So yeah, I'm in the market for a new car. I've got about 5 grand ready for a down payment, and can afford, at most, 250 per month as a payment, so obviously I'm not shopping BMWs or anything. My question for you dumb fucks is, should I buy or lease? Obviously I know the major differences between the two, but I'm soliciting opinions, especially from those who have done both and can speak decisively one way or the other. Is there any particular reason I should or should not lease? What sort of bullshit can I expect from dealers, either when buying or leasing? Are there hidden fees, maintainance requirements or other crap that I should know about but don't because of my mental retardedness? et cetera.

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quote:

Originally posted by OhioTranceFan So yeah, I'm in the market for a new car. I've got about 5 grand ready for a down payment, and can afford, at most, 250 per month as a payment, so obviously I'm not shopping BMWs or anything. My question for you dumb fucks is,

That's a great way to solicit advice. It's especially funny coming from someone who can only afford $250 a month for a car payment.

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personally, i'd never lease a car. you're limited to the amount of miles you can put on it per year, and you can't do anything to customize it (not a big deal i know, but i'd still hate driving around in something that didn't feel like it was *totally* mine).

also, if you're leasing you're basically just throwing your money away, whereas if you finance it you're putting payments towards something you're going to own. unfortunately it's not the greatest investment since the price will depreciate over the years, but it's still better than "renting" a car for a specific amount of time.

leasing will give you the option of driving a nicer car for a lower payment. if you finance the same car your payments would be higher.

btw, $5k down and $250 a month can get you something pretty nice.

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I've pretty much thought the same way my whole life. Leasing a car has always seemed like a trap to me (similar to apartment renting vs. home owning) because of the limitations you listed. Not owning the auto is a bit of an issue because I do like to do a bit of customization work on the inside, but it's definitely something I can live without. The mileage is sort of a non issue for me; while I obviously like to drive to visit random places, I don't do a lot of driving at home, and I've never crested the 12kmi/year mark.

I was pretty much all set to buy until I started looking up lease prices out of curiosity and started to find that I could get a car a tier or two above what I can afford to buy for a hundred dollars less per month. The fact is, Im only 25 and Im questioning if I need to own a car when i might be better served squirling away or investing the extra cash. Really the only reason I would lease is financial, barring some sort of other limitations on a lease I dont know about.

Chances are Ill end up buying, but Im hoping someone will be able to make a good case for a lease in order to provoke some sort of internal debate

quote:

Originally posted by lücid personally, i'd never lease a car. you're limited to the amount of miles you can put on it per year, and you can't do anything to customize it (not a big deal i know, but i'd still hate driving around in something that didn't feel like it was *totally* mine). also, if you're leasing you're basically just throwing your money away, whereas if you finance it you're putting payments towards something you're going to own. unfortunately it's not the greatest investment since the price will depreciate over the years, but it's still better than "renting" a car for a specific amount of time. leasing will give you the option of driving a nicer car for a lower payment. if you finance the same car your payments would be higher. btw, $5k down and $250 a month can get you something pretty nice.

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dont lease....buy. 5k down and leasing is flushing ur money down the toilet and even if u get a lower payment, u have to have top of the line insurance, so u'll end up paying anyway.

better to at least own what ur paying for. cars are generally the worst investment u could make lol but we need them.

go with something like the brand new altima. they're pretty cool and sporty. with 5k down and $250 range...yea..u can swing that if u got decent credit. tell them u wont pay a penny over 240 and they'll come back with 255. just stick to your guns, they'll want to make a sale.

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quote:

Originally posted by notelfreak man i can't believe i tried to come off as responsible in that other thread, i am so full of shit just don't tell anyone

I did a presentation for this last year in my Investment Banking class and we came to the conclusion that short-term leases were better than buying (but we were discussing equipment for a company)... i also don't remember much of the presentation

there's a bunch of sites that help explain the ups and downs of leasing and buying.. here's a good site that explains it well: http://www.leaseguide.com/lease03.htm

for the most part if you want to switch between nice cars every 3 to 4 years i'd go with a lease (o why hello future bmw 335!)... for the most part it's honestly not worth going thru with buying a vehicle outright because of how much a car depreciates thru the ongoing years. that's just my 2 cents though.

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I leased my car and I love it, granted I don't drive all that much and my lease is for 15k a year. Why marry the car? If you buy it you're going to be paying for it for a LONG time before you can sell it off (depending on what kind of car you buy). With a lease, however, after the lease is up get rid of the car. Win/win imo, you can get a new car without having to worry about paying for the remainder. Just make sure you take really good care of the car, I'm sure the dealership will try to find any reason for 'wear & tear'.

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15k a year? what kind of car is that

Oh I meant 15k miles per year....sorry

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the key to determining if leasing is better for you is how many miles you drive. if you drive 12k or there abouts then leasing is a great option for you. if you are like me where i am allowed 12k and i am at 24k then its a bad option for you. leasing gets you into a car you REALLY cant afford. thats basically what it is.

oh and the myth about customizations...you CAN customize things and leave them on but you shouldnt do anything that is hard to remove. unless you dont really mind the labor to take it off.

and the whole thing about "renting vs buying"...have a car for 3-4yrs and turn it in (on average people are purchasing a new car every 4-6 years) and get a new one and keep maintenance to a minimum or buy a car and have it for 12 years and its requiring lots of work after about 6yrs. imho i say new car every 5yrs or less..for me i HAVE to buy cause of my mileage.

A lease can be ok if you drive 15K miles a year or less and only like to keep a car for 2 or 3 years.

Since a car is a depreciating investment, the theory of leasing is that you are only paying for the dollar value of the car that you are using. The problem with that is that a brand new car looses value very quickly in the first 2-3 years and then it levels off. So when you sign a 3 year lease on a brand new car you are going to pay them for the vast majority of the depreciation and then had them back a used car with a decent residual value that they can resell.

I'm not in the market for a new car now but next time I am I may look at leasing a preowned car, ideally one that just came off a 2 year lease. In theory its kind of like the ultimate compromise. You get a almost new car every two years that is still under warranty, you can afford a much nicer car than you normally would be able to, and some fool has already paid for the huge chunk of depreciation you take in the first two years.

But if you drive more than 15K a year or you prefer not having a car payment at some point over always having a new car then buying is the way to go.