Give me pros and cons. Anyone here leasing a car?

I'm asking because I want to get a new family car for the gf, as soon as I'm permanent at my new job, as her 07 Camry is a pos and has more than 150k miles on it. We were looking at possibly leasing a Fusion Energi. I drive pretty much 99% of the time, and expect to continue that when the baby is here. That being said, I want her to have a new, safer car for the baby and I think a plug in car would make perfect sense for a lease. My reasoning are as follows:

- I'd only lease, with $0 down, as I'm not going to put money down or trade in towards a car I'm not purchasing to own
- With no money down, the payment is still doable
- The hybrids are throw-away cars in my opinion, being that the technology will be out of date in 3 years
- The car will mainly be a short distance family car, and since it will be a family car, I don't care if the interior gets trashed because we'll be giving the car back
- I'd want leather so it's easier to clean up messes

We're also considering a mom-hybrid Fusion or Mazda CX-5 (don't like the new Escapes) or we might even wait for the new Edge. What do you guys think? I see most cars these days as disposable, like a cell phone. The technology progresses way too fast to hold on to cars for more than 4-5 years. Especially for family cars. Maybe a truck or a Mustang, I'd hold onto longer, but for the every day car I just don't see the point in actually owning the car.

 

If you don't plan on keeping it, there are many advantages to leasing. There can be tax advantages to it, you can get a better car than you can afford to buy outright, and you can trade up in a couple of years when you've become bored with the car. I think for the situation you are describing, leasing would be a good choice.

 

only disadvantage of lease that bothered me was 10k mile limit. beyond that you have to pay premium n can ruin the beneifit of leasing.

 

I hear ya, but we'd be using the car probably 7-8k a year if that. As it is, I have my GT and Escape and probably put 9-10k each on them, and I drive a lot.

 

Anyone else?

 

if you lease the leasing company will probably want the best insurance coverage. That can be considerably more than insuring a privately financed vehicle.

 

You need good insurance when buying too. Leases are usually just some higher limits like 100,000/300,000 instead of something like 10,000/20,000. Higher price, but not too bad.

 

I have 100/300k on my cars anyways...

 

There is a reason they call
it "Fleasing". Just like renting an apartment, you have most
all of the responsibility for upkeep, damage, etc., with no
ownership rights. If you can afford it, buy.

 

This term comes from people that don't understand leasing. You're only paying for and financing the difference of the value of the car when you buy it to when you plan on giving it back.

To explain and give round numbers.... Let's say the car you're going to lease is $30,000. At the end of the lease term, let's say it's projected to be worth $20,000. Your lease price should be based on the $10,000 difference. On a 24 month lease, your payment should be $429 based on an interest rate of 3%. and a total amount of $10,296

Now the nay-sayers are going to say I just spent over $10,000 on a car I don't own. Okay, so now let's BUY this same car for the same rate and period and then sell it at the end of 24 months.

Now let's finance that $30,000 at 3% and to keep the payment low, let's do it for 5 years. That would give you a payment of $539. Now it's already higher per month than the lease, but you own it! After 2 years, you've paid out $12,963. Since the lease was worth 20K, let's use that number to sell it.

The payoff on your loan is $18,043. Wow, that's 2K less than the sell value so that is 2K in your pocket!! Is it really? Nope. Remember, your payment on the loan was $110 higher than the lease. Times 24 months you paid $2640 more buying the car, or a loss of $683 dollars.

Actual numbers will vary since this in only an example. A properly written lease by an honest dealer and educated buyer should come pretty close in value in a buy vs lease scenario. If you're a smart buyer/leaser and like a new car all the time, then leasing can be the smart way to go and give you a lower monthly payment!

 

Good comparison.

I agree with that for the person that wants to rotate new cars continually. Pretty much even (providing the mileage limits are workable).

The challenge I have found when I looked into this some years ago, is that it was impossible to get an open disclosure from the Stealer as to necessary details to make a full comparison to a purchase scenario.

 

It's a little easier to get that info now. When I leased my 2008 Mustang, I asked the dealer what the finance rate and residual percentage was and they told me with no problems. Jeff here (I forget his user name) even verified it for me. Some car manufacturer website have even listed the info too when they have lease specials.

That Mustang lease was a great deal. $35K car had a lease payment of something like $279 plus taxes.

 

"This term comes from people that don't understand leasing. You're only paying for and financing the difference of the value of the car when you buy it to when you plan on giving it back."

As an attorney I am very well versed in leasing contracts.
There are countless more people seeking to get out of
"Fleasing" contracts than there are those seeking to get
out of "ownership". Your money, lease if you want.

 

i didn`t read all the long winded post ( short attention span ) but i leased a new car in 83 ..drove it and maintained it nicely then bought it after the lease was up ..higher insurance was the only negative but when all was done the final money was about the same .. we just leased cause we were poor and newly married .. 30 bucks a month less payments was a big number ...

 

Aren't attorneys the kings of fleasing people?

 

Hell your jokes are longer than that! lol

 

 

Ok, here come the immature, petty, critical comments completely removed from the issue at hand. Just gave my opinion on a question that was asked by a fellow Mustang owner. Have a nice day.

 

Pot meets kettle?


(lighten up - its Friday! )

 

No need to lighten up if you keep your critical comments to yourself.