give up
Research what you're buying ... as an example I like the cads, the seb convs, well you have to be sure the head gasket is good when you buy a northstar cad you have to be sure the timing belt has been done when you buy a sebring conv...... etc.. know what the fuck you're buying, look at it closely or have it looked at, you'll be fine

If you're concerned about breakdowns go to the best warranty company in the world http://warrantydirect.com - their warranties cost 3x what they use to, but they're the best in the world. Exclusionary coverage. Wear and tear coverage. Electrical coverage. Cooling system coverage. Just the god damned fucking best.

Power shield they'll sell you on your 5k car, though, it's good but not wonderful.

Anyway if CL will let me source, here's some 5k cars they ain't so bad
Bear with me I had too much beers, would you

http://images.craigslist.org/3n73oe3...909c341c45.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/3n13mc3...07b4c81b33.jpg
http://images.craigslist.org/3nf3k53...37c83d137f.jpg


Really, even when I had plenty of money and drove what the fuck I wanted ... i never had anything I paid over 6k for... nothing worth over 14k.. good used cars save a fortune if you know what the fuck you're doing when you buy and unless you got to swing a small cock in a pricey car there's no reason to spend more


WELL

I CAN see why people waste a fortune for a sexy ass BENTLEY ... I mean god damn the status, the car is just a sexy whore I'd sit in my garage TALKING to a Bentley ... Like this, hi baby .... are you warm enough.. I'm going to park you right there so you can watch this slut give me my evening blowjobs...... you know? What a sexy fucking car :winkwink:

Best car I evr had was a $3700 1990 Seville sold it to some guy in Arabia shipped to dammam port he paid close to six grand for it
Was a gorgeous dark blue in and out with gold all over itjustlike this one
http://www.autofocusdetroit.com/auto...577_1_2079.jpg
http://www.autofocusdetroit.com/auto...577_1_2079.jpg

I love car shopping, buying cars selling cars the car business and cars

How about an LT1 firebird if you don't mind some gas ... rock solid fuck'n engine or you could go with the rock solid 3800

LT1 six speed Trans-Am 5k right here
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/2287616280.html
http://images.craigslist.org/3m93od3...8de200189a.jpg

:1orglaugh oh man

I'm being serious about that... really :1orglaugh

As a matter of fact next time my lady friends comes over I'm going to have her to blow me while I stare at those pictures. . , why not
LOL!!!!

Go with a lease if you plan to stay under 15,000 miles a year. You don't have to worry about car problems or anything major.

yes, those kinds of investments are very easy to find :Hollering

a Bentley is my dream car. i see them here and there in south florida. i love seeing them

Off the top of my head, five of these:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories
With good placement you're looking at AT least that. The ROI is fkng SICK. :thumbsup

I almost bought a 1997, one time.. Had a chance to buy it for I think it was 40k and this was back in the early 2000s. I didn't have it all in cash bit I definitely could have put maybe 20 down and driven in for some time then flipped it

I still kick myself for not doing it

About 6 years ago I needed a new car. I knew I didn't want a car payment so a lease was out of the question. I ended up buying a 1967 mustang for $4800. It was all original and ran great. It was in pretty good shape. Over the next 2 years I put about $3K into it and now have a car that I love to death, that appreciates in value every year and that I can't see myself ever getting rid of.

So there are plenty of great options out there for $5,000. My advice would be to shop around, be patient and get something you really like, but don't lease unless you can write it off.

All of you that say you can only write off a lease are well mistaken.


You can write off a Purchase or a Lease. You can depreciate a purchase and write off the payments or if you paid cash you can write that off also as a business expense. Then a monthly write off for mileage, gas, insurance ..etc.

:2 cents:


To lease or to buy.

With a lease you get a brand new car with very little down payment and lower monthly payments. Basically renting the car. If you go over the miles then there are penalties, and also some leases have a disposition fee... a fee you pay at the end when you turn in the car.

You also have to pay tax on each payment on a lease

You must also be careful of excessive wear and tear and any damage to the vehicle as you will have to pay to fix that when you return the car. Make sure you have a CLOSED END Lease.

If you have good credit, then you can purchase a car, put down $2000 of your $5000 dollars that you have, and get a 60 month loan for a car that allows your payments to be around the same as the lease would be. Use the other $3000 towards your payments also. Then in the next 3 years when you make more money you can trade your car in and get something else. :thumbsup

Great points.

As an addition to this I might also say if you want a new car think about buying a car that is about 1-1.5 years old. It should have low mileage and most of the time they are in good shape. Most of the depreciation of a car comes early on. The old saying is that the value of the car drops 50% the second you drive it off the lot. So you let someone else take the big depreciation hit, you buy an extended warranty from the dealer and you have a nice car for a lot less money. This might also let you get more car for your money since you will be paying less overall.

Buy a very basic car that is not too old.
For $5,000.00 you won't be getting your "dream car"

$5k is more than enough to get you a decent car. If you can't find one for $5k you are either looking for unrealistic cars, aren't looking hard enough, or are in the most backwards market in the country. If your market is that shit, expand your search zone. Driving a couple hours to pick up a car is not unheard of. Having one delivered from out-of-state is not unheard of either and does not cost all that much money. You could pick up a decent out-of-state car for $4k and have it delivered for less than $1k.

