re: If an employer pays full mileage rate, does leasing make sense?

quote:

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9/10 times I get a rental car.

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That's what I do.

I was looking more at two specific areas and which makes sense for buying or leasing (or throw in rentals since you brought it up)

(a) tax implications.

(b) investment implications

A car is not an investment, but the money used to purchase it is in investments and averaging around 28% growth right now. With the potential write offs in the tax code for investing in business use items and depreciation, does this offset the cost in lost investment income?

Also, in leasing, the payments at $.55 a mile don't fully cover all costs. There is almost always some deposit, taxes, down payment, etc..., plus, as mentioned above, excess mileage. But, does paying that equal more or less in lost investment income in comparison to purchasing and putting down a sizeable down payment?

Finally, in comparing rentals, that is a win if you have a great rate, insurance coverage is good, etc... but it is always a crap shoot on the car and there is the whole pick up/ drop off hassle. Also, mileage reimbursement on rentals creates its own issues for tax implications but has no bearing on real financial decisions.