Members justinbass Posted December 17, 2009 Members Share Posted December 17, 2009 My car is on its way out and I am thinking of leasing one. Thoughts? Good idea? Bad idea? Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 82Daion Posted December 17, 2009 Members Share Posted December 17, 2009 How much do you drive? How will the total cost of the lease compare to buying the car outright? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rhythm Junky Posted December 17, 2009 Members Share Posted December 17, 2009 My last two cars were leased. It's OK if you don't drive much, or can stick to 12K a year in mileage. I went back to lease another this year in July and they couldn't give me an attractive deal. Now I see they're leasing in my range. Bastard Honda and Toyota people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mudbass Posted December 17, 2009 Members Share Posted December 17, 2009 Two things to be wary of: 1. Mileage. The leasing company will expect there to be X number of miles (or less) on the car when you return it at the end of the lease and this will be written into the contract. Any more miles than that and you will be charged like .18 per mile for driving your own car. 2. Insurance. Make sure you're well covered. If the car is stolen or totalled you don't want to be making lease payments on a car you no longer have. They're not going to let you out of the lease simply because the car is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t3ch Posted December 17, 2009 Members Share Posted December 17, 2009 If you're the type of person that needs a new car every few years, then go for it. I am not one of those people, and find leasing to be one of the most retarded things anyone could ever do. But I don't feel the need to buy a new car every other year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FXR Posted December 17, 2009 Members Share Posted December 17, 2009 You have to be insured out the ass to lease and have really really good credit. In the end though, it's a rip off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted December 17, 2009 Moderators Share Posted December 17, 2009 Leasing is great when it costs less than buying, taking all factors into account. Generally speaking, it is not less expensive to lease most of the time. I leased a car once due to legal obligations. I couldn't wait to get through that process. Conversely, I owned a house once and am now renting - I'm in no rush to own again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fingeringam Posted December 17, 2009 Members Share Posted December 17, 2009 There was a little slide show posted somewhere about Leasing vs. Buying new vs. Buying used. It was a little exaggerated but the point was, cars depreciate so fast that by being smart with your money and buying used cars you can save a lot of time, money and stress. Lemme try to find it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasper383 Posted December 17, 2009 Members Share Posted December 17, 2009 Unless your employer is providing it, or you use it for business and as a deduction, leasing is a bad idea. I have never heard a good financial reason for an individual to lease a car. You are basically renting the car. And paying a lot to do so. People like to lease because it makes them look like they have some money. People who actually have money buy their cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Kindness Posted December 17, 2009 Moderators Share Posted December 17, 2009 Any more miles than that and you will be charged like .18 per mile for driving your own car. Except if you are leasing, it isn't your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members perrydabassman Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 If you are one of these guys that trades his car every two years and are satisfied with a constant car payment, then a lease is a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarvinDog Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 I've leased two cars. One, we bought at the end of the lease and the other we turned in. Now, we buy used- one or two years old, fifteen to twenty k miles. It runs about the same monthly cost as leasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members perrydabassman Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 Me, I just buy an old BMW and drive em till the wheels fall off, which takes exactly forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AussieMark Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 People who actually have money buy their cars. and watch their investment rapidly depreciate the minute it leaves the dealer. Then, in a few years time, they have to find another $20,000 to buy the next car. Leasing and buying both have pros and cons. In Australia leasing is very tax effective when used in conjunction with salary packaging, because of our "progressive" income tax rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chunky-b Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 I call them FLEECES... Cause unless you a little old lady that only drives less than 12K a year, it doesn't work out to well. I guess if you live in a urban setting and never travel it might work. If you live in a state bigger than Rhode Island, I'd beware of the penalties. I had a minor scratch in my back bumper where I was unloading my mountain bike and the chain bumped the bumper... They charged me $800 to replace the bumper cover. With mileage penalty and all I got raped. If you buy a car, it will depreciate, but you at least have some residual value you can trade in or sell it for. In a lease, you just lose the car and your money... YMMV though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jasper383 Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 and watch their investment rapidly depreciate the minute it leaves the dealer. Then, in a few years time, they have to find another $20,000 to buy the next car. Leasing and buying both have pros and cons. In Australia leasing is very tax effective when used in conjunction with salary packaging, because of our "progressive" income tax rates. I didn't say they necessarily buy new cars. People who really have money don't worry about a car's depreciation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BeeTL Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 I strongly