BUY vs. LEASE

[Mtnman1830]

All right, people, I am in the market for a new vehicle, looking at a Chevy Colorado...

I was thinking about giving a lease a try.

Wondering if any one else has least, and hear some good stories and nightmares about it.

I have owned all my vehicles, and it seems as just when I pay it off, something drastic happens, and it is no longer under warranty.

[DiscGo]

I am all about buying. Most people who lease, only do so to have more car than they can afford. At the end of purchasing you have something which you can sell and or do whatever you want. At the end of leasing you have nothing to show for it.

You may have more money than I do, so it could be that your situation is completely different than my own. But I can tell you that the car companies prefer you to lease, because they make so much more off the cars they lease than sell.

[double moo]

stay with the purchase plan.... There's a reason that most dealers will try to get you into a lease first... more cash for them... 60 minutes - dateline - or one of the others did a piece on it a couple of years ago - basically noted that leasing is a bit of a scam... you make the payments - they keep the car!


Ane while you are at it check out the Isuzu pick up. same truck - less money - better warranty - and engineered by them anyway....


$.02

[DAA]

The dealer may very well make more money on a lease than a purchase, but that money shouldn't come from you, unless you just lay down and invite them to rape you.

They can potentially make more on a lease from a variety of sources, not the least of which is the fact that they'll get to sell the same unit twice, and all the spiffs and incentives that the leasing company offers them.

But - the lease document has a purchase price on it. And that purchase price is the same regardless of the financing method. Or, it should be - unless you go in and negotiate a monthly payment instead of a purchase price. In which case you are indeed laying down and inviting rape. But - if you are inclined to negotiate monthly payment instead of purchase price, you're gonna get yourself raped regardless of whether you lease or purchase.

In addition to my personal vehicles, I do the shopping and the deal making to buy new vehicles for my company on a semi-regular basis. I've done probably 15 new car deals in the last four years, on everthing from pickup trucks to Porches. Most on leases. But some we've purchased either by paying cash or regular financing. I always tell the dealer right away that I have not made up my mind yet whether I'm going to lease or buy, and make it real clear to them that I don't care what the monthly payment will be. All I'm interested in is the bottom line - the purchase price. Once that is agreed upon, then we can talk financing methods. I have run into salesmen that wouldn't play along with that. I just walk away from them.

My experience has been that dealers really do not care whether you lease or purchase. I've been able to get purchase prices every bit as low on the lease deals I've done as on the vehicles we've paid cash for. If anything, there are often factory or leasing company incentives in place that will allow them to give you a lower purchase price on the lease or finance deal than paying cash.

Whether leasing or buying makes more sense for a particular person in a particular set of circumstances depends on a lot of things. Ignoring business purchases (which usually should be leases), and just concentrating on individuals, the two factors that usually carry the most weight are how long you plan on keeping the vehicle and how many miles you'll be driving it. If you plan on either putting a lot of miles on it, or keeping it for a long time, then purchase likely makes the most sense. But, if you won't be putting too many miles on it, and you also plan on trading it in within four or five years, then you should look closely at the option of leasing.

I'm leasing my truck because I don't put too many miles on it, and I also plan on trading it in for another brand new one when the lease is up. My payments are about half what they would be to purchase. And since I get a new truck every few years anyway, it makes more sense to lease than purchase. The last truck that I purchased, I made the higher monthly payments, then after it was paid for, it was only worth about $15K when I went to sell it and get a new one. Putting that $15K as down payment on the new one still didn't bring my payments down as low as leasing, and I knew I'd be looking to get a new one again in a few years. So I'm leasing now and happy with that.

My Wife's Denali and my Jeep are both purchases because we plan on keeping them both for a long time. Plus I'm modifying the crap out of the Jeep too.

Basing the decision either way on how much the dealer is going to profit from the deal isn't smart though. Plan on negotiating your best purchase price regardless of how you'll be financing the deal. Then base the decision of leasing vs. buying on how it is going to work for YOUR needs and YOUR budget.

- DAA

[scoutabout]

If you want to get a new car every few years, then lease. If you want to burn money for no reason, buy brand new. If you want to be a smart consumer, purchase an '04 or '05.

[Rev. Coyote]

My wife was a car dealer for a short while, and says leases are a big ripoff.

[DiscGo]

Rev- It is amazing! We finally agreed on a topic.

[Rev. Coyote]

Rev- It is amazing! We finally agreed on a topic. :haha:

It means you're making progress. I'm all weepy now.

[Sombeech]

I've heard you'll always go over the mileage on the lease. This is a huge motive for insurance fraud, because people will go over their lease mileage agreement, and then report the car stolen.