Is it better to buy or lease a car?

Question

...and is it better to buy or lease a new car or certified pre-owned car?

Answer 1

C'mon, David. Do you really think there's one right answer to this question? Choosing to buy or lease depends on so many factors that no one could begin to answer this question for you unless they knew just about everything there is to know about your taste, your financial situation, your employment circumstances, etc.

The answer depends on how long you intend to keep the car, how much you have to spend, what type of car you intend to buy, whether the dealership is offering incentives favoring one type of transaction over the other right now, what kinds of interest rates you qualify for (based on your credit history), whether you're the kind of guy that likes to customize your car or not, whether the dealer wants (or needs) to move that particular model as a lease, and on and on and on.

A lease will be cheaper on a monthly basis - but you're only "buying" the use of the car, and not the car itself. When you're ready to sell a car that you've bought (even if it hasn't been paid off yet), it has some value that you can recover - when the contract expires on your leased vehicle, you turn around and walk away.

If the money that you "save" by leasing is put to "better" use - and by better I'm speaking from an investment perspective, not a "trip to the Bahamas this February" perspective, then it might be the better option. If you're going to take the money you save and buy groceries, then that's a whole different calculation.

From the simplest analysis - you'll save money leasing short-term, you'll break even over the mid-term and you'll get killed on the lease if you lease long-term. Short-term leasing is always more expensive than long term buying.

You'll need to give a lot more thought to what YOUR unique needs are. Without knowing that information, no one can possibly give you a one-size-fits-all answer.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Buying a car is far better than leasing. A pre-owned vehicle is not a bad choice these days. Especially due to the high cost of new vehicles. If you Buy a new car then be prepared for high payments and expensive insurance. If you lease a car you make monthly payments, they take care of the maintenance on the car and at the end of the lease the lease you have the option of buying the vehicle you just leased. If it's a lease purchase you make the payments then at the end of the lease you make a balloon payment. Buying a used car will mean lower payments. The only draw back is the higher interest rate. It's not that bad . On the average about 15% interest. Maximum you can carry out a loan on a used car is 4 years. Reasoning the depreciating value on the car. Pay as much down on the car as possible. The payments will even be lower. Buy your used car at a dealer, too. Reasoning: They super clean the vehicle, tune it up, change the oil. They check it out real good. They also give you 5 free oil changes at most dealers. Good hunting. Oh and make sure your credit is good or you'll be wasting yours and the dealers time.

Answer 3

It is always better to BUY a car and pay cash for it. NO PAYMENTS!!! Woohoo! Cant afford to pay cash??? then you are looking at cars you cant afford! Cars Depreciate horribly the first 4 years of their life. The best on the market will still lose over half their value in about 4 years. The best thing to do is to pay cash for a 4 year old car and sell it when it turns 7. This way you get great nearly new miles out of a car and dont get killed in depreciation.

Remember, VERY FEW people keep a car longer than 3 years...lets face it...we get bored with it and get the urge for something different! Nothing wrong with that, but if you Lease a new car, or always buy new you guarantee that you will always pay the most money for your transportation. You will spend your whole life losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in depreciation on cars. Good Luck!

Answer 4

It is better to buy unless you don't plan to drive the car. With a lease you have a limit on the miles you can put on the car. I went wayyyyyyy over and ended up having to buy out the lease. It's like I'm paying for this car twice. Don't do it! If you can, just buy the car.

Answer 5

It depends on the advantages received from buying or leasing. You first have to measure them. If you find that the net advantages from buying is more than the advantages of leasing you should go for buying otherwise leasing is preferred. Though there are many other factors such as the capital needed, taxes which should be considered as well.

Answer 6

Leasing is better. Every driver will prove you this. Many articles and guides can be found in the Internet, they are dedicated to this problem. If you live in LA, you can lease a car in LA Autostore, for example. At all, you would better browse the Internet and search the company you trust

Answer 7

They buy or lease question can be solved by working out the Net Advantage to Leasing. The NAL generally depends on whether you can use the car lease payments as tax deductions.

Answer 8

I never really understood the point of a lease. You pay so much a month and at the end of your contract they take your car, buy if you buy and make those payments you can sell your car and get your money back!

Answer 9

Buy....and get a pre-owned car. About 2-3 years old. Never buy new because it loses a ton of value as soon as you drive it off the lot.

Answer 10

Lease a car. Especially if you need it for a business. I suggest you LA Autostore