Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

we own both cars

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

It's a very personal decision. I believe in renting cars and buying real estate.

So I lease always. Last car I owned was in 1989 and I have not one regret.

I like getting a new car every 3 years or so and it allows me to have more car than I would be able to get at the same payment. I don't mind the monthly payment because it is a static thing. Once the warranty on a car is up and something big goes wrong that is an unknown.

I had a used car years ago and I got stuck 300 miles from home. I had no money, no credit card and a cell phone will very little juice. I got home and you don't want to know how, but I would never keep a car past the warranty. It's just a personal preference.

My insurance is not higher and I put no money into the lease. I do put state tax down and usually negotiate my way out of the security deposit.

If you do lease, negotiate like you would buy..based on the price. That's what is going to make or break if you got a good deal. You can buy the car after the lease is up and if you have negotiated right it will cost you the same.

I would never put money down on something that depreciates, that's why I wouldn't buy a car...the payments would be too high. I would rather keep my moolah in an interest earning acct than put money into something that depreciates on an average of 20% a year.

Just my two cents, but you have to analyze your comfort level and your money mentality to see if it's right for you. Good luck!

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

Own only. I don't need a new car every three years and the maintanence on my 15 year old car is still cheaper than a car payment. The insurance also gets cheaper as the car ages. I am looking to get a new car soon, and plan on keeping that one for a long time too.

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

Own both

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

We own one and lease one. The deciding factors were the rates of the different programs and how we were planning on utilizing the cars (commuting only vs. vacation car, etc.).

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

I lease my car - it just suits me better.

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

All 3 of ours cars are financed...

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

Both own...like others, we prefer to own and don't want the never ending car payments.

I can totally see leasing for those that like to have a new car every few years...it makes perfect sense for them.

You have to decide what you prefer.

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

I leased one car in the past and HATED it.

We now only pay cash for our cars... own and cash, no payments.

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

own both

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

Posted by girlygrl33

Posted by MommaG

Posted by girlygrl33

Posted by MommaG

Also keep in mind, from an insurance standpoint - if you lease, you basically get nothing if the car is stolen or totaled. Since the leasing company owns the car, they get the money. So, if you spent $10k in monthly payments and down payment on your leased car and then it's totaled, you get nothing but if you own it, you will get some $$$ (depending on the value). To me, leasing is just not practical - I'm an own-it kind of girl.

huh? My stepbrother totaled his car - Lease and got money from his insurance company and leased another.

The leasing company is not obligated to give any of the insurance proceeds to the person who leased the car - the leasing company owns it and is entitled to the value of the vehicle. If your stepbrother added anything to the vehicle after the lease (stereo, for example) he would get the money for that. He would also get money for renting a vehicle or loss of use if he had that coverage. If the leasing company chose to accept less than the value, whatever their reason, which is their option, the person who leased would get whatever is left. The leasing company gets paid first, and usually takes it all.

NOT CORRECT- from ownership standpoint your correct from FINANCIAL or LEASE standpoint your incorrect- it depends on what you paid upfront= taxes or the sales tax on the lease is reimbursable by New York State. there is a tax redemption form that insurance companys have or manufactures have. Now when it comes to moneys youve put down like cap cost reductions thats noted on your contract and with GAP insurance ( required by New York State LAW on a LEASE) of which your portion is returned to you by your insurance company. Your insurance only satifys to the bank who owns the lease whats due to pay off, remaining moneys go back to the customer. with GAP insurance typically that is the moneys youve put down.

Monthly payments on a lease or security deposits or tax on rebates etc are NOt refundable to a customer BUT you can also at dealerships purchase VIN etch or reimbursement policies that will refund and provide you with full start up cost in the event of a total loss- ie you total your car and they provide you with new start up costs.

So bottom line YOU ARE covered and DO get money back if you total your car with a LEASE! It depends on what you specifically paid of that lease. But at NO time do you NOT get any money back with or without adding anything like a stereo to your vehicle that you mentioned.

HTH everyones question regarding whether or not if you total or crash your car you are covered with a lease.

