buy new, used, or lease a car?

Ive had used and new but never leased. One of these days I gotta do that if for no other reason than to see what it's like.
 
I have had a lot of cars - used mostly at first, a few new ones, but got spoiled at work when I was able to order a new car every year if not sooner. In retirement I still lease them, but may change that up when the present one is "up". No idea what the car market will look like then (2023). I have considered buying but worry somewhat about the electronics becoming obsolescent faster than the gas piston engines ..
 
I've always been bought used, and from a dealer, never a private sale. I've had friends who've bought used privately and ended up with cars that have been in major accidents, but have been really hard to spot. One discovered that his car was actually made up of the best bits of 2 cars welded together. After my first 2 cars I've always bought from big dealerships as well, never had an issue, anything that went wrong they fixed. They do charge more, but it's peace of mind.

I've never bought new, I couldn't justify to myself the depreciation as you drive it off the lot. I could never afford new either, although I can now, and I like the idea of getting exactly what you want. So who knows what might happen next.

I've never leased, mainly because I like to modify and customise my vehicles, and I like to own them at the end, with no residual owing.

The FJ I have now came from a major dealer chain, it's the third time I have bought from them, all 3 cars came with an extended 3 year warranty, no charge, it was included in whatever price you negotiated. The first car had a couple of issues, starter motor and alternator. When the starter failed it had to be towed, it was all fixed, no charge to me. That car was an ex-highway patrol interceptor, so it had a hard life. Neither of the other 2 required any warranty repairs. So, I'm a big fan of buying from dealerships, but big ones only.

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Each option has it's place and the best option is dependent upon many factors.

For me personally, my order of preference would be 1) Buy New; 2) Lease New; 3) Buy Used.
 
I prefer slightly used. Don’t loose the big drop off of the lot. Also modify most of my cars so longer to wait till warranty is over.

Plus I get more car for my money. Was looking new Camaro and a 20/21 LT1 woulda costca couple grand more than my SS. It has alot more to it.


Selling cars before leasing is for someone who is buying new cars before paid off, If you trade in cars 2-4 years or if you just are always going to have a car payment as part of your bills.


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NEW. This way from day one, your butt was the only one in that seat. And you know the history from day one. If you don't drive much, lease. Dad told me once, everyone should experience what's it like to own a brand new vehicle at least once in their life.

Low mileage used is fine too. This way it already took the hit.
 
New for me.

I drive a lot. I had 2 used cars that were both previously my dad's work cars so I knew the previous owner/history on them. Both had a lot of reliability issues. The last car required $4000 in repairs in the last year I owned it which was more than payments on a new car. Since then, I haven't had a used car as my primary vehicle.
 
MisterSnoop said:
New for me.

I drive a lot. I had 2 used cars that were both previously my dad's work cars so I knew the previous owner/history on them. Both had a lot of reliability issues. The last car required $4000 in repairs in the last year I owned it which was more than payments on a new car. Since then, I haven't had a used car as my primary vehicle.
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4,000 a year in most peoples cases is is alot less than payments. On average figure $20 +/- a few bucks per $1,000 financed.

That’s around $600 a month $7,200 a year for a 30k car.


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Coatingsarecrack said:
4,000 a year in most peoples cases is is alot less than payments. On average figure $20 +/- a few bucks per $1,000 financed.

That’s around $600 a month $7,200 a year for a 30k car.
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I think payments on the first new car in 2004 were around $3k/yr. That was a $22k car. I did put down more on it than it was it worth when I traded it in which skews the numbers but financing the purchase price minus the trade in value would be pretty close to $4k/yr. Not having to use vacation days, have a car die on the road, borrow/rent a car also heavily factored into it.

Now I'm paying $600/mo but I decided to put 0 down due to the low interest rate.
 
Buy used, lease new. I grew up in the car business if you have any questions. One can look at it a number of ways but I tend to look at it based on keeping my money working for me.
 
I've had brand new, leased, and used vehicles over the years. I prefer brand new vehicles now in my 40's. I never enjoyed leasing a vehicle. Paying a bunch of money just to turn it back in and have zero equity. You can find some great deals on the older used vehicles, but you don't really know the history of the vehicle. How was it maintained over the years?


New - Wait for good rebates and incentive's - Lower interest rates - Shop around other dealers and compete on prices. Get exactly what yo want and it's brand new with warranty.

Lease - You're basically just paying the depreciation value over the next 3 years. No equity - Probably will owe money when turned back in. (Mileage, Tires, Dents, Detail)

Used - Prices are ridiculous right now for used vehicles. I've seen used cars 1-2 years old being listed lately with 20k miles and they're asking more than what the cars value was brand new. Crazy! You don't really know what the previous owner has done to the vehicle. Might have mechanical issues and body damage too.
 
Lease one and own one. I think soon we will own both as our yearly mileage dropped off with daughter getting her own vehicle and wife working from home full time. If Ford can get the kinks worked out in a few years i want to buy a Bronco when I turn my Jeep in.
 
It always depends. Some cars lease very well because they have low depreciation. Others are terrible to lease because they lose so much value in the first few years. I've done both and currently have one owned outright (that was financed for 3 years) and one leased. I've only had one used car before and that was my first one. I'm not against it but I'd not buy used unless I knew the entire history of the car, probably from knowing it since it was new. Too many people beat on their cars a lot and I'd suffer after that trying to make it perfect again.

