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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Leasing, IMHO, is simply stupid. End of the day, you have nothing to show. [/quote]
I have always maintained that it is a vehicle to drive a car that you can't afford or one that is too impractical to own long term (both of which are poor decisions).  I am honestly interested in what PP posted above.  Do the numbers work in some circumstances or not?  Every time I have looked at it you end up spending tens of thousands over the course of 10-15 years if you lease several cars back to back rather than buying one and driving it into the ground.
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I am the one posting above that leasing is often a decent choice. To be clear, I am not saying there is any significant number of circumstances where the total cost of ownership from leasing will be lower than the total cost of ownership from buying if you are actually committed to driving every car you own into the ground. What I'm saying is that the difference in cost is often substantially overstated and that the "perks" do in fact have their own value. It is also not the case that even people who claim they drive cars into the ground really do. If, say, you own a car for six years and then replace it, there is a decent chance you will get fleeced sufficiently on the trade in that you would have been better off leasing two cars during that time, particularly once you factor in the non-trivial benefit of getting to drive new cars with the latest gadgets that are under warranty.

Additionally, it is kind of tiresome to hear people argue about financial responsibility in a way that takes literally no account for the subjective value of an experience. Treating car buying as exclusively about total cost of ownership of a bit like saying that someone who buys a hamburger at five guys is being fiscally irresponsible because McDonalds has less expensive hamburgers. Fine, it does, but if somebody tells me the two dollar upcharge is subjectively worth it to them, great. Use your money to make yourself happy. I can well see scenarios where the cost difference between leasing and owning is relatively small and the benefit of having new cars and having all service be under warranty is enough to justify someone not committing themselves to driving the same car for 15 years. Acting like anyone who chooses to lease is trying to grasp at a car they couldn't afford is silly. [/quote]

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