Buy or Lease - what say you?

Thanks!!! I agree to a point. I started saving $ when I was a kid of course mowing lawns shoveling driveways,detaseling corn,walking beans whatever I could make a buck at..when I turned 16 I worked at restaurants and in the 80’s I started with high percentage Cd’s. Dave just gave me the advice to get to my goal a lot faster.

 

I can’t wait to be bored!

 

I just know that even after I "retire" I'm still gonna get a job to maintain multiple income streams and to be doing something. It's just that I'll be able to get a fun job like be a park ranger or something then

 

My $.02 is that there can also be non-financial reasons to buy or lease.

I buy personally because I take good care of my vehicles and can usually get top dollar on trade/sell and since I own it it gives me a sense of pride in ownership. I feel like I can do whatever I want to the vehicle.

On the flip side, if you like the feeling of having something new all the time, leasing is great. It may cost you a little more $$$ but having a brand new car every few years is a nice feeling. No maintenance stress, etc. but you do have to worry about mileage, nicks and dings.

Financially, I don’t think there is a question that leasing short and long term is the worse of the two options. But buying outside your comfort zone can be just as bad.

 

I know right! Minimally I will volunteer somewhere like a veteran Home or animal shelter!

 

long term test drive to make sure it is or isn't what i want/need. would have done it with anything truck i picked up. being new to the travel trailer thing no matter what research ya do you you need to tweak it to what you need/want. i didn't want too much truck if i didn't need it so i figured i'd give the tacoma a shot.. its ok but only holding 20gal of gas kinda sucks, as the year went on i found i need more payload and some more inside room all things i needed to learn over time..... i can