re: Pros and Cons of Leasing v Buying a Vehicle

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His friend/neighbor that’s a former salesman has no reason to give him advice based on an ulterior motive.

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Here is my guess on the advice from my life experience. His friend, having worked at a car dealer, was probably a hustler that enjoyed fine things in life and was horrible with money. Likely had poor credit and barely 2 nickels to rub together after his bills were due.

Given all of that, his friend loved cars and routinely bought something different. With that and the fact he had some experience at dealerships, his friend was able to figure out how to most cheaply lease a vehicle.

So while his friend gave advice on how to "cheaply" lease a vehicle that was in his friends eye, good financial advice. His friend was completely ignorant to how much money he was spending every 2-3 years on vehicles and how little savings he had because of it.

I know no one has argued this in this thread, but its simply impossible to lease a vehicle for eternity and it be a "cheap" way to have any vehicle long term. Buy something used and hold onto it as long as possible.

Never lease unless you can expense it. You are renting it at full retail. The reason they push it is that the dealer and OEM make a lot of money off of you.

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Here is my guess on the advice from my life experience. His friend, having worked at a car dealer, was probably a hustler that enjoyed fine things in life and was horrible with money. Likely had poor credit and barely 2 nickels to rub together after his bills were due.

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So do you work at a dealership?

Or are you justifying your decision to lease vehicles?

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Neither. The title of the thread is pros and cons of leasing vs buying a vehicle.

I’m trying to provide accurate information for anyone that’s actually interested in the threas title. Blanket statements like “never lease” and completely false statements like the one above are a disservice. It doesn’t help others when folks like yourself chime in on a topic you’re clearly uninformed on.

Someone mentioned it previously; cars are not always obtained with finances being the top priority. If so, Mercedes, bmw, etc wouldn’t exist. Everyone would drive a Toyota Corolla until the wheels fall off. Some people prefer a new car. In some instances it’s better to lease than buy a new car. Plain and simple.

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PearlJam

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I’ve already made it clear I’m not speaking to the OP unique situation which he didn’t disclose in his first post. I’m generally speaking to leasing or buying the same, new vehicle. He can’t even lease a used car.

There’s a sentiment held by some on the money board to penny pinch, never spend, never splurge, etc. which always manifests in these car threads. Some people like cars; they’re willing to spend more and drive something that’s a want rather than a need. Some of you guys just don’t get it. There’s no need to regurgitate the recommendation of buying a used Camry, or driving a car for 10 years. Not everyone looks at cars purely as a financial play. For guys that go in and out of new cars, leasing is a viable consideration.

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Buying a new car is a bad idea and leasing one is too from a financial perspective.

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here's the disconnect- you're arguing used vs. new, whereas the thread title is lease vs purchase. Someone else pointed it out on the first page, lease vs purchase means the shopper has already chosen to obtain a new car. a lease vs purchase debate needs to be about the same, new vehicle (99.9% of leases are on new cars).

new vs used is a different argument- but yes, from purely a financial standpoint, purchasing a car that has already gone through the heaviest depreciation period and then driving it into the ground is the cheapest option. Whether that's the best option is up to the individual based on their needs and tastes.

in either instance, there is misinformation being spread in this thread.

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this is the point that you guys aren't understanding.

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Your advice on leasing v buying new has been spot on, I agree with you there certainly.

OP explained himself and his situation a little more. You are correct in that if he wants a nice new vehicle for 2-3 years he may be able to more cheaply lease a vehicle for just that time frame.

The big kicker though, is that OP's financial situation is not great. Even if he can lease it most cheaply for 3 years, in the long run outside of that time span given his financial situation its still likely a poor choice for him.

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Here is my guess on the advice from my life experience. His friend, having worked at a car dealer, was probably a hustler that enjoyed fine things in life and was horrible with money. Likely had poor credit and barely 2 nickels to rub together after his bills were due.

Given all of that, his friend loved cars and routinely bought something different. With that and the fact he had some experience at dealerships, his friend was able to figure out how to most cheaply lease a vehicle.

So while his friend gave advice on how to "cheaply" lease a vehicle that was in his friends eye, good financial advice. His friend was completely ignorant to how much money he was spending every 2-3 years on vehicles and how little savings he had because of it.

I know no one has argued this in this thread, but its simply impossible to lease a vehicle for eternity and it be a "cheap" way to have any vehicle long term. Buy something used and hold onto it as long as possible.

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What a fricking presumptuous post, . My friend is a “baw” who works shift work at plants in and around Baton Rouge. He’s from fricking Vidalia for Christ’s sakes, not some already, shady, scheister of the car-salesman stereotype. He drives a 10 year-old beat up F150. I couldn’t tell he gave 2 shits about fancy, shiny, new toys.

But he is pretty sharp, nonetheless, and picked up some things while working at the dealership. So he leased his wife a damn Toyota Highlander with every intention of buying after the lease term is up. He’s not putting her—or him—in a fricking Lexus SUV, you fricking prick.

And I really appreciate usc’s advice on here. I purposely made the thread title what it was because I was curious on the general pros/cons of leasing v buying. He has been responding to that, not my specific situation, which again, was purposely left out of the OP. I learned a lot.

I also wanted advice for my specific situation as well, and I appreciate everyone who gave it without being such condescending assholes. I have decided not to go with the lease—I was always leaning that way, but wanted to make sure I understood some of the minutia of leasing that I didn’t know. The thing that really sealed the deal for me finally was realizing that, even though you lease, the entire value of the car—whatever it was negotiated down to—counts as debt. I didn’t realize that, so that quite obviously would be a negative in my debt to income factor when buying a house, which was always my ultimate, long-term goal. It’s gonna be much harder for me this go around with only 1 income and child support payments.

So this thread ultimately had 2 purposes: 1) to get advice specific to my situation, and 2) to have an educational discussion about leasing, because quite clearly, a lot of people don’t know enough about it. If this thread can help just one person(besides me) one day make a better financial decision on a vehicle, then I feel like I—no, We, have done our jobs.

:lol;

Seriously, I do appreciate everyone’s input. Wish it could have been a little more civilized, but hey, this is the internet.