I'm the proud owner of a low mileage 2003 G35 Coupe with some light mods etc. With the new G coming out in 08 and even the 07 coupe looking pretty good, I'm tempted to upgrade.

Now I know this has been argued about a million times, but I'd like to look at this in a different light.

Which condition/situation would it make more sense to lease and the same for which conditions might make the most sense to own.

IE: Reasons to lease:

Prefer to get new car more often, don't drive too often so don't need to worry about mielsage. Prefer not to have to worry about selling it eventually etc.

Reasons to Own:....


You get the idea, not which is better - but I guess just the pro's and cons of each. I'm trying to do this so it doesn't turn into a flame-fest. I think this could be a helpful thread for people who are caught in the middle, like myself.

Thanks and please weigh in!

 

been thinking about this myself and want to know too.

 

Own it - you want to keep it for a while


Myself, I think the best is to buy a 2-3yr old car....I've learend the hard way far too many times to let some other sap take the depreciation hit and keep it low mileaged, just so he can sell it when he gets bored of it.

I can get an 04 'vette for less than $30K now with ~30K miles

 

Leasing to me is a far better option if you do not plan on doing anything to the car.

Leasing benefits:
- Payments usually much less than if you own the car (so who cares if you get nothing back when you return it, why over pay?)
- If you are self employed its a good tax deduction
- Depending on the estimated residual value, you actually could end up getting the car for a lower than markey value price of the car.

What to watch for when you get a lease:
- Money Factor - This is basically like an interest rate. You should do some research and try to find what the floor money rate is. Anything higher than the floor rate you are being back-ended by the dealer.
-Negotiate your sales price, as the amount of the sales price minus the residual value multiplied by the money factor equals your payments (lower sales price, lower payments)
-Don't pay cap reduction (This is basically prepaying payments, it doesn't really save you much money)
-If you can do multiple security deposits, some banks will lower your payments this way and you will get the money back at the end of the lease.
-Minimize the junk fees (Lease inception fee, etc).

This is what one of my friend told me to do when I was looking to lease a new 335i and he is an ASM for a Power Toyota dealership in CA.

 

Leasing is a good option if your in the National Guard or Army. I was deployed in 06 for one year and got to turn my car in back to the dealer. That was better than making a payment on a car that I wasn't able to drive. If you're full time army you most likely are going to only be in one spot for about 3 years. Why not just get a new car every time you PCS?

 

With interest rates in the 6+ range a lease generally offers a much lower cost to borrow on the dollar. I leased my Titan and the effective intereste rate that I am paying is about 1.5% if I keep the TItan for the duration of the lease. The thing about leasing is that you are now responsible for the whole term of the lease. SO if you were to be forced to pay off the lease early, you would by paying the interest of the entire term of the lease which could be very expensive.

 

If you don't drive much go for it. However you will be pissed everytime something dings or damages your car. My friend is at school with his leased car adn doesnt have to drive much in the city.

But now that he's back i doubt i could see him driving to the beach or driving to baltimore in the leased car. Me on the other hand i drive everywhere and the only thing i ever think about is the next fill up interval. That's why the bike is in use now

 

I keep my cars a minimum of 5 years, so I would rather own it than rent it. I also never finance a car because I hate to make payments on a depreciating asset (although a zero % rate is not a bad deal). I think lease vs, buy is a situation specific decision, based on how frequently you trade cars, how much you drive, and so on.

 

I work in the car business, and one thing that I will never do is buy a brand new car. You lose too much money off the bat. I bought my 2005 G for $27k with 8000 miles on it fully loaded only missing Nav, and I think that was a little high. But because of the mileage and the condition of the car, I pulled the trigger knowing that it was a good deal. Original MSRP on the car was over $38k. You figure after 2 years, and it's already taken over a $10k depreciation. Hell, if the ORIGINAL owner of the car didn't put any money down, he probably would probably be a little upside down, or BARELY even with his payoff. I'm sure the dealership where I got it from put about $25,500 to maybe $26,500 in the car when they traded it in.

As far as leasing a car, of course it should only be done with new vehicles. Your best deal is when a dealership has L&M money or special lease rates (which most manufacturers are putting out right now). I know the Infiniti dealerships in Houston were running lease deals on the 2006 G35c with MSRP around $34/$35k for $399/month, 12k/year/~$2000 down. That's a helluva deal. Regardless of how much you drive, you can pay for the miles up front or at the end. Regardless of if you lease or purchase, you WILL pay for mileage when you trade it in. But with a lease, you have a chance to buy the miles up front, which will cost you almost half of what the deprecation of mileage AFTER is...If a manufacturer is running a lease special, sometimes it's even better than purchasing that vehicle through conventional financing for 5 years. The lease rates sometimes come out ahead of the interest rates. Even after you refinance the vehicle after 3 years, if you plan to keep the car, you can be paying LESS than conventional financing after 5 years...

 

confusing...but very interesting...

 

rent something that depreciates
own something that appreciates

 

I think the thread would make a good sticky because it has a lot of helpful tidbits of info for a lot of people who are in this same boat.

 

Agreed, I think this would be a good thread to sticky.

I was just hoping for some more insight as to what makes SOMEBODY a good lease candidate and what makes SOMEBODY a good buyer.

IE: If you're in this situation you would want to lease, or - if you plan on keeping the car for x years you should buy.

I'm right on the line right now, and I know that buying/leasing depends on the person. But there's got to be a best-case-scenario for buying and a best-case-scenario for leasing...Whatcha think?

 

I come from a family who has always taught me to purchase, but then they always keep their cars a lot longer than I do. I have never really looked into leasing but then I am starting to debate doing it now.

Has anyone used Edmund's decision calculator? I didn't know if people felt it was a good way to decide or how accurate it is.

 

If your going to Keep a car for only 2 or 3 years, and you dont mod, and put less than 15,000 miles a year on your car, LEASE

If you keep your car long term and mod alot, and drive more than 15k a year, then BUY

Leasing is one of the best things to do if you have a problem with keeping cars longterm. I purchased my first car and ended up trading it in after 1.5 years and i dont wanna talk about how much i had to take in the *** to do so.

One more thing, in most states if you lease you get GAP coverage from Infiniti so if you total your car while your leasing you dont have to come up with any money. But if you Buy your car and total it, in most cases you will be upside down but that of course depends on how much you put down.


LEASE all day long, and drive it like you stole it