New Car - Lease or Finance?
 

For those of us with the only two options available, lease or finance (not just outright buy), which of the two options in your opinion is better than the other? I've financed and paid off a car before, never leased because everyone's told me "It's a waste of money, you don't own anything in the end". Has anyone done both or know anyone in the automobile business and have input?

Thanks!

JM

I lease my wifes car and i own mine. The only reason I own mine is because i use it to drive to work every day and don't want to worry about the miles. My wifes i use as a write off for the biz. I like to lease hers because she is a stay at home mom and uses it local .. I have 2 kids and after 2-3 years we like to get something new. leasing payments are lower and i never have to buy tires or even brakes before it's time to give it back .. plus it's nice to always have a newer car. it works for me but you may have a different situation .

How long are you going to keep the car for?
If your answer is 4 years or less then lease the car.

Leasing is paying for the part of the car you use over those years.


I'll always lease. That way if the resale falls through the floor you arent stuck with it, and if its higher then the buy out then sell it and use that money as a downpayment on the next car, or to have a night on the town.

If you buy a 40k car, finance over 4 years you would pay 833 a month.
after 4 years you sell that car for 20k.
Or you can lease that car, and pay 416 a month, and in the end give them the keys back.
Thats with 0% interest and no tax, but you get the idea. It just gets complicated when you start putting tax and interest rates, but in the end it works out close enough to the same for me.

Leasing would allow you to say, double up your RRSP contributions, or well whatever you wanted.

also if you took that 40k that you would have outright purchased your car with, you could use it for your business and make a better return...

Thanks for the input guys. :)

My sister said leases suck. You can't go over 10,000 miles or so per year and you've gotta change it out every so often. Finance seems to be the way. If you get a Toyota or something that holds it value you can resell it after being right side up.

10,000 miles? wtf
the average lease here is 24000 km a year, with a low milage one being a bit cheaper, and that gives your 20000 km a year, or the high milage one which is 30000 a year.
And you turn them in every 3 years, on average, but there are longer and shorter leases.

Unless you plan on keeping the car for a long time there is no reason why a lease isnt better.

either way, best thing to do is get a car that's a year old with around 20,000 km's. Still under warranty and you save at least 20-30% from buying new.

finance unless it's a luxury car and you plan not to drive over 12k a year

would you be open to buying a 2 to 3 year old use car? can get one from a dealer with warranty/extended warranty....you do not take the hit of depreciation....might be something to consider...?

Who are you???

leasing is for broke people

you're still in the biz? :winkwink:

I lease my car and write it off as a business expense. I can't remember the last time I went more than 4 years (and 3 is usually the limit) without replacing my main car. It just makes more sense for me to lease.

The Wrangler I bought that's my "sports car" I went ahead and paid cash for - I know I plan on keeping it until the wheels fall off :) But it's not a daily driver. In almost a year I've put less than 3500 miles on it.

thats what I thought when I used to be broke .... people with money usually don't buy cars, most of them lease... you can write it off, any repairs are covered, if the market value is higher at the end you can buy it out and sell it for profit, you change car every 2-4 years, you pay for what you use, you can use all that money to make more money (invest) or if you have mortgage you can dump $40k in there and save 150-200/month (depends on the mortgage amount) on interest, if you get into accident you dont need to worry about resale value since it's a lease...

Lease it.

I had an delima few years back... I bought it, no regrets

Check out Expert Lease Pro.

http://www.autoleasingsoftware.com

http://www.autoleasingsoftware.com/New/leasevsbuy.htm

This is why I like the lease. I buy a car on impulse. I see something I love or want and buy the damn thing. Anything over 30k new is a bitch to sell after just a few years. They kill you on the trade and it sits if you try and sell it your self. Lease. Plan ahaed and turn that bitch in. Do the lease when the new model year is out and you can get the old year. This gives you new models as they open up or last year if it is something that was around.

Any faults with my logic?

How do you guys unload your BMW's and Mercedis witho9ut getting hammerd.

kneether, i would buy one

lease

especially in youre in canada, you can write off 100% of the monthly lease payments

depends on the car, but for an everyday driving car - they are NOT an asset. they depreciate like crazy - so i lease my mercedies mostly cause i hate trading it in and arguing. just easier like that and always keeps me in a fairly new vechile plus there's more tax reasons to do so.

that works if you have a basic clue on your milage over 2-4 years. i try for 2-3 year leases myself. I get bored of cars pretty fast but usually have 2 so i can handle 3 years MAX with any one vechile.


if it's a sports/show car it might be better to buy.

up to a certain amount. i cannot write off the total bill on my mercedies :2 cents: