Cars: buying vs. leasing

[Maynard]

Kid, they really have you fooled into the whole leasing thing. But, whatever works for you.

Here's my take. I lease by the way.

Leasing - You don't need a down payment. Your monthly payments won't be too bad. You get alot more car for the moeny you pay. If you like to drive, leasing is NOT an option though. I love to drive, and I really have to watch it because my milage is through the roof. Leasing my first car was the right thing to do. Leasing the second was foolish. At the end, you're left with a car that you either turn in (and you're left with nothing) or you buy it out for about 1/4 more than you should be paying.

Financing - You are paying to OWN something. Yes, it depreciates in value, but what doesn't? And in a few years, you have a car that is YOURS! However, if you're a person that likes new cars, or doesn't drive alot of miles, then you may wish to choose leasing. Remember....you get to KEEP the car at the end of financing.


For you k1d, you fit into the leasing catagory. You don't drive alot, you like having new cars. But for someone like me, I don't care about always getting a new car, and I like to drive too much. So basically, yeah, I made a mistake leasing the second car.

Oh well, live and learn.



BTW, I pay in the low $300's for my car. A 2001 VW Jetta GLS. Fully loaded, sunroof, 15,000 miles a year, 3 year lease, no money down. The only thing my car doesn't have is the bigger engine. The 6 cylinder or Turbo. Which works for me, because with a bigger engine, I would get into too much trouble with the speeds I like to drive.