Should You Lease or Buy Your Car?

Edmunds.com

Should You Lease or Buy Your Car?

Is leasing or buying a car right for you? Leasing isn't only a dollars-and-cents question — it's about personal tastes and priorities.

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hyperchicken

I thought you had the chance to purchase the car at the end of the lease as well, which can be good.

gpturner

Hyperchickien has a very good point that the article doesn't address. The value depends on what your buyout option is and what you finance price is if you buy. Bought a car for $20K after 3 years of finance you still owe $10K on it. But what if you lease for a lower monthly payment and after three years you can buy it for $10K then why would you not want to lease?

rocky1dog

Things to contemplate.. If the car is retailed at 25000. You lease it for 3 years. You pay the full tax liability each year on the full value of the car minus depreciation.That can be substantial-my state about 650 dollars. You can work it into your lease monthly payments so that goes up. Always read the fine print when they say 50 dollars a week. That means 3000 down and 700 score on your fico score. It looks so enticing until you read the details.Always go with true car price when you negotiate the msp, also every 1000 down equal to about $30 less in payment for month. Do not go with the first estimate they always come down as I have found out.

carboy21

Everything depends on how you use the car and how much you want to pay per month.

You can LEASE a top of the range BMW or Mercedes Benz and flog it as you like for 3 years for 36 thousand miles and show off to your friends, colleagues or employees and boost your ego.

Lower end cars which you need for your daily commute are best bought on loan as it will be cheaper and you don't have to turn it in every three years and lose money.

hermanator1

You all forget the insurance issue. Leasing demands top range costs . You are required to have high collision etc. Buying you can get minimum coverages

kyfdx

hermanator1 said:

You all forget the insurance issue. Leasing demands top range costs . You are required to have high collision etc. Buying you can get minimum coverages

Insurance coverage is no different than the bank requires if you have a loan on your vehicle. So, you can only get minimum coverage if you own the vehicle, with no loan.

Frankly, minimum coverage isn't good enough for those with assets to protect.