Leasing vs. Buying?

Question

Is it better to lease a vehicle verses buying one?

Answer 1

Pros and Cons to both leasing & buying...I have done both. My family has always bought, and I did too, up until my most recent car in April (a 2007 jetta lease).

Some pros of leasing are:
-you get more car for your $$...if you bought, your monthly payments would be alot higher so you can drive a nicer car if you lease
-new car so most things are covered under warranty, sometimes even oil changes and things of the sort...
-you get a new car every 2, 3, or 4 years (depending on the lease term)
-peace of mind that you're driving a safe, new car

Some cons:
-mileage restrictions...usually it's 10k a year but you can negotiate to get 12k at a 10k price sometimes (that's what I did)
-your insurance may go up
-in 2 or 3 years (whenever your lease is up) you need to turn your car in and you have nothing to show for all the money you've been putting out.
-piggybacking on that...you'll need to come up with another "X" amount of money for a down payment on either a new lease or a new purchase.


Now for buying:
Pros:
-you eventually own the vehicle and don't have to make car payments after a few years
-if you buy a reliable car, you can get buy on spending very little for repairs and keep the car for many years to come
-if you're a person who drives cars until they die on the side of the road...buying's the way to go.
-you can drive wherever you want and put as many miles on as you wish...
-if you get bored with your car, you can sell it before it's even paid off.
-you'll get money for your car if you trade it in or sell it for another one

Cons:
-if you buy used/when warranty expires, parts & service take the place of your monthly car payments after a few years...you put alot of $$ into repairs for SOME cars once they get up into the 4-5 year range...
-you may not be able to afford as nice of a car (or a nice "packaged" car) if you purchase because you need to pay the whole thing off in X amount of months.
-if it's used, you really don't know if the previous person had problems with it or not
-if/when you want to get rid of it, you need to go through the process of finding a buyer (if you sell it privately) or go through the process of bluebook valuing it at different dealerships, etc.


Hope this helps...I just leased my first car and I negotiated them down pretty well and got a lot of upgrades/packages thrown in for the basic price. Send me a message if you have specific questions and I can help you more specifically if you let me know what kind of car you're looking at. I've owned 2 Benz's, a Ford Taurus, a Volvo, a Saab, and now a Jetta.

Answer 2

As an ex-car salesperson from Phoenix I'll give you the "leasing 101" lesson.

When you lease a car the dealership calculates how much they think the car will depreciate over the lease period (36 months, 48 months) based on current market values for cars with the miles that you will agree to keep under (12,000 or 15,000 a year typically). Then, in essence, you "rent" the car for the specified period for the amount the car will depreciate.

So if you are leasing a $20,000 car for 48 months at 12,000 miles a year - and they estimate it's future value to be $12,000 - you lease the car and make payments on the $8,000 over the next 48 months.

When the time is up the dealership takes the car back and calculates it's TRUE worth. Based on what the market is doing, the actual mileage and condition of the car. Then if it's different from their original estimate you have to make up the difference.

Also, if you go over the miles or the car is in an accident they will penalize you because you "devalued" the car. So there are usually severe mileage penalties attached (20 to 40 cents a mile over). PLUS they will get you for any reconditioning that it might need (like scratches or if you smoke).

So - DO lease a car if you don't drive it a lot and park it indoors. DON'T lease a car if you like driving and are going to be putting a lot of miles on it, and if you won't be taking exceptionally good care of it.

You're usually better off buying the car outright and making payments. Are your payments higher? Yes. But you will own the car at the end of the term instead of turning it in and starting all over again.

If you need help negotiating a good deal you're welcome to read the articles on my site here:

http://www.1-800badcredit.com/car-negotiating-insider-tips.html

http://www.1-800badcredit.com/car-negotiating-four-square.html

Although my site is mostly for people with bad credit, the lenders and articles are good for people with good credit as well.

Good luck to you!

Answer 3

keep in mind there are pros and cons to each option. One thing to remember is when you buy, you are stuck with it for a while (trust me I know, my brand new car had so many problems that within the first year it was brought to the repair shop 10 times and was in there for over 40 days worth). One positive about buying is that you can add or modify whatever you want. One con about leasing is the fact that there are restrictions about the condition of the car when the lease is up that could cause many surcharges. One pro about leasing is that you can think of it as test driving the cars long term, you try it out for three years, and if you love it there is always an opportunity to buy out the car at the end of the lease. Really think through your options.

Answer 4

leasing is great....for the dealership. Think about it, you put x amount of money down, you pay a monthly fee, you pay penalties if you go over a certain amount of miles. Then you finish the lease and walk away with nothing for your money. The dealer leases the vehicle to you, collects the down payment, a monthly payment, penalties, and then gets to sell the car again. If you can't afford a good new vehicle ( now is a very good time to buy) with dealerships offering little or no down ( I just bought my daughter a sporty new ford with $99.00 down and a very nice small monthly payment). then go for a good used car and save the exta money for a few months. Trade the used vehicle and a small down payment to get the new car of your dreams.

Answer 5

well if your going to be switching out a car every year lease it but you can only put so many miles on it and keep it for 4 years than give it back but for about the same price you can buy the car and have it forever buying is better

Answer 6

I believe you would. But fairly the long run repayments will fee much less in truly phrases. As adverse to paying all of the cash up entrance for a purchase order. On the opposite hand you would purchase the condominium on a loan. Witha rent, of direction, you get not anything on the finish of the rent.

Answer 7

you want the vehicle for a limited period of time or forever?
ask yourself that then write some additional details.