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

I have leased 2 cars. The first one only cost me my $400 turn in fee. I am WAY under my miles so that is why this was good for me. I will be taking over a family car when my lease is over and I probably will not lease again anytime soon. I don't like trying to find the downpayment. My payments are low though $200/month
My dh owns and will continue as when he sells his car, he will have the downpayment for another one. He bought his car right off a 2-year lease so it was pratically brand new. His payments are only $150/month.

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

We own both but are thinking about leasing a new one this year and selling mine.

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

Message edited 5/31/2006 9:45:59 PM.

Re: car spinoff: own or lease?

Leasing OK in New York Again

Vicarious Liability Laws Reversed
By editors at Edmunds.com
Email

Leasing has returned to New York State.

Consumers and auto manufacturers in New York are celebrating the president's signing of the federal transportation bill in August 2005, which, among other things, eliminates the state's unlimited "vicarious liability" laws and once again allows leasing.

Vicarious liability laws were originally drafted to protect the interests of luxury vehicle drivers. However, these laws became perverted as a means of tapping into the pockets of large financial institutions as the de facto owners of leased vehicles. New York was the last state in the country with such a law on its books that potentially held owners of vehicles — banks, auto companies' financial arms, or other creditors — responsible for accidents caused by the driver.

While vicarious liability laws were still on the books in a limited form in other states, New York was the only place that continued to allow unlimited vicarious liability lawsuits. Often, these laws were exploited as an unlimited reservoir of income by lawyers and their clients.

Vicarious liability in the Empire State, or New York Traffic Law 388, dates back to 1924, where it was put into effect as a means of preventing owners of horse-drawn coaches and early automobiles from skirting responsibility for damage and injuries that they had badgered their chauffeurs into causing.

Law 388, as originally written, stated, "Every owner of a vehicle used or operated in this state shall be liable and responsible for death or injuries to person or property resulting from negligence in the use or operation of such vehicle, in the business of such owner or otherwise, by any person using or operating the same with the permission, express or implied, of such owner."

As the days of rich motorists barking instructions from the backseats of their coaches waned, the vicarious liability law seemed to have slipped into antiquity except in New York.

Due to the clever research of two trial lawyers, though, the law experienced an unexpected rejuvenation in the year 2000, when a manual was published on how to use vicarious liability as a means of holding lessors — meaning banks, credit unions, and car companies' financial institutions — responsible for accidents caused by the drivers of leased vehicles.

As a veritable goldmine for lawyers and a legal disaster for lessors and lessees alike, the resumption of this archaic law caused the end of leasing in New York. General Motors Acceptance Corporation had not leased vehicles in New York since April of 2003, and DaimlerChrysler Services has been absent from the state since May of 2004.

By some estimates, leasing had fallen in New York by as much as 75 percent, while the various costs and taxes used to continue leasing by only a select few auto companies could add roughly $600 to $700 to the cost of leasing a vehicle.

As of the president's endorsement of the transportation bill on August 10, though, all companies that comprised the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) announced that they would be returning to leasing in New York. The provision within the transportation bill states that the application of vicarious liability will be waived from "an owner of a motor vehicle that rents or leases the vehicle to a person or affiliate of the owner."

The AAM members — which include Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Hyundai, Jeep, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Pontiac, Porsche, Saab, Saturn, and Subaru, as well as Chase Auto, Wells Fargo & Corp., and the Philadelphia Insurance Companies —, have already returned to leasing in New York or are planning on doing so within the near future.

Mercedes-Benz, which had continued to lease vehicles with exorbitant acquisition fees, has now reduced the cost of its leases. American Honda Finance Corp., which left the New York leasing market on July 31, 2003, and returned in a limited manner on March 24, 2004, with much higher fees, has announced that it will reduce its lease-acquisition fee in the state to its nationwide standard of $595 per vehicle.

For those customers in New York State who plan on getting back into the leasing game, Edmunds.com recommends leases with no money down and a three-year term which allows the car to be driven at least 12,000 miles annually.