Current Events > Is leasing a car one of the worst ideas you can do?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Never understood why people did it really

seems pointless when you have to give back the car when the lease is over

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Downloading a car

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If anything, I dont understand the buy a new car and trade it in every 5 years having a perpetual car payment mentality

>buys brand new $35k car
>omg its been 5 years and the first major service is coming up, i need to trade it in before it starts having problems and while its still worth something
>buys brand new $35k car with $2k taken off because the old car was traded in

like really? yall would rather have another $35k payment over your head than just paying the $800-1000 major service?

Just one of the many ways to get fucked by the dealership.

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I'm pretty sure, like, setting yourself on fire is probably a worse idea.

I mean, if I had to choose.
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Leasing a car:

• brand new car
• get to get another brand new car after a few years
• most regular maintenance covered by dealership

Financing a car:

• brand new car (maybe)
• probably be underwater on your loan after a few years and be looking at a major repair upcoming
• gotta pay for regular maintenance out of pocket

That said, I don't personally find the prospect of a brand new car appealing. I would gladly drive crappy ten year old cars for the rest of my life as long as the AC works and they're safe. I don't need a backup camera, a screen that will read my text messages aloud, or heated seats.

_Rinku_ posted...

Leasing a car:
* brand new car
* get to get another brand new car after a few years
* most regular maintenance covered by dealership
Financing a car:
* brand new car (maybe)
* probably be underwater on your loan after a few years and be looking at a major repair upcoming
* gotta pay for regular maintenance out of pocket

That said, I don't personally find the prospect of a brand new car appealing. I would gladly drive crappy ten year old cars for the rest of my life as long as the AC works and they're safe. I don't need a backup camera, a screen that will read my text messages aloud, or heated seats.

Back up camera has been a life saver for me in regards to parking and backing out. That and having sensors for cars in my blindspots when driving. Next car I want to get, I want to get a bird's eye view camera when getting out.

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Arcanine2009 posted...

Back up camera has been a life saver for me in regards to parking and backing out. That and having sensors for cars in my blindspots when driving. Next car I want to get, I want to get a bird's eye view camera when getting out.

It's nice, no doubt, but not a necessity for me (at least, not enough of one that I'm willing to pay for them).

toyota posted...

If anything, I dont understand the buy a new car and trade it in every 5 years having a perpetual car payment mentality

>buys brand new $35k car
>omg its been 5 years and the first major service is coming up, i need to trade it in before it starts having problems and while its still worth something
>buys brand new $35k car with $2k taken off because the old car was traded in

like really? yall would rather have another $35k payment over your head than just paying the $800-1000 major service?

Ppl don't do dis lmao
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What about reverse mortgage? Dat doesn't sound like a good idea
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ssj3vegeta_ posted...

Ppl don't do dis lmao

you would be surprised. i knew people I worked with who did exactly this.

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I've only ever driven a few rental vehicles with back-up cameras, they're useful for parking but eff relying on those or needing blind spot indicators.

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imo cars are increasingly becoming more "disposable" to keep the industry selling. Like really if you see how electronically involved even a Civic can get, do you really expect it to last 20 years like one from the 90's? Maybe it could, but at what cost of things going wrong? If you end up having to do smog tests, you'll always have to be mindful of getting shit fixed. And this is more of a thing with luxury cars. Paying outside of warranty sucks hard.

So leasing kinda makes things easier unless you really buy a basic enough car where the long term costs may be less.

I personally lease a car for my parents. Lets them have something new every three years. I sometimes end up borrowing that car anyway so there's incentive for me to be able to try new stuff. Of course, half the equation is that I can afford to do that.

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If you want a new car every couple of years or so, leasing will do that.

KaZooo posted...

imo cars are increasingly becoming more "disposable" to keep the industry selling.

It's funny you say that, because the average amount of time someone owns a single car is increasing. Manufacturers are constantly having to figure out how to deal with that - they have to figure out ways to be able to provide meaningful over-the-air update infotainment panels and electronic features without physical upgrades, ways to make the seat material more durable and comfortable (notice how there aren't too many cars out there with fabric seats?) especially given the rise of ride sharing like through Lyft which means seats are seeing even more wear than in the past.

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Hexenherz posted...

It's funny you say that, because the average amount of time someone owns a single car is increasing.

Nearly twenty years.

Eight batteries
Four alternators
Three belt tensioners
Front brakelines replaced
Power steering replaced
Cruise control stopped working, possibly caught fire.

After owning a car for 10 years, I see the benefits of monthly payments. Last month alone I spent nearly 2 grand to fix it up. First the wiper motor broke, then both brake lines gave, and finally I had to fully replace the muffler(due to the winter conditions of where I live, which has a ton of salt on the road, which rusts it out like something crazy).

Ivany2008 posted...

Last month alone I spent nearly 2 grand to fix it up.

Yeah, but what is that, though - six payments?

ssj3vegeta_ posted...