A quick search in Miami:

http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/2290848350.html
http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/2290848708.html * looks like a great option
http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/2290847429.html
http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/2290846850.html
http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/2290845700.html
http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/cto/2289224684.html

I would be happy with any of these.

No shit, I'll start freighting them there by the dozen, lol. $5k you can buy a completely functional, good shape, point a to point b, used vehicle. Realistically, anything beyond that is just for looks or more performance. There's nothing wrong with that at all, but for $5,000 you CAN buy a perfectly fine vehicle that doesn't look like it was rolled out of the wreckers lot. Leasing is just about always a retarded idea for an individual.

the last car i bought was $1400 and i paid by now around another $2500 to get it back in shape. it's 25 years old and drives great :)

Buy off of a person... no lots, no dealerships, nothing like that. With people, you have to do some real ground work and be willing to travel out of your region to look/get the car. Staying in your own area limits you to the junk you posted.

Local shopper papers are in small local areas, you have to go to them... Then hit the gas stations/post offices/stores just outside the city limits or in small populated areas - look for the post boards. Ask the people you talk to for more leads, someone knows a grandma with some nice car for super ass cheap, because she can't drive anymore.

Same small areas/outside of city limits, auto shops. The mechanics and shops often have cars, good ones, that they'll sell or they know who does. They love giving leads too, it's free work or money in the bank for them.

This is the best way, to find a great car, cheap as can be, sometimes mind blowing... I've seen it with my own eyes and I've heard the stories many times. Just recently, my partner needed a van to pack up crap for trade shows, he paid $2500 for a van that can be resold to a lot for $8k cash. Dig deep.... they're all over the place.

Don't forget about craigslist and online sites, a few states away will cost you like $500-800 to have a car shipped to you. With super good deals online, you really have to get lucky and be the first to find them.

Last bit of advice would be to find someone that does police auctions to save yourself the fee or just do it yourself and pay the entry fee. The trick is, you have to show up a day or two before and test the cars, to ensure they don't suck... the problem is, if you take the auction and the car is a dud, it's your dud. But - you can get some mind blowing deals, junk that runs for a few $100 bucks and for $5k - that's some rather decent cars.

Hope that helps...

my guess is cuba... :1orglaugh

The hyandai 100k warranty isn't transferable.. or something like that... so be sure not to fall for it if the owner claims that it is!! Common thing on Hyandais for a seller to lie about (or be confused about)

http://uship.com :thumbsup

it was a joke. i live in fort lauderdale

thats very nice. i cant drive a stick though.

ok so basically its better to buy than lease

http://www.edmunds.com/hyundai/sonat...liability.html

looks like the car has timing belt issues and reported engine trouble.. when you go check it out, make sure to ask pointed questions about it and know your shizz when you're taking the gander

is there any hills in flordia? lol

Buy a car and then save your lease money every month to "upgrade" the car in a year or two, rinse and repeat... If things go bad, the bank/lease company can't take your car and leave you fucked.

http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/ctd/2292579020.html '04 Sebring Convertible $5000
http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/2292533406.html '00 Civic 4cyl V-Tech $3900
http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/cto/2292467325.html '97 Catera 40k $4500
http://miami.craigslist.org/brw/cto/2292454002.html '01 Sentra $3250 (new paint, poss wreck)

Nice choices
none of them mention the miles except the Catera. The Caddilac is gorgeous but its 14 years old, and why are the miles so low? something wrong with it?
See this is my point, I bet all the other ones have close to 100k miles on them and within months Ill need to spend money to fix problems on the car.

The mileage thing could be simply that it was a second car or that the owners didn't drive much. My mom bought a new car and when she traded it in 10 years later it only had 18,000 miles on it. They didn't believe her at first, but she lived 2 miles from where she worked so her daily commute round trip was only 4 miles and then a couple of times a month she went to the store to shop and stuff, she just didn't drive or go out much.

Not a lease fan, I like to own it.

come on, for a couple of K you can choose from loads of reliable cars that are cheap in maintanance etc. You never bought a car before? You just need a little experience. Go with someone who knows cars a bit. Always check the bottom of older cars, when its at a garage always let them put it on the bridge to check if the exhaust system and bottom isnt completely full of rust. Also check if the engine isnt too much wet from oil etc, look into it when its on the bridge & when u popped the hood you can check if it isnt leaking too much from the cylinder head. Make a list of all things to check, also for the test drive, check everything (buttons, electricity, lights, etc). I could list all things to check but just bring someone who knows cars. Look at buying a first 2nd hand car as a learning experience, once you bought more cars you dont need to bring anyone anymore because you now know by then what points you should look at.

Use autocheck to help verify mileage.. Low mile automobiles have their little problems, too, as someone mentioned with the short trip driving you end up having a-lot of water left in the exhaust and so it rots away.. etc

The one I didn't believe too well was the '04 Sebring for 5k
Must be high miles or prior rental or some shit
If it is, negotiate for lower price or don't buy

The Catera I hate the looks of it but a-lot of people really like the thing. I've read that they'll go 150mph. I think the earlier ones were simply rebadged opels, though.

PS: It doesn't matter how many miles are on the civic.. just buy the thing
If the mileage is high, talk the price down