Lease or Buy a car??? - INTERCOT Boards

? Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Posts: 72 Do you lease or buy (finance) your car? If you lease, have you had a good experience(s)? DH and I have always bought our cars but I am wanting to get a new car this year (fall/holiday season) and am considering leasing this time around. I hate dealing with car maintenance (other than oil changes and tires). I drive about 800 miles a month so I think I'm a good candidate for leasing (work is 6.5 miles each way and everywhere else I frequent is pretty close as well). I would definitely opt for the 15,000 miles a year plan just to give myself some wiggle room. Just a little nervous about leasing because I've never done it. It would be nice getting a new car every 3-4 years as opposed to 6-7. I'm in the market for a mid-range/luxury SUV. DH and I plan to start a family soon so this car must be good for a family of 3 plus a yellow lab! (I currently drive a 2006 Honda Pilot and although I like it, I want to get something different.) I know there are pros and cons to both but any other comments or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. __________________ WDW visits . . . 2011 - Grand Floridian (Club Level) 2006 - Offsite 2000 - 2004 Numerous trips while in college in FL 1989 - First Visit! Polynesian Next: May 2012 - Grand Floridian (Club Level) ? Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Wentzville, Mo Posts: 614 I dont know if this will answer all of your questions as I have only leased one car for my daughter a few years ago and it turned out to me a nightmare. Most leases have milage limits, if you go over the milage they will charge you a set amount per mile you exceed your limit. When it comes to maintenance you will be required to maintain the car unless you purchase some type of add on package. You will also be required to get license plates and taxes. At the end of the lease you will be given the option of keeping the car or letting it go back. READ YOUR CONTRACT VERY WELL... If you decide to keep it you will be required to finance it at its current value which could be considered retail. I personally purchase / finance all of my cars that way I know exactly what I have to deal with as far it value. For some folks it works well, not for others. So from a quote from the series Kung Fu. " Chose carefully grasshopper " Hope this helps... __________________ Itchy for another trip Caribbean Beach 1989, 90, 92 All St Movies 1999, 04, 05 All St Sports 2006 Pop 2007, 08 x2, 09 x2 POR 2010 x2, POP 2010 x1 All St Movies 2011, POR 2011, Pop 2012 x2 ? Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Chicago Suburbs Posts: 7,816 I've done both. With a lease you always have a payment. However, if you want to change cars and drive a newer car every few years then it may make sense for you. Usually you have to put a substantial amout down for the lease at signing, unless there is a special offer going on. My husband leased a vehicle short term then chose to buy out his lease. He really likes the car so he wanted to keep it. I've had several leases and turned them in when I was done. I did purchase the last 2 cars I owned. The first car was terrible and I had to trade it in. It had so many problems and they were very expensive to fix. The next car I bought was much better. I am still paying on it, but I am looking forward to owning it outright in a few more years and , keeping fingers crossed, not having a car payment for a while. One of the things that had always attracted me about a lease is the fact it's a new car and will have most repairs covered under warranty. If you buy a new car however the same is true. If you purchase a used car, please take my advise and buy an extended warranty. It is worth it! __________________ Trips: Too Many to Count! Last Trip: Feb 2012, BWVs and Disney Dream Cruise! Multiple trips to WDW, DL, DCL! Coming up: Disneyland and "Aloha Aulani" May 2012 Proud DVC Members since 2004! ? Join Date: Aug 1999 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 7,283 Leasing is NEVER financially smart. You always come out ahead by purchasing a car. You would do well to consider a low mileage, late model used car. Depreciation as you drive off the lot with a brand new car is a huge drop in "value." I leased my first car, only because I was in college, had $0 down for a car, and could not afford more than $200/month for a payment. Honda was offering 0 down, $199/month for 5 years lease, so I did it. At the end of the 5 years, guess what...I needed a car, and I didn't have any money to put down, so I ended up "purchasing" my lease for an ADDITIONAL $10,500. It was a bad deal on my end for sure, but it was the only way at the time. I ended up paying over $22,000 for a Honda Civic. I may have paid that much if I had purchased it outright and