Leasing a car? Opinions

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Who here has leased a car?
How did it work for you?
I'm thinking of trading in the 2010 Dodge Avenger and maybe leasing a Toyota Camry.
I will be driving a new car, on a 3 year lease, and my monthly nut will be cut in half.

Opinions?

deadendp

My monthly nut will be cut in half? I'm going to leave that go. I think I know what you mean. There is a visual though . . .

When my husband and I were first married, the motor in my car which I was still paying on blew up. (Thank you state mandated eCheck.) We had to pay that car off and get a new one. I was still in college. The only thing we could really afford and be guaranteed that it wasn't a driveable pile (see above car issue) was to lease a car. We leased a 1997 Toyota Tercel. We had a three year lease, which we flipped to a car payment at 2 1/2 years because we were going to be over miles. We knew what was done to the car. It was a good little car getting 45 miles to the gallon (I don't lie) and we kept it until 2013 when, with 235,000 miles, it was traded in for the 2014 Yaris.

We went through Toyota Motor Credit. We've done car payments through them ever since. We're in some Encore program, so now when we do go through them, we get a percentage discount.

We had no problems. I prefer to purchase at this point, but I would lease through Toyota again if I needed to.

hedonist

Why lease vs buy?

If your credit is decent, it could be a better deal overall to purchase.

What happens at the end of the lease?

Indifference71

I'm actually in the market for a new car and have looked into some leases. There are some good deals with leases, but I really don't like the mileage restrictions most of them have. I don't want to be restricted how much I can drive my own car so we'll most likely end up buying.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

hedonist said:

Why lease vs buy?

If your credit is decent, it could be a better deal overall to purchase.

What happens at the end of the lease?

Well, I should have said, other than the obvious, the fact that after 3 years I don't own the car. I still have 2 years payments on my Avenger. Then lets say in 2-3 years I want to buy new? What is my trade in really worth in 3 years? The money I save in car payments over the next 3 years, would equal what my trade in would be worth. So basically I am not really losing anything on the deal. If I am saving $150 a month in payments over 2 years, I save about $3600 or so. Is my Avenger going to be worth much more than that in 3 years?

Amongst the Ani

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

hedonist said:

Why lease vs buy?

If your credit is decent, it could be a better deal overall to purchase.

What happens at the end of the lease?

Well, I should have said, other than the obvious, the fact that after 3 years I don't own the car. I still have 2 years payments on my Avenger. Then lets say in 2-3 years I want to buy new? What is my trade in really worth in 3 years? The money I save in car payments over the next 3 years, would equal what my trade in would be worth. So basically I am not really losing anything on the deal. If I am saving $150 a month in payments over 2 years, I save about $3600 or so. Is my Avenger going to be worth much more than that in 3 years?

Getting a new car every 3 years. Do you need a son as I could use a rich father.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

cdysinge said:

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

hedonist said:

Why lease vs buy?

If your credit is decent, it could be a better deal overall to purchase.

What happens at the end of the lease?

Well, I should have said, other than the obvious, the fact that after 3 years I don't own the car. I still have 2 years payments on my Avenger. Then lets say in 2-3 years I want to buy new? What is my trade in really worth in 3 years? The money I save in car payments over the next 3 years, would equal what my trade in would be worth. So basically I am not really losing anything on the deal. If I am saving $150 a month in payments over 2 years, I save about $3600 or so. Is my Avenger going to be worth much more than that in 3 years?

Getting a new car every 3 years. Do you need a son as I could use a rich father.

I have a 5 year old car. If I wait 2 years until I am done paying it off? What is my trade in value on a 7 year old car? Right now I am sitting on 55,000 miles, on a fully loaded vehicle, leather seats, heated seats, blah blah, that is still in GREAT shape. I can trade it in, lease a new Camry, and when all is said and done, I would probably have $1500 in my pocket, and my monthly car payment would be cut in half.

hedonist

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

hedonist said:

Why lease vs buy?

If your credit is decent, it could be a better deal overall to purchase.

What happens at the end of the lease?

Well, I should have said, other than the obvious, the fact that after 3 years I don't own the car. I still have 2 years payments on my Avenger. Then lets say in 2-3 years I want to buy new? What is my trade in really worth in 3 years? The money I save in car payments over the next 3 years, would equal what my trade in would be worth. So basically I am not really losing anything on the deal. If I am saving $150 a month in payments over 2 years, I save about $3600 or so. Is my Avenger going to be worth much more than that in 3 years?

I meant buy-off options.

Never leased a car; is the Avenger leased too?

And hey, if the math works for you, go for it.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

I owe $4500 on the car, the car is worth $8500 or so.

I trade it in, put $2000 towards the lease and have a $148 monthly payment.
I cut my payment in half and put $2500 in my pocket.
I also save $3000-$3500 over the next 2 years in payments.

Where am I going wrong?

mickeyrat

By asking us.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

mickeyrat said:

By asking us.

No no no

I enjoy hearing others opinions.

deadendp

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

I owe $4500 on the car, the car is worth $8500 or so.

I trade it in, put $2000 towards the lease and have a $148 monthly payment.
I cut my payment in half and put $2500 in my pocket.
I also save $3000-$3500 over the next 2 years in payments.

Where am I going wrong?

I say go for it. Monetarily it is a great option for you.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

deadendp said:

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

I owe $4500 on the car, the car is worth $8500 or so.

I trade it in, put $2000 towards the lease and have a $148 monthly payment.
I cut my payment in half and put $2500 in my pocket.
I also save $3000-$3500 over the next 2 years in payments.

Where am I going wrong?

I say go for it. Monetarily it is a great option for you.

I have been sitting here for 24-36 hours, crunching all the numbers, and looking at all my options, and I really cant see where I would be making a bad decision here.

