Am I a sucker for leasing all of our family cars?

[Anonymous]

The problem with leasing isn’t so much the monthly payment. It’s the $3k plus you have to cough up every few years to lease a car. It ends up really adding up over 10-20 years.

We purchased a car and paid off the car 3 years ago. We’ve had three years of NO car payments and will have an asset to trade in for our next car. If we leased we would have had to go straight into forking over $3k plus and onto more lease payments.

Leasing never allows you to get away from having a payment. It’s hard to create wealth when you’re signing up for continuous payments unless you switch from leasing to buying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with leasing isn’t so much the monthly payment. It’s the $3k plus you have to cough up every few years to lease a car. It ends up really adding up over 10-20 years.

We purchased a car and paid off the car 3 years ago. We’ve had three years of NO car payments and will have an asset to trade in for our next car. If we leased we would have had to go straight into forking over $3k plus and onto more lease payments.

Leasing never allows you to get away from having a payment. It’s hard to create wealth when you’re signing up for continuous payments unless you switch from leasing to buying.

Its easy to create wealth when you spend less than you take in. For some people, spending an extra $400 a month (or whatever the extra amount for leasing is) isn't a big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lease.. I don't mind not owning a car. It's less money per month that I put towards other things.

That's what the buy buy buy buy crowd doesn't get. A car isn't an asset. It depreciates in value. Let someone else be liable for it while you use up the best part of its life.

I don't understand this. I have a paid-for 2008 minivan. It is an asset. I own it, its worth something, and I drive it around every day.

An asset stores or generates value. Your minivan is worth less and less every day and every mile you drive. A sunk cost. With leasing you could have kept that money free for proper assets.

It takes 9 years of leasing to have spent the same amount of money as you would have spent buying it outright.

The minivan allowed PP to go years without having a car payment or lease.

Unless you don’t plan on living more than 9 more years or driving a car after 9 more years then it’s better to buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with leasing isn’t so much the monthly payment. It’s the $3k plus you have to cough up every few years to lease a car. It ends up really adding up over 10-20 years.

We purchased a car and paid off the car 3 years ago. We’ve had three years of NO car payments and will have an asset to trade in for our next car. If we leased we would have had to go straight into forking over $3k plus and onto more lease payments.

Leasing never allows you to get away from having a payment. It’s hard to create wealth when you’re signing up for continuous payments unless you switch from leasing to buying.

Its easy to create wealth when you spend less than you take in. For some people, spending an extra $400 a month (or whatever the extra amount for leasing is) isn't a big deal.

Of course. I simply have enjoyed not having a car payment. The only debt we have is our mortgage. This wouldn’t be the case if we leased. Also, we’d need to cough up a few thousand every few years for a new lease.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with leasing isn’t so much the monthly payment. It’s the $3k plus you have to cough up every few years to lease a car. It ends up really adding up over 10-20 years.

We purchased a car and paid off the car 3 years ago. We’ve had three years of NO car payments and will have an asset to trade in for our next car. If we leased we would have had to go straight into forking over $3k plus and onto more lease payments.

Leasing never allows you to get away from having a payment. It’s hard to create wealth when you’re signing up for continuous payments unless you switch from leasing to buying.

Its easy to create wealth when you spend less than you take in. For some people, spending an extra $400 a month (or whatever the extra amount for leasing is) isn't a big deal.

Of course. I simply have enjoyed not having a car payment. The only debt we have is our mortgage. This wouldn’t be the case if we leased. Also, we’d need to cough up a few thousand every few years for a new lease.

When I paid off my car and received that letter from the bank saying I was free and clear it was an amazing feeling. Not making payments for SEVEN YEAR after that was fantastic. I agree not making payments is great. Sadly I’m making payments again, I can’t wait till it’s paid off and I get that letter for this car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with leasing isn’t so much the monthly payment. It’s the $3k plus you have to cough up every few years to lease a car. It ends up really adding up over 10-20 years.

We purchased a car and paid off the car 3 years ago. We’ve had three years of NO car payments and will have an asset to trade in for our next car. If we leased we would have had to go straight into forking over $3k plus and onto more lease payments.

Leasing never allows you to get away from having a payment. It’s hard to create wealth when you’re signing up for continuous payments unless you switch from leasing to buying.

Its easy to create wealth when you spend less than you take in. For some people, spending an extra $400 a month (or whatever the extra amount for leasing is) isn't a big deal.

Of course. I simply have enjoyed not having a car payment. The only debt we have is our mortgage. This wouldn’t be the case if we leased. Also, we’d need to cough up a few thousand every few years for a new lease.

When I paid off my car and received that letter from the bank saying I was free and clear it was an amazing feeling. Not making payments for SEVEN YEAR after that was fantastic. I agree not making payments is great. Sadly I’m making payments again, I can’t wait till it’s paid off and I get that letter for this car.