If the monthly payment is the same to lease or buy, I'll lease so I don't have to worry about selling the car at the end and dealing with that headache. I couldn't lease the GTI as that would have been way more per month than buying it because it's a car that doesn't lease well, banks know people buy it to have fun and it's more chance it will be wrecked or modified during ownership.

Right now I have no clue what I would do if I sold the GTI because I don't like any cars that I can afford and I can't afford any cars that I like (unless it's used and probably older than mine).
 
Bobby B. said:
I never enjoyed leasing a vehicle. Paying a bunch of money just to turn it back in and have zero equity.
Lease - You're basically just paying the depreciation value over the next 3 years. No equity - Probably will owe money when turned back in. (Mileage, Tires, Dents, Detail)
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High level leasing appears that way. There are however ways to make it work for you so that the above is not true. It just takes discipline and understanding. Happy to walk anyone through it. Done right you will end the lease, likely early, with no fees and you'll have money saved up (equity) after as well.
 
IMO buying 2-3 year old cars is probably the sweet spot for most people because it avoids the initial depreciation hit but still allows several years of ownership before major scheduled maintenance or repairs will be needed. I don't care for leases as a long term approach because it basically means perpetually having a monthly payment. Modern cars are reliable and durable enough that I don't see the benefit of never having more than ~36K miles on the odometer. I'd much rather pay for the occasional set of tires or brake job than be stuck in a never ending cycle of new leases and monthly payments.
 
I used to buy new.

Now I only lease.
I can't do used... I'm just too OCD with imperfections.

With leasing I have a new car every 3 years. I don't drive a lot so low yearly miles is not an issue for me.
 
I've done all three over the years.

These days, I go lightly used/CPO since many will still carry some factory warranty or a CPO warranty. I wouldn't mind buying new since we tend to hang on to cars for a very long time, but with prices steadily heading up, the cars we want/like are out of budget until they have a 2~4 years of depreciation. I'd rather buy a used car I really like, than buy a new one I find to be just adequate.

I leased once, and while it made a great car affordable, my driving habits and mileage don't make them a very good option. The great lease deals are usually with 10K miles a year, I easily drive 12~15K since we like to road trip in my cars better than our family SUV's and I like to do weekend backroad drives just for fun. Even with a 12K mile/year lease I was sweating every trip and always watching the odometer.
 
I've only ever bought used due to my car wants not lining up with my wallet's can-do.

When we bought my wife's Q5, we got the nicest/lowest mile/newest we could swing/find at the time. It was still under factory warranty, and even though I fix them for a living, we got the factory extended warranty. She's always kept her cars long term, and she loves this one, so I don't see it going anywhere any time soon.

Next car I get I'm planning to get the lowest mile/best condition example I can find. Like DetailKitty mentioned, I'm tired of living with other peoples mess-ups. I'd love to lease to just keep rotating a nice new something, but I average about 25k a year so it's out of the picture.


From working on cars for as long as I have, I've got very little interest in buying a higher mileage (80k or higher) anything unless you've got stacks of records. Too many cars are just appliances for folks, and they treat them as such. My friend that works at a dealership sent me a picture of a... no, I'll say he sent me a picture of what used to be an oil filter out of a 3x,000 mile lease return he did an oil change on. The first oil change it had ever had. *insert Mr. Yuck here*. You talk to these folks and they comment on how great the car was because it "Never needed a thing". Nay nay - you never did a thing. :doh:

In my experience, your average German car is going to start needing some love around 80-100K, and typically once you get that shored up you're good for another 80-100k if you use quality parts. But if you neglect them early on like that, a new box of potential issues has been opened and the next owner (or the following) is left dealing with them.
To boost performance and (honestly, I'm sure the main goal of the engineers was: ) efficiency, modern drivetrains are getting more complicated and use lighter weight parts. A little extra preventative maintenance in my experience can go a long way.

Sorry, I'll stop ranting. :o

For now, my 15yo daily is just about to turn 260,000 miles. I feed it oil changes and brakes, and it just keeps hummin along. I've told my wife - I love my car, but at some point there will be a threshold where it makes sense to invest in resetting the counter with a newer car.
 
Bruno Soares said:
I couldn't lease the GTI as that would have been way more per month than buying it because it's a car that doesn't lease well, banks know people buy it to have fun and it's more chance it will be wrecked or modified during ownership.
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Is that in the current market? The only car I've ever leased was my GTI. I picked up a MK6 in 2013 and leased it for 12K miles/42 months with really competitive rates. When the lease was over it was worth MORE than the residual! Dealer wasn't happy about that when I bought the car at the end of the lease.

Right now I have no clue what I would do if I sold the GTI because I don't like any cars that I can afford and I can't afford any cars that I like (unless it's used and probably older than mine).
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This was the same place I was with my GTI for a while and the reason I bought mine off the lease. I couldn't afford anything I liked better and I was sitting on a "used" car I could buy for less than market value and I knew the entire history of the car...since I'd already been driving it for 3.5 years.
 
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