What are the pros and cons on leasing a car VS buying one?

[Amy10223]

[AviatorTom]

Unless you can write off the car lease as a business expense, leading makes no sense.

You are limited go to the length if the lease, typically 3-5 years. Most people keep their cars longer than that, and that requires buying the car. When you lease, you will be making monthly payments forever, since you have to lease a new car when the lease period ends; when you buy, those payments end when the loan is paid off.

IMHO, the only time a lease might make sense us if you cannot afford to buy the car, and the monthly payments are less than the loan payments would be.

[Amy10223]

I may not lease a car every time the leasing period is over. I can afford a new car, but I don't want to put any big money on something I won't be using much except to get around here, where cars are a necessity. I'd rather put the money into something I really enjoy.

[AviatorTom]

@Amy10223 I'm just suggesting you be careful about leasing Several years ago, my sister got talked into leasing rather than buying a car. After the 3-year lease period, she had to pay a "residual" fee to end the lease. Since she couldn't afford that sizeable one-time payment, she was forced into a new lease on another car. This went on for more than 10 years before she was able to get out of the lease cycle.

[Amy10223]

That’s scary enough. I wonder if she drove a lot? My cousin was hit with a large bill too, for going over the allotted miles.
I’ll get a used car if anything, a reliable one like the one I have. A few years old is ok with me.

[AviatorTom]

@Amy10223 Thanks for MHO. And good luck finding a good used car. A piece of advice, if I may. Have a trusted mechanic do a pre-purchase inspection on the used car. It will cost a couple hundred bucks but you will avoid some bad things that are happening with used cars lately: selling stolen ones, cars in floods, cars in previous accidents. etc. and make sure the car is in good shape before you buy it.

[Amy10223]

Thanks, Tom, for the good advice.

[OhLongJohnsoning]

the pro of leasing is, that it'll probably be cheaper. the problem with it, is, you have to watch how many miles you drive it. and you basically have to keep it the way you got it, so, while you can make mods and all that, youd just have to report it. do you really want to keep reporting EVERY mod you do

[Amy10223]

I won't be driving it much, no long drives anywhere. I'm done with long distance driving since I drove from NJ into Canada- several times. But your answer makes sense. What are mods? modifications?

[OhLongJohnsoning]

yeah

[Dinklex3]

Mmm…

Everyone has different circumstances.

I leased in 2019. It was ideal for me because I didn’t want to commit to a car, didn’t want continuous payments, wanted a new one, stayed in Alaska, & could terminate the lease early (special circumstances). I only paid $250 a month for 2 years just to get from point A to point B. Returning it was super easy as well.

I’m in the lower 48 now and travel a lot so leasing makes no sense right now. But if you just need one temporarily then I think it’s great.

[normalice]

You can usually graph the cost of a car versus the time it's in your possession. The plot for leasing versus the plot for owning behave differently. The short of it is if you aren't going to want a car for more than two years and you are confident you could resell it then you'll want to buy one. After 2 years the warranty generally expires so the cost of owning goes up rapidly and outpaces leasing for about 6 years, depending on interest rates and how well you maintain it yourself. The resale value also decreases, of course, so if you plan to keep a car between 2-6 years it is generally cheaper to lease. Beyond that, however the cost of owning basically stops but for maintenance so it generally is cheaper to own.

[Dongie]

Estimate your total cost and trade back for each. The only thing would be the bottom dollar line. I had a brother-in-law that figured leasing was to his advantage. I've personally never cared enough about money to take the time. If I wanted and could afford I bought.

[jshm2]

Depends.

If you have a business and will be using it mostly for business. Then leasing works out better as the car and costs comes out your taxes.

If you are buying for personal, or social, then you can lease a big expensive sports car if you have the funds. But it's usually better to buy second hand instead.

[exitseven]

The pro is that you get a new car every two or 3 years. The bad is that you have a car payment every month forever. If you are able to write off a car on your taxes leasing might be a good option.

[OddBeMe]

Honestly not bad. Credit scores are impacted positively by buying a car.
But if there’s a good leasing deal can’t really find any argument against it.

[lightbulb27]

Con… its damaged or driven too much and when trade it in you iwe more $


Pro… lower maint as you get rid of in 3 year.

[loveslongnails]

Google is your friend - just look that up.