+1. I’m putting off buying a new car because not having a car payment is so great. We wouldn’t have this option if we leased our cars. You’re forced to turn in your car and then get another one and new payments. It probably seems like a great deal the first time you lease because you’re getting a new car and trade in your car for the payment. Then three years go by extremely quickly and you’re back to having to put down money in order to sign up for a new lease. It’s a vicious cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lease.. I don't mind not owning a car. It's less money per month that I put towards other things.

That's what the buy buy buy buy crowd doesn't get. A car isn't an asset. It depreciates in value. Let someone else be liable for it while you use up the best part of its life.

I don't understand this. I have a paid-for 2008 minivan. It is an asset. I own it, its worth something, and I drive it around every day.

An asset stores or generates value. Your minivan is worth less and less every day and every mile you drive. A sunk cost. With leasing you could have kept that money free for proper assets.

It takes 9 years of leasing to have spent the same amount of money as you would have spent buying it outright.

The minivan allowed PP to go years without having a car payment or lease.

Unless you don’t plan on living more than 9 more years or driving a car after 9 more years then it’s better to buy.

And what did pp end up with? An old car.

There's more to a car than getting from a to b. That's what you're not getting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lease.. I don't mind not owning a car. It's less money per month that I put towards other things.

That's what the buy buy buy buy crowd doesn't get. A car isn't an asset. It depreciates in value. Let someone else be liable for it while you use up the best part of its life.

I don't understand this. I have a paid-for 2008 minivan. It is an asset. I own it, its worth something, and I drive it around every day.

An asset stores or generates value. Your minivan is worth less and less every day and every mile you drive. A sunk cost. With leasing you could have kept that money free for proper assets.

It takes 9 years of leasing to have spent the same amount of money as you would have spent buying it outright.

The minivan allowed PP to go years without having a car payment or lease.

Unless you don’t plan on living more than 9 more years or driving a car after 9 more years then it’s better to buy.

And what did pp end up with? An old car.

There's more to a car than getting from a to b. That's what you're not getting.

What you’re not getting is that I’d rather invest the amount equal to a lease payment for a number of years and drive an older car. When you lease you do NOT have that option. You’re forced to continue your payment and if you want another car, you have to fork over cash and continue with more lease payments.

I can decide to continue driving my older car to save money. You can’t do that.

[Anonymous]

someone who leases can always buy a used car.

If you plan to keep your car nine years after it's paid off then you are certainly better financially buying it than leasing it. However, there are good lease deals and bad lease deals and sometimes a good lease deal can make financial sense for someone who does not plan to drive the same car for 10-15 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve posted this several times in other posts but the lease worshippers always skip over it and ignore it because it doesn’t fit their narrative. My friend and I bought new Honda Odyssey’s within a month of each other. Same packages. We paid cash in full. They leased for $500/month. 3 years later we both swapped them out for new vans. DH and I had to pay $10k + our old van for the new van. So our old van depreciated $10k in 36 months, or $277/month.

Apples to apples and I paid almost half what my friend did.

Again, lease if you want. No one cares. But stop insisting it’s cheaper. It isn’t, not even close.

$500/month for an Odyssey? Did they also put $5k down?

Your friend got a terrible lease deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:someone who leases can always buy a used car.

If you plan to keep your car nine years after it's paid off then you are certainly better financially buying it than leasing it. However, there are good lease deals and bad lease deals and sometimes a good lease deal can make financial sense for someone who does not plan to drive the same car for 10-15 years.

I plan to drive cars for around 7-8 years and it’s still a better deal to buy. It almost is.

Leasing is for people who want to drive a more expensive car than they can afford to buy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:someone who leases can always buy a used car.

If you plan to keep your car nine years after it's paid off then you are certainly better financially buying it than leasing it. However, there are good lease deals and bad lease deals and sometimes a good lease deal can make financial sense for someone who does not plan to drive the same car for 10-15 years.

I plan to drive cars for around 7-8 years and it’s still a better deal to buy. It almost is.

Leasing is for people who want to drive a more expensive car than they can afford to buy.

It isn't, not for 7 years

- worked at a dealership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:someone who leases can always buy a used car.

If you plan to keep your car nine years after it's paid off then you are certainly better financially buying it than leasing it. However, there are good lease deals and bad lease deals and sometimes a good lease deal can make financial sense for someone who does not plan to drive the same car for 10-15 years.

I plan to drive cars for around 7-8 years and it’s still a better deal to buy. It almost is.

Leasing is for people who want to drive a more expensive car than they can afford to buy.

It isn't, not for 7 years

- worked at a dealership

Based on the lease payments and loan payments for the same car, yes it very much was a better deal to buy. Higher payment for 3 years but then NO payments for four years. Followed by adding back the value of the car to the amount.

Here’s the thing. The value of the car at the end of paying it off is almost much greater than the different between a loan payment and lease payment. You also have to take into account the years you don’t have any payment if you buy.

[Anonymous]

For 7 years it really depends on the lease deal (and what you get selling your old car) but it won't be all that different.

People who are leasing can often be more flexible about taking a different car with a better deal since they only have it for 3 years.

[Anonymous]

Another reason not to lease:

If you lease, you have to go car shopping again every three years. Possibly more often if you lease more than one vehicle.