financed it, but the decision to purchase was due to not being able to just turn the car in scott free at the end of the lease. I had gone over the mileage and there were dents and dings on the car, which I was told I would have to fix on MY dime prior to turning it in or be charged a "damage fee" by the dealer. If you have kids and/or pets (and especially if you have both) you should NOT lease a car. ANY damage sustained to the car, which includes stuff I'd consider "minor wear and tear" is not covered! Kids carseats usually damage the back seats of cars (with indents/impressions being left in which are often permanent), and since you have a lab, I imagine at some point, he will scratch some part of the car's interior. NOT okay, as far as "wear and tear" goes. You do still have to maintain the cars, as mentioned. This includes all the routine oil changes and scheduled maintenance as well as having to replace tires if necessary (you have to return the car with tires that have at least 80% tread on them, which is impossible if you never change the tires and drive 15k per year. So, I wouldn't advise it at all in your situation. While it seems cheaper to lease vs. buy, it ends up always costing more, and if you're lucky, it ends up evening out when compared to buying the same car. Also, since you don't have kids yet, I'm going to give you this piece of advice: Save the "luxury" SUV for when your kids are OLDER (i.e. out of carseats entirely). Babies/toddlers are disgusting creatures, at best. And, they love to drop garbage into every little crevice possible. Plus, as I mentioned, the carseats really do a number on the seat cushions. You will save yourself a lot of grief if you buy a car you don't really care about ruining when your kids will be babies/toddlers. Trust me. Oh, and I just saw you have a 2006 Honda Pilot. That is a PERFECT car for kids and a dog. Why would you want to get rid of it??? We have a CR-V (2007) and we have two kids and a Lab. That car more than meets our needs. 2006 is not an old car by any means. If you own it outright, I'd really just recommend keeping it. __________________ Natalie (a.k.a. BrerGnat) INTERCOT Staff: Disneyland Resort-California, The Water Cooler Next Up: Disneyland Resort, Thanksgiving Week 2012 (maybe) ? Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Posts: 72 @Itchy: Thanks for your comments. Was the mileage the "nightmare" part for you/your daughter? Or, what was it? I have been tracking my mileage for 9 months now and I have been driving around 800 miles a month. I figure with the 15,000 mile, I would be more than okay, but am aware of the .20 - .30 mileage overage fee. I also understand that some dealer's make you pay a re-acquisition fee when your lease is up and you bring it back to the dealer. I would not be interested in financing the car at the end of the lease. I would just sign a new lease. If I leased a car for 3 years I figure the only maintenance I would need would be oil changes and maybe a new set of tires. Big things should still be under warranty. Any tips for negotiating the lease (monthly payment)? I have no idea how that all works since we've only bought cars. Also, I see you are from Wentzville, MO. DH and I were just in STL this past weekend, in Wildwood visiting his brother/family. We love it there. DH was born in STL (Clayton) and a HUGE Cards fan. He is going to the games this week against the Reds (we live in Cincy)! __________________ WDW visits . . . 2011 - Grand Floridian (Club Level) 2006 - Offsite 2000 - 2004 Numerous trips while in college in FL 1989 - First Visit! Polynesian Next: May 2012 - Grand Floridian (Club Level) ? Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: NJ Posts: 3,513 I have never leased, and never will. But, I remember once hearing someone smarter than me saying if you want a new car every three years or less, then leasing is better. __________________ Jeff INTERCOT Staff: Dining & Movies, TV, etc. I-95 to I-4 to I-15 OCTOBER 26 - 28, 2012 ? Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Wentzville, Mo Posts: 614 Quote: @Itchy: Thanks for your comments. Was the mileage the "nightmare" part for you/your daughter? Or, what was it? I have been tracking my mileage for 9 months now and I have been driving around 800 miles a month. I figure with the 15,000 mile, I would be more than okay, but am aware of the .20 - .30 mileage overage fee. I also understand that some dealer's make you pay a re-acquisition fee when your lease is up and you bring it back to the dealer. I would not be interested in financing the car at the end of the lease. I would just sign a new lease. If I leased a car for 3 years I figure the only maintenance I would need would be oil changes and maybe a new set of tires. Big things should still be under warranty. Any tips for negotiating the lease (monthly