Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

Ive bought older cars when I first started driving since I would buy them outright (spend no more than 5k).
I've leased 2 cars. One simply bc I was in grad school so I needed a cheap monthly payment on a reliable car, and the second car I just leased it because I wasn't sure if I would like driving an SUV so I figured I would have the option of returning it after my lease is done.
I will probably continuing leasing in the future bc I like getting a new car every 3 years and I don't want to deal with maintenance.

Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

We buy. We use the $ from the sale of our previous car as our down payment and find low financing (last car 0%, this one .9%). We maintain them and drive them for many years (last 2 cars 8 and 9 years).

Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I've never had to buy or lease, but I would opt for buying a used (a few yrs old) car and just ride it till it dies. My current car is 14 yrs old but has only 72000 miles on it. The occasional things that need a repair is still much cheaper than having a car payment (lease or finance)

Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

Financially it probably makes more sense to buy/finance. We found ourselves trading in our finance every 3 years anyway so we leased this time and honestly I don't like it, I would rather finance and then have something good to trade in, yeah you pay more per month but at the end you get more trade in....

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

Lease. Simply bc I like a new car every three years.

Message edited 6/4/2014 8:31:53 PM.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

A huge reason why I'm buying is car insurance! If I lease/finance I have to get full coverage and that's a couple hundred a month! I'd be looking at a 5-600$ headache every month for a car that ill be driving only on weekends and 1 miles a day (round trip) to and from the train.

Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I have done it all - bought, financed and leased and prefer lease out of all them.

I would rather pay monthly for a few years and give back the vehicle before the heavy wear and tear repairs kick in.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I leased once.

Financially, it really doesn't make sense for most people unless you can write the lease off as a business expense.

I learned a few lessons early:

1. When in high school, my aunt and uncle told me they never, ever financed one of their cars. They made a car payment to themselves every month to a money market account... after X years they had enough money to pay for the car in cash. I kept this in the back of my mind.

2. No penalty in NYS if you pay off a car loan early. They make MORE money in the long run if you finance sooooooo... every ten years I go into the dealership and negotiate a lower price based on financing. They are usually willing to go very low if they think they they will make it up on the financing. I play dumb on the rate (but I teach finance and economics ).

I make one payment and then the second month... BAM... I pay it off, the dealership/finance co. makes nothing off of me in interest and I save thousands over the cost of the loan.

Currently, I'm driving a 2005 Camry with 101K miles. It's only a box to me. My next car will be a hybrid in approx two years. Probably slightly used. I'll do the same as above.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I just bought a 2013 Buick Enclave. It only had 7,500 miles on it and I got it for $39,000. Had I bought it brand new, it would have cost over $50,000. I only financed $15,000 and paid the rest in cash.
For me it made the most sense. I tend to happily drive my cars for 7-9 years. I don't feel I need something new very few years. I also put very low mileage on my cars. I drive my Pilot for 7 years and put just under 60,000 miles on it.
Yes I put a lot of money down, but I was able to. My payments are like $266 a month. I plan on paying it off within 3 years and I'll be able to drive it for another 4 years or so with no payments. And I can still sell it or trade it in when I want a new car.
Had I leased, I would have probably had to put about $4,000 down and my payments would have been around $450 a month for all the bells and whistles. In three years I would have paid out roughly $21,000 and had to give it back. No thanks.

Message edited 6/4/2014 9:11:58 PM.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

Yes. That's why I won't finance. If I do, it'll be temporary for a couple of months. I live 30 seconds from Nassau border and car insurance is still ridiculous.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I put other, we lease our every day cars, usually a 36 month lease.

My DH just bought a new 2014 corvette and he financed that because he wants to own it for a long time.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I leased for many years and liked it until I finally got tired of having a never ending car payment without anything to show for it. Cars just became more and more expensive every 3 years and I never understood how people were getting $300/month lease deals on nice cars without putting a lot of money down (you should never put money down up front on a lease because if you total the car you lose that money).

So I decided to go over to the dark side and bought (financed) my current car. It's still in great shape and I am done with payments so now I can relax a while until I decide I want/need a new car at which point I will buy again. I don't want/need a new car every 3 years - yes it's true that you spend more on maintenance once the car is older but not nearly as much as a constant lease payment.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I prefer finance because I don't like the mile limits. Also, I don't feel that I need a brand new car every three years.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

Posted by Eireann

Posted by BriBri2u

I have done it all - bought, financed and leased and prefer lease out of all them.

I would rather pay monthly for a few years and give back the vehicle before the heavy wear and tear repairs kick in.

I've never leased a car--it just doesn't seem to make any financial sense whatsoever to me--so I may not know what I'm talking about but aren't you paying monthly FOREVER if you always lease?

Also, speaking to repairs, which a couple of people have mentioned...my car is 4.5 years old and my DH's is 12 years old and besides tires, I guess, we've had like one semi-major repair costing around 1k.

Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

For us, we love cars, we're into the newest latest and greatest, and we don't spend on anything else like vacations or dining out. Couldn't care less about maintainence, DH does it all himself. We can get the cars we love at a price that's right for our budget.
I currently own my SUV, first time in 9 years I'm not leasing. This was because they stopped making this level SUV, and I didn't like the Equinox. Having said that, I have 1.5 years left, and I'm counting the hours. I can't wait to get my new truck.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I voted for finance because leasing would never work for my driving habits (I drive all over NYC for court appearances and like spontaneous road trips so miles pack on fast).

I financed my current car (2012 Civic EXL) only to get the price lowered (i had the cash to pay it all) i put down around $15K then financed the rest for .9% APR so it was a no brainer. After 4 months, I paid off the balance in full just because I got tired of paying monthly.

Full coverage auto insurance is required for any new car, whether its a lease/finance or bought 100% cash, if I am correct..,I remember switching insurance carriers and once I said the Year of my car, the claims guy said Full Coverage was required..once 2013 came, I dropped the full coverage and now only have collision.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

It depends what you like. You want a new car every 2 or 3 years?? I don't like leasing because you will ALWAYS have a car payment.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I like to buy - I plan on keeping my car for as long as its working! I think it depends on your situation and what works best for you and your driving needs.

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We do it all. We currently have 3 leased cars and plan to buy my DH's hotrod out if the lease in 2 months. I would like to buy my next truck though.

Message edited 6/5/2014 9:39:10 AM.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

In the past we have bought, but when DH's car broke down and he needed one right away, we just did a lease. I am still making payments on my car that I have another 2 years on so he did a lease that is only a couple hundred dollars a month. He is happy he did a lease on the car because he hates it and can't wait to get rid of it.

Re: Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

i lease. i like having a new car every 3 years. i like that i dont have to pay to fix anything...i don't even pay for oil changes. i didnt put any money down...except for taxes and dmv fees. i dont drive a lot so i can stay under the mileage requirement.

my FH bought his car because he travels a lot and wouldnt be able to stay under 12,000 miles.

Lease a vehicle or finance/buy poll

I finance but I try not to finance new ... I am more for getting a car a couple of years old if I can find what I like/need I fell like you can get better deals on used cars