Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the benefits to leasing vs buying?

Lower "getting in" costs and lower payments in the short term. Long term it's far more expensive to lease.

Also, if you need to get out of it, it's much easier to sell a car than to sell a lease.

Indeed, this is a reason to stay within your $20k budget, rather than financing, BTW. I think financing a car is crazy, unless you have to have transportation, and you're so hard up, you can't afford a reliable car for $2-5k without financing. If you have $20k and you finance to stretch into a nicer class, you're just living above your means, IMHO. (It's going to depreciate anyway, so it's not an investment.) You can find a reliable car to fit just about any non-commercial need within your budget.

Anonymous wrote:What are the benefits to leasing vs buying?

Leasing is very profitable to the dealer. So, . . . .

Anonymous wrote:What are the benefits to leasing vs buying?

Lower "getting in" costs and lower payments in the short term. Long term it's far more expensive to lease.

Anonymous wrote:Buy a used car, preferably one that is coming off of a lease. The upkeep was generally done appropriately on these cars. How much can you pay in cash? If you can avoid a car loan, do that.

I disagree with the lease point. People do the absolute minumum to leases. It's like buying a house that used to be a rental. The upkeep just isnt't the same. On the other hand, car rental companies have systematic, regular maintance programs. They tend to have more miles, but still around 50k, which for a 2-4 yo Honda or Toyota or even Nissan leaves a you a lot of mileage.

Agree with others. Used. The moment you drive a car off the lot, the value drops big time becuase people like having the "new" car, even though nothing happens to it.

Carmax is great, actually. No salesmen chasing you across the lot either.

Also, the stigma on fleet cars is exactly wrong. Very few people actually abuse rentals, and they're MUCH better maintained than leases. (Click and Clack have made this point; this isn't just me.)

After selling a new car that wasn't right for my family 6 months later at a huge hit, I swore I'd never buy new again. Haven't, and it's worked out great.

What are the benefits to leasing vs buying?

Buy a used car, preferably one that is coming off of a lease. The upkeep was generally done appropriately on these cars. How much can you pay in cash? If you can avoid a car loan, do that.

I would look at new cars with price tags in the teens. If you put 50% down and get a three year loan, your credit shouldn't be an issue - the new vehicle (colateral) will be worth well more than the loan balance until it's paid off. Paying off the loan as agreed will also boost your credit score. Win-win.

Get a used car w/a brand that is famous for it's reliability. Hondas and Toyotas hold their value over time better than any other cars plus they are most reliable. I would even consider a Nissan.

Or maybe you could buy a brand~new Hyundai w/that amount. Like an Accent.

I would however stay far away from anything from KIA.
Their cars suck so bad.

Also carmax will buy your old car, pretty much no matter what, for $100 over kbb value.

get a 4-5 year old car with low mileage. (less than 60k if you can manage). Something like a honda civic or a toyota corolla that is very reliable, good gas mileage, and seats 4.

A 2008 Honda Civic 4 door is something like $11k according to Kbb.com. Buy that, it will last you 10 more years if you get regular oil checks and drive the normal 10k miles a year. Pay cash, and save the other $9k you have saved.
Go to carmax, it's easy and they have a ton of cars.

I need a new car but really don't have alot of money to spend. Unfortunately my credit has taken a little hit so not sure what interest rate I could get. I do have about 20k in cash that I could pay for a car. How would you suggest I purchase a car and any suggestions for a particular vehicle? I really want a new car because I need something reliable and can't afford costly repairs (my current situation and hence the need for a new car).