Who Princess

I've never leased but I understand how it's a good option for many people. I tend to keep a car for about 10 years so I prefer to buy.

I went through the massive headache of buying a few months ago. I bought a 2012 car that had been a lease car. It was in excellent condition and it's great for what I need. So somebody will be happy to pick up that Camry at the end of your lease.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Who Princess said:

I've never leased but I understand how it's a good option for many people. I tend to keep a car for about 10 years so I prefer to buy.

I went through the massive headache of buying a few months ago. I bought a 2012 car that had been a lease car. It was in excellent condition and it's great for what I need. So somebody will be happy to pick up that Camry at the end of your lease.

I have never leased, I have never thought of leasing, until now.
For what it saves me per month, it really doesn't seem like a bad option.
I will be hitting up the car dealerships this weekend. And anyone who knows me, knows how much I hate those clowns. Im sorry, hate is an ugly word...Hahaha

But its fun walking into a dealer at the age of 50 compared to the age of 21-25.
At 21-25 you hope and pray not to get ripped off.
At 50 you walk in and act like an asshole. Hahahahaha

They better have coffee and a donut waiting for me tomorrow.

hedonist

Who Princess said:

I've never leased but I understand how it's a good option for many people. I tend to keep a car for about 10 years so I prefer to buy.

I went through the massive headache of buying a few months ago. I bought a 2012 car that had been a lease car. It was in excellent condition and it's great for what I need. So somebody will be happy to pick up that Camry at the end of your lease.

Sold my 18-year-old car last week (great condition, excellent miles) and got 10% of what I originally paid. Great deal.

And, as we were leaving Carmax, there was a young family in the process of buying it.

Yeah Speedy - make it to your (our) age and better have some badass credit to back up the asshole-ishness (not that I acted that way when I bought my new one three weeks ago)!

SPEEDY MCCREADY

hedonist said:

Who Princess said:

I've never leased but I understand how it's a good option for many people. I tend to keep a car for about 10 years so I prefer to buy.

I went through the massive headache of buying a few months ago. I bought a 2012 car that had been a lease car. It was in excellent condition and it's great for what I need. So somebody will be happy to pick up that Camry at the end of your lease.

Sold my 18-year-old car last week (great condition, excellent miles) and got 10% of what I originally paid. Great deal.

And, as we were leaving Carmax, there was a young family in the process of buying it.

Yeah Speedy - make it to your (our) age and better have some badass credit to back up the asshole-ishness (not that I acted that way when I bought my new one three weeks ago)!

I am a 50 year old homeowner, trading in a 5 year old car.
I am not too worried about my credit rating. My credit is just fine.
Like I said, they better have a coffee and a donut ready for me.
Hahahahaha

deadendp

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

Who Princess said:

I've never leased but I understand how it's a good option for many people. I tend to keep a car for about 10 years so I prefer to buy.

I went through the massive headache of buying a few months ago. I bought a 2012 car that had been a lease car. It was in excellent condition and it's great for what I need. So somebody will be happy to pick up that Camry at the end of your lease.

I have never leased, I have never thought of leasing, until now.
For what it saves me per month, it really doesn't seem like a bad option.
I will be hitting up the car dealerships this weekend. And anyone who knows me, knows how much I hate those clowns. Im sorry, hate is an ugly word...Hahaha

But its fun walking into a dealer at the age of 50 compared to the age of 21-25.
At 21-25 you hope and pray not to get ripped off.
At 50 you walk in and act like an asshole. Hahahahaha

They better have coffee and a donut waiting for me tomorrow.

We paid cash for the Yaris that we bought. (An aunt died and we had saved money for a long time knowing that the Tercel would need replaced. Usually we have to roll with a car payment.) We had the car that my husband wanted brought in from Cincinnati (4 hours away) to the dealership north of us (about 45 minutes away) and I was the one who ended up wheeling and dealing on the price. My husband just sat back with a grin.

By the way, I got every single thing I asked for. I could have probably gotten coffee, but I don't drink it.

Who Princess

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

I am a 50 year old homeowner, trading in a 5 year old car.
I am not too worried about my credit rating. My credit is just fine.
Like I said, they better have a coffee and a donut ready for me.
Hahahahaha

Every dealership I visited had coffee. It was fresher at some places than others.
No donuts though. Salespeople always pointed out the vending machines. Considering what you're putting up with from those people, donuts are the least they could do.

deadendp

I have a Toyota dealership 5 minutes from my house. Since my RAV has a recall every other month, their service department knows me well and I love my people there. We will not purchase a car there. The salesman and finance guy put me in a room with them (door open) to badger me about purchasing the car I test drove for my husband. They were trying to bully me into purchasing right then. Um, no. It was my husband's car. I was there for an oil change and recall and told them that up front. I was not choosing my husband's car for him. It was up to him to make the final decision. They didn't care.

deadendp

And, there were no donuts!

hedonist

Who Princess said:

SPEEDY MCCREADY said:

I am a 50 year old homeowner, trading in a 5 year old car.
I am not too worried about my credit rating. My credit is just fine.
Like I said, they better have a coffee and a donut ready for me.
Hahahahaha

Every dealership I visited had coffee. It was fresher at some places than others.
No donuts though. Salespeople always pointed out the vending machines. Considering what you're putting up with from those people, donuts are the least they could do.

At the dealership a few weeks ago, I went to get some water (they had coffee but also no donuts) and there was a woman with two Shiba Inu pups in the waiting area.

All thoughts of donuts were obliterated!

mookeywrench

Purchased a Honda in 2007 and haven't made a car payment since 2010.

If you're going to purchase a Japanese auto, or any car known for being reliable and long-lasting...why lease it?

The Waiting Trophy Man

You should never say something like "nut cut in half," ever. That's just wrong man. And disturbing.