recommend subscribing to www.consumerreports.org for anyone considering a car purchase. It's the best $20 you'll ever spend. Here's what CR has to say on leasing: Pros and cons of leasing Buying a vehicle is a fairly straightforward process. You borrow money from a lending institution, pay the dealership for the car, and then make monthly payments on the loan until it's paid off. As you pay off the loan, you gain equity in the vehicle until it's eventually all yours. You can keep the vehicle as long as you like and you can do whatever you want to it, from giving it a custom paint job to entering it in a demolition derby. The only penalty for modification or abuse, perhaps, is a lower resale value when you're done with it. On the surface, leasing appears even simpler. You pay the leasing company a monthly payment that's lower than when buying. Then, after enjoying the most trouble-free two or three years of the vehicle's life, you simply bring it back to the dealership and lease another new one, or walk away. No muss, no fuss, right? Gone are your worries about haggling over the trade-in value or how to sell your old car. With a lease, that new-car smell need never leave your nostrils. Moreover: -There's often no down payment required when leasing, or only a low one. -You can drive a higher-priced, better-equipped vehicle than you might otherwise be able to afford to buy. -You're always driving a late-model vehicle that's usually covered by the manufacturer's warranty. These benefits are very inviting for many people. Still, there are a number of compromises and disadvantages to leasing, which means that it's not right for everyone. -Once you're in the leasing habit, monthly payments go on forever. -You have a limited number of miles in your contract and will have to pay extra if you go over. -You must maintain the vehicle in good condition. If you don't, you'll have to pay penalties for excess wear and tear when you turn it in. -If you need to get out of a lease before it expires, you may be stuck with thousands of dollars in early-termination fees and penalties--all due at once. Leasing is rarely a better financial arrangement than buying. The financial advantage of buying increases the longer you keep the vehicle after the loan is paid off. At the end of the lease, you have no equity in the vehicle to put toward a new car. You can't customize your vehicle in any permanent way. In addition, arranging a lease can be a confusing, complicated process that can easily leave you paying more than you should. This is not to say that leasing can't be a satisfying and cost-effective way to acquire a new vehicle. But it's a mistake to think that leasing is always easier or less expensive than buying. Who should lease? A lease comes with lots of limitations on how you can use your new vehicle. Do you drive a lot? Do you load your trunk or roof rack with paint-gouging flea-market treasures? Is your car a magnet for parking-lot dents and dings? Are your kids apt to turn its interior into a finger-painting studio? If so, you face a potentially costly problem trying to live within the strictures of a lease. First, you'll have to pay for what the leasing company determines to be excessive wear and tear to the vehicle when you return it at lease-end. Second, you'll have to ante up 10 cents to as much as 25 cents for every mile you drive beyond what your lease allows. Driving 5,000 miles over your limit can cost you $500 to $1,250. Leasing novices are particularly at risk of running up these costs. Nearly one-third of the first-time lessees in a Consumer Reports survey were hit with excess mileage or wear-and-tear charges. To determine whether the leasing lifestyle is for you, look ahead to the full term of a lease. How likely are you to change jobs or move to a new home that requires you to rely on your leased vehicle for a long daily commute? Will one of your children begin driving soon? If so, leasing may not be the right choice. Drivers who are hard on their vehicles aren't the only poor candidates for leasing. Driving too little can also saddle you with unnecessary costs. In the same Consumer Reports survey mentioned above, 20 percent of the drivers older than 55 returned their leased vehicles to the dealer having driven at least 10,000 fewer miles than their lease allowed. Since they got no credit for that unused value, they gave the leasing company what amounted to a windfall when it resold the vehicle. Valuing those unused miles at 10 cents apiece, that subsidy to the dealer can add up to $1,000 or more. Leasing generally makes sense only if: - You don't exceed the annual mileage allowance--typically 12,000 to 15,000 miles, but sometimes as little as 10,000 miles a year. - You keep the vehicle in very good shape. Excess wear and tear charges can be steep. - You plan to get a new vehicle every two or three years. If you keep it much longer than that, you're better off buying it from the start. If you're undecided, refer to "Buying vs. leasing basics" to assess the advantages and disadvantages. You can also use the Documenting the deal worksheet to crunch the numbers for a particular vehicle both ways to see which makes the most sense. If you're attracted to the lower monthly payments of a lease but are concerned about the restrictions, you could consider other alternatives, such as buying a car with a longer loan term or buying a used car. That's just the tip of the iceberg. CR offers all kinds of info on speceific models, new and used, negotiating tips, etc. I can say with confidence that my CR subscription has saved me thousands and thousands of dollars over the years I have been a member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members perrydabassman Posted December 18, 2009 Members Share Posted December 18, 2009 I strongly recommend subscribing to www.consumerreports.org for anyone considering a car purchase. It's the best $20 you'll ever spend. Here's what CR has to say on leasing: That's just the tip of the iceberg. CR offers all kinds of info on speceific models, new and used, negotiating tips, etc. I can say with confidence that my CR subscription has saved me thousands and thousands of dollars over the years I have been a member. Thats some good stuff there. Woids of Wizdome even!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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