payment)? I have no idea how that all works since we've only bought cars. Also, I see you are from Wentzville, MO. DH and I were just in STL this past weekend, in Wildwood visiting his brother/family. We love it there. DH was born in STL (Clayton) and a HUGE Cards fan. He is going to the games this week against the Reds (we live in Cincy)! My daughter had the car for about 2 yrs and wanted to trade and like with a regular car the leaser only wanted to allow wholesale trade value even though the milage was low. She did trade but when we did the math we found that if she had bought the car under a normal finance program that she would have owed less that the lease. They charged early termination fees and other hidden fees that we did not see since WE did not read the contract and our saleman for some reason failed to point out to us. If you are still interested in leasing I think most car manufactures that offer leases have a link on their web sites that allow you to figure what a lease will cost depending on what milage programs they off. I know GM has this link. Beware though that in my case it was not a manufacturer lease program and I think that is where the problems came from. For me I drive to many miles. I have a 2012 Chevy that I bought in December of 2011 and have over 8000 miles already and havent even driven to Florida yet, althought have two trips coming this year. __________________ Itchy for another trip Caribbean Beach 1989, 90, 92 All St Movies 1999, 04, 05 All St Sports 2006 Pop 2007, 08 x2, 09 x2 POR 2010 x2, POP 2010 x1 All St Movies 2011, POR 2011, Pop 2012 x2 ? Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio Posts: 72 @Natalie: Thank you so much for sharing your leasing experience. I want to get rid of my car because I've been having a lot of problems with it the past 2 years. Every time I take it in, something else is wrong with it and I'm sick of dealing with it. My other car (I've only ever had 2 cars) was a 1999 Honda Civic and I had it for 7.5 years and it was a great car; never had any problems with it (other than standard maintenance). The Pilot has been a lot of trouble for me. I want a similar size car but want something different. I didn't really think about the car seat/kid issue (other than size). And yes, I do own it outright. I can probably get around $10,000 for it. I did nanny a few years ago and I put a heavy towel down on my leather seats to protect it from the carseat and it worked out great. No matter which route I decide to go, I want to get a new car during the holiday season because they always have great deals then (along with year end model deals). __________________ WDW visits . . . 2011 - Grand Floridian (Club Level) 2006 - Offsite 2000 - 2004 Numerous trips while in college in FL 1989 - First Visit! Polynesian Next: May 2012 - Grand Floridian (Club Level) Last edited by Belle of the Ball 051411; Today at 02:46 PM. Reason: add in sentence ? Join Date: May 2000 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 12,880 We have always purchased/financed our cars (with the exception of my son's used Cobalt, which we paid cash for) and I don't regret it one bit. Both my husband's Silverado and my Grand Cherokee have been paid off and it is nice not to have those monthly payments, especially with a kid in college. And we have been lucky in that both vehicles have been reliable and rarely required any work on them aside from regular maintenance. My BIL leased a vehicle once and said never again. As a couple of previous poster's have mentioned--you have to read the contract very carefully or you get dinged with hidden fees. __________________ Beth INTERCOT Staff-- Theme Parks and Accommodations ? Let's Make No Other Plans ? INTERCOT's 15th Anniversary @ WDW Resort October 26-28th, 2012 Take a look at what INTERCOT's wonderful sponsors have to offer! ? Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: St. Paul, MN Posts: 2,334 My dad and best friend have both leased cars. In both cases it was a disaster. They both spent the last months of the lease worried about miles. Plus every inch of the car was inspected and any minor imperfections were counted against them. My best friend also had to buy tires for the car even after it was returned and deemed ok by one of the dealers. The main return person came back and didn't like the look of one of them, so she had to get new ones. It was a huge hassle, and neither of them will ever do it again! __________________ Meg 28 trips (plus one to Disneyland) and counting! Up next: April 26-30 @ Pop! October 26th - November 2nd, 2012 for Icot 15 Beach Club!! :0) ? Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 434 We've never leased and no longer finance cars, either. We don't buy new, only used, and we pay in full when we buy. Yes, it takes longer to save up and pay for it in full, but we don't like debt. I don't like buying new because of the depreciation. We keep cars a long time. Yes, they need more upkeep, but the way we think about it is that repairs are cheaper than paying interest on payments for a new car. __________________ 1994 PO 1996 GF (honeymoon) 2002 Cont. tower 2003 WL 2005 WL 2006 (Jan) GF: 10th ann trip; (Dec) WL 2007 ASMo 2008 Joined DVC! 2008 (May) SSR; (Aug) BWV 2009 (May) BCV (Oct) SSR 2010 (Mar) HHI (Sep) BCV/BWV 2011 (May) BLT 2012 (Jan) AKL ? Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Lake Orion, MI Posts: 92 This post is from a former biller at a dealership, so I am very aware of the ins and outs of leasing. Leasing is a good deal if you have low milage and want to trade cars more often. And no you usually don't have as much hassle as everyone else has stated. Go to a good dealership and get a good sales person, I don't care what any one says but go the last day of the month and be ready to sign, I saw every deal that went thru the dealership and it was better. Only plan on a lease no more then 3 years and hold out for 0 down and a monthly payment you want and let them know what you are willing to pay and thats all. Build up a realtionship with the dealership get your maintenance done and always go in and say hi to your salesman it does help. It is a lot like renting no hassle with up keep or the problems with problems so if you don't mind always having a payment then leasing is for you. ? Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: MN Posts: 124 We always buy pre-owned vehicles and pay cash. I don't like having a car payment or paying the higher insurance. That said, we keep our vehicles for longer than "normal". My summer car is 27 years old. Quote: I have never leased, and never will. But, I remember once hearing someone smarter than me saying if you want a new car every three years or less, then leasing is better. I haven't done the math, but this makes sense to me (depending on how much $$ down on a purchase, etc.). ? Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 457 What Scar said is correct from the 5 and 10 year cost comparisons that I've seen. If you'd be getting a new car every 3-4 years anyway, leasing can put you slightly ahead of where you'd be if you had purchased (assuming you get a good lease, no over mileage, no extra wear and tear, etc). If you plan to drive a vehicle for 10 years or so you are much better off purchasing than you would be to lease the car for 3-4 years and then purchase it and drive it for the remaining 10 years. If long-term lowest cost per mile is your goal leasing isn't the way to go, buying and keeping for 10+ years is. However if you've got the money and would otherwise buy new every 3-4 years then leasing makes sense. ? Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Chicago Suburbs Posts: 1,217 We always buy our cars. I also do not put many miles on my cars so I keep them for as long as I can. My previous car was a 1999 Malibu that I sold October 2010 with only 56,000 miles on it. I bought a new Malibu but I went many years without a car payment which was great. __________________ 17 times since 1993 and still counting ? Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mustang, Oklahoma Posts: 318 The experience of leasing a vehicle is highly dependent upon the dealer and the salesman. The internet is a wonderful tool, use it to research the dealerships you are considering. In my opinion, when it comes to the lease, researching the dealership is just as important as researching the vehicle. When I was young and naive, I leased a pick-up for two years. When I turned it in, it had 13,000 miles on it, and it looked brand new. Without going into details, I will never lease another vehicle from that dealership. However, if I thought it would be beneficial (I don't put enough mileage on my vehicles), I would lease again. __________________ JR '86 Ramada Inn somewhere in Orlando :P '95 All Star Sports '00 All Star Music '03 Fort Wilderness '06 Fort Wilderness '07 Animal Kingdom Lodge '09 Fort Wilderness '12 All Star Movies ? Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: St. Peters, MO Posts: 3,405 The others are correct about how long you keep your cars. If you drive lots of miles don't lease. A typical lease would be 3 years at 15,000 miles per year, that averages out to 41 miles per day. If you don't take care of your car don't lease. You are allowed "normal" wear and tear, anything more is charged for. __________________ Dave aka: Altair INTERCOT Staff: Vacation Planning and Trip Reports "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" "I think so Brain. But, if they called them Sad Meals, the kid's wouldn't buy them" Posting Rules You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:54 PM.

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