# Car leasing vs buying opinions wanted **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539 "2014-03-12T14:40:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539/21 "2014-03-13T20:45:55Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Another scenario for leasing is what my in-laws did a couple years ago. Their old car had finally died, and leasing was the most affordable option right then (money was tight -and in fact we had to front the lease down payment for them). They were at the time 75 and 72, and who knows if they’ll even NEED a car in a couple more years. > > Now, if they ARE still able to drive, they “lose” (sort of) because then they have to buy the car when the lease runs out. Of course in that case they’ve also won (by remaining healthy enough to drive)!! There is no requirement to buy the car when the lease runs out. It’s an option, along with leasing another new car, or just turning it over to the dealer. > [@](#): > > For the OP: If you didn’t already own your car right now, the picture would be different - but why sell a perfectly good car on which you have no usage restrictions? Pretty sure I covered all that in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539/22 "2014-03-13T23:21:28Z")
If your mileage is that low, consider hiring cars and using taxis on an ad hoc basis. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539/23 "2014-03-14T00:43:47Z")
> [@Mdcastle](#): > > I was wondering that to. If you only put 10,000 miles on your car in 3 years, in 9 more years it’ll only have 40,000 miles on it. Most cars are good for about 100,000 miles before they need major repairs, and 200,000 before they’re no longer repairable. Even with a hybrid aren’t the batteries supposed to last 100,000 miles? If you hate what you’re driving now and want the cheapest way to get something else leasing makes sense, but otherwise there’s no way it makes financial sense. In 9 years a low mileage Prius is still going to be desirable on the used market. This. Priuses are ridiculously dependable and if you only put 40,000 miles on it, you should still be able to trade in/sell that sucker for a decent amount of money in 2023. In your scenario, leasing is a major waste of money. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539/24 "2014-03-14T00:47:28Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > No, the difference is that after two or three years you’ve paid $10k (or a great deal more - typically 50% of list) to rent a car. Unless you get thoroughly crappy loan terms, after three years you should substantially own the car. More likely you’re even on it, possibly even upside down. I’m not an advocate of leasing, by the way. I’m not an advocate of touching any brand new car, really. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539/25 "2014-03-14T01:16:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I know that car leasing got a deserved bad rap in the 90s. We didn’t have any problems but I knew some folks that had some with their lease. In '96 we leased a Toyota Camry for 24 months @ $149 per month no money down. How crazy was that? 15,000 miles per year too. In '98 we leased a Suzuki Sidekick for $169 per month, 24 months, no money down/no capitalization costs. In 2000 we leased a Nissan Altima for $179/month, no money down, 28 months. After that the lease deals went south. I’d love to be able to lease again for so cheap! ---
**Author:** ![SilverSage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@SilverSage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SilverSage)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539/26 "2014-03-15T07:53:15Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > The first 36-month lease I found for a Pruis was $239/mo with $2600 down. > > The only difference between leasing and buying is that the payments are more front heavy for a lease. Leasing generally allows a lessee to drive a more expensive car than they could ordinarily buy because a lease allows one to pay only for the portion of a car used. If you’re only going to put 10,000 miles per year on a car and you sign a three-year lease, you only pay for three year’s worth of use for a total of 30,000 miles. For some, leasing is a great option. BUT, you’re always limited by mileage in a lease, even if you want to increase your yearly mileage - by paying for it at lease signing - from 12,000, to 15,000 or 20,000. When you do that though, you’re paying more money for the privilege of putting more wear and tear on a depreciating item you don’t even own, but must pay to maintain. If you live in an area with great public transportation and you put minimum mileage on a car, leasing may be fine for you. Otherwise, it may not be so fine. I live in a geographically dispersed metro area with so-so public transit, where the average driver puts 24K miles per year on his/her car, often times mores. Just commuting to and from work puts 200 miles per week on my vehicle, which means I put about 10,000 miles per year on my car just commuting to and from work. Public transportation is not an option for me, because it doesn’t go everywhere I need to go when I need to go and there’s no one else to drive me anywhere. Many leases restrict mileage to about 12,000 per year. While some lessors may advertise 15,000 miles per year, because the cost of new cars has increased so much, I think many auto manufacturers and dealerships don’t promote leases with more 12,000 miles because they’d be more expensive and less attractive to their potential lessees. Luxury car leases often cap mileage at 10,000 miles per year. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, you can always buy additional mileage, but you’re increasing the amount of money you’re paying to rent an item whose value will depreciate quite a bit over the time you use it. Not a smart financial move. For me, it makes no sense to lease a car; it would cost me almost as much money to lease a car as to buy one. For someone who doesn’t put that many miles on a car, or has decided they want to drive a new car every 24 or 36 months and doesn’t mind a recurring expense for that privilege, leasing might be a good option. ---
**Author:** ![SilverSage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@SilverSage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SilverSage)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539/27 "2014-03-15T08:05:05Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > The first 36-month lease I found for a Pruis was $239/mo with $2600 down. > > The only difference between leasing and buying is that the payments are more front heavy for a lease. First, just because someone advertises an auto lease for a particular amount doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to lease that car for that amount. You have to qualify for a lease and a lease rate just as you do when you purchase a car. If your credit isn’t that great, you might not even be able to qualify for the lease advertised, or you might not be able to obtain that rate. Second, leasing generally allows a lessee to get into a more expensive car cheaper than he/she could ordinarily buy it because a lease allows one to pay only for the portion of a car used. If you’re only going to put 10,000 miles per year on a car and you sign a three-year lease, you only pay for three year’s worth of use for a total of 30,000 miles. For some, leasing can be a great option. BUT, you’re always limited by mileage in a lease, even if you want to increase your yearly mileage - by paying for it at lease signing - from 12,000, to 15,000 or 20,000. When you do that though, you’re paying more money for the privilege of putting more wear and tear on a depreciating item you don’t even own, but must pay to maintain. If you live in an area with great public transportation and you put minimum mileage on a car, leasing may be fine for you. Otherwise, it may not be so fine. I live in a geographically dispersed metro area with so-so public transit, where the average driver puts 24K miles per year on his/her car, often times mores. Just commuting to and from work puts 200 miles per week on my vehicle, which means I put about 10,000 miles per year on my car just commuting to and from work. Public transportation is not an option for me, because it doesn’t go everywhere I need to go when I need to go and there’s no one else to drive me anywhere. Many leases restrict mileage to about 12,000 per year. While some lessors may advertise 15,000 miles per year, because the cost of new cars has increased so much, I think many auto manufacturers and dealerships don’t promote leases with more 12,000 miles because they’d be more expensive and less attractive to their potential lessees. Luxury car leases often cap mileage at 10,000 miles per year. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, you can always buy additional mileage, but you’re increasing the amount of money you’re paying to rent an item whose value will depreciate quite a bit over the time you use it. Not a smart financial move. For me, it makes no sense to lease a car; it would cost me almost as much money to lease a car as to buy one. For someone who doesn’t put that many miles on a car, or has decided they want to drive a new car every 24 or 36 months and doesn’t mind a recurring expense for that privilege, leasing might be a good option. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539/28 "2014-03-15T08:33:33Z")
Calculate the daily/weekly fee for car rental. Do they have a zipcar service in your area? One of those options might be better than paying to lease/own a car right now. Although personally, if I were you, I’d buy a 10 year old reliable car that parts aren’t expensive for. Like a Toyota. You’d pay it off fairly quickly and wouldn’t feel guilty if you didn’t use it often. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-leasing-vs-buying-opinions-wanted/683539.md?page=1)