Lease or buy?

[jcp123]

Thoughts. It applies to me personally. Can give you a specific scenario if you want, but for now just looking for some general thoughts.

[Ferrer]

I prefer buy. Especially if you haven't to finance it.

On the other hand leasing does give access to better types of cars without actually having the money.

[Niko_Fx]

What's your daily commute? I just got my wife out of a Sonata (purchased - financed) and into a lease (Kia Optima). They basically bought the Sonata for exactly that amount that I owed and gave us a new Kia Optima (about the same price) while keeping the exact same monthly payments with $0 down.

Granted we were buying and now just leasing... but we never planned on keeping the Sonata for over 6 years anyway, and leasing will get you a new car every 3 years :-)

My car was purchased, it's always good to have one that you can take on long trips and what not.

[jcp123]

Commute = 200 mi/wk, but we are moving from East Texas to Western NY state in the next year or so.

[Kitdy]

Lease something it's expensive to repair/maintain.

I prefer the idea of owning something.

[jcp123]

Lease something it's expensive to repair/maintain.

I prefer the idea of owning something.

Thanks for the ambiguous answer LOL. I am afraid it would be costly to maintain...but it's kinda hit-or-miss.

[Kitdy]

Thanks for the ambiguous answer LOL. I am afraid it would be costly to maintain...but it's kinda hit-or-miss.

Well... It's a big question. We don't have your specifics either!

I am too poor to own/lease a motor vehicle; I drive Mommy's sadly. The market I would be in would be either for a employee lease at Benz after a year of service just to try it before I go back to school, and/or buying a reliable(?) beater to call my own.

[jcp123]

Well... It's a big question. We don't have your specifics either!

I am too poor to own/lease a motor vehicle; I drive Mommy's sadly. The market I would be in would be either for a employee lease at Benz after a year of service just to try it before I go back to school, and/or buying a reliable(?) beater to call my own.

Awright, awright, point taken. Still want the big picture. There is a clue somewhere here on the site, though, if you are up for a scavenger hunt.

[jcp123]

Might as well lay out what's going on:

Wifey got herself pregnant again LOL so, expecting our second child we feel that our current subcompacts, fine for a family of three, will be inadequate for a family of four. She insists on a brand new car, where I am fine with used. Neither of us are SUV fans, I am more receptive to a minivan then she is, but we both agree on having a fondness for station wagons.

Pretty much the only thing here in station wagon form that's also affordable is the VW Jetta. A Mazda5 might be an alternative, but finding one with a manual trans...well, that may be unobtanium. A Subaru also might be in the cards if the new dealer here opens in time. I want a TDi, but they are out of reach for us. The local dealer, however, does have one with the I5 and a manual trans at an affordable price.

Other things to know: We would trade in our '11 Kia Rio with about 20k miles on it as well as my Harley - I dearly love that bike but don't get to ride it anymore. We also are moving out of state next year, if all goes well. Buying appeals as I'd like to lightly mod the car which makes no sense on a lease. Lastly, though, the reason I kind of want to lease it is because of VW's spotty reputation for reliability. It would give me some peace of mind to give it back to them when the warrantee runs out.

[Ferrer]

Well, low mileage, high resale value and not planning to keep the car for long work in favour of leasing it.

Everything else, go for a purchase.

[jcp123]

Yeah...looks like we are going for a Mazda5, so I will buy as it will be a long-term vehicle for us and I trust Mazda's overall reliability. We'll be looking to do it in about 6 months. It meets all of our criteria, she likes it, and best of all, she has given me permission to buy it with a manual trans. Woohoo! Although it'll take some looking to find one with 6-speed. I am hoping if nothing else our local dealer will be open to executing a dealer trade to get one. They were recently sold and have only just moved into a new facility, so I imagine they will be willing to work with me to get a much-needed sale.

Plus, our credit has gotten better in the last year. My wife in particular, she has gone up 60 points and I've gone up about 15 points, so we're in a good position to get some pretty favourable financing.

[owenspeliza]

Leasing is like paying rent for someone else to own. Better buy it. :)

[NSXType-R]

Seems like you'll have full house. :D

Congrats on the baby.

Leasing sounds annoying to me and you get penalized if you go over the mileage that was agreed upon in the contract. Plus if you damage the car you'll end up paying for it anyway.

It seems like buying may be better, especially if you're planning to keep it long term anyway.

Leasing seems like a better idea if you don't like keeping the cars for long.

[jcp123]

Thank you!

Leasing seemed like a good idea for the VW, I'd be afraid to keep it past the warrantee period. I trust the Mazda a lot more, so I think we will buy.

[connorjpewell]

Leasing would mean using without owning in the end. Better to save and buy. :)

[blewettkjack]

It's best if you can lease to buy at least the car would be yours.

[5150]

If at all possible buy it. I've had a few problems with leasing but that was a few years ago, to me there's just to many restrictions when leasing but that's my opinion.

[anantmittal.206]

buy it