Ppl don't do dis lmao

Yeah, they definitely do. My ex-girlfriend has done this repeatedly since she was 17 and bought/financed her first car. She is 29 now, and has had at least 8 different cars. Her father is head mechanic/supervisor of this Ford dealerships maintenance department, so she does get a decent deal on both buying the new one, and she always gets like nearly double on trade-in. Still though, she almost always ends up with negative equity come time to get a new one, so the deal and extra trade in money barely make a dent.

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no it can be fine in many cases.

i know that wealth managers tell their rich clients to lease high end vehicles instead of buying them.

Leasing a car is great if it is registered in the name of your business and you are expensing it.

Otherwise, yeah you're basically paying rent on a vehicle, You don't own it.

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NES4EVER posted...

Otherwise, yeah you're basically paying rent on a vehicle, You don't own it.

I'm not sure I'm so much owning my car as I am renting alternators.

Fuck it, I'm going to get myself a bicycle.

Questionmarktarius posted...

I'm not sure I'm so much owning my car as I am renting alternators.

You must have a german vehicle :-)

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NES4EVER posted...

You must have a german vehicle :-)

Ford ZX2

Questionmarktarius posted...

Yeah, but what is that, though - six payments?

6 unplanned payments at once isn't the same as 6 months of payments. Even more so if any of it went to a card credit that wasn't paid off before it started generating interest.

The overwhelming majority of Americans are pay check to paycheck and as a result will look for expected and consistent costs.

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Questionmarktarius posted...

Yeah, but what is that, though - six payments?

....no, through 3 payments. Because it isn't going through my insurance, its being paid out of pocket.

You need a new car in order to be an Uber driver, so wouldn't be surprised if more people are financing or at leasing nowadays

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Ivany2008 posted...

.no, through 3 payments.

That's $666 a month. Did you buy a car from Satan?

Questionmarktarius posted...

That's $666 a month. Did you buy a car from Satan?

Where are you getting the idea that I paid per month? I paid 400 CAD for the wiper motor, then 1000 CAD when my brake lines failed, and another 600 to get a full muffler replacement, as well as a couple other odds and ends.

Personally Ive always thought leasing was a scam unless youre one of those people that NEEDS to drive a brand new car.

My car is 8 years old. Bought it 5.5 years ago and paid it off in March. Its been awesome not having a car payment. Ill stay this way for at least two more years barring anything unexpected.

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Ivany2008 posted...

Where are you getting the idea that I paid per month?

drunken math

Buy 10 year old car from old man or woman who have had it for the life of the car cash, every month set aside $200 as if you were paying a car off, every 6 months take it to a mechanic and invest some of the money you saved into the car to make sure its in good condition, after 5 years sell the car, repeat. You'll save yourself tons of money. 5 years of $200/month payments is over 12k, you'll more than likely only need to spend a fourth of that on the car, then when you're finished with the car you can get around 1k-2k for it, super easy to sell it, you end up saving around 8k this way. As opposed to, ya know, leasing a car and giving your money away in exchange for not having to make friends with a mechanic...

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yeah, my car has to last me 2 more years, long enough for college, before I can buy a newer used one or lease til my job starts paying decent money.

toyota posted...

If anything, I dont understand the buy a new car and trade it in every 5 years having a perpetual car payment mentality

>buys brand new $35k car
>omg its been 5 years and the first major service is coming up, i need to trade it in before it starts having problems and while its still worth something
>buys brand new $35k car with $2k taken off because the old car was traded in

like really? yall would rather have another $35k payment over your head than just paying the $800-1000 major service?

Basically been doing this for about 15 years.

My first car was a 200k mile Toyota Camry. The amount of stuff that would constantly go wrong with it cost easily the same as a car payment, and with those unexpected headaches, you bring loss of ability to do whatever you were planning to do and the stress that comes with it.

For about ten years, I basically just had the disposable income and I tend to lack some of the other money pits people tend to be into (such as costly cable packages or smoking/drinking habits).

The last five years, I've had kids. It's definitely influenced by my already established newer car "habit" but I prefer to drive them around in something newer and safer.

Even if I've mostly been car to car, I have plenty to show for it. Could be Pandora's box too, though; good credit is not a particularly good thing in the wrong hands

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Owning a car is stupid unless you really take care of it and get one that holds value.

Leasing is usually cheaper, you get maintenance and get a new car every so often or you can just buy the car if you really like it and will get a decent value for the purchase at the end of the lease.

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Its worth it if you want a brand new car every 2 years imo. Otherwise not really

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I was told to buy cars that were around a year old instead of brand new, since the first year is when the most depreciation happens
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VigorouslySwish posted...

Its worth it if you want a brand new car every 2 years imo. Otherwise not really

This is the only time it makes sense. The cost is enormous otherwise, even compared to buying a new car and holding onto it.

The most cost effective option for almost everyone is going to be buying used. Ideally something 2-5 years old with not too much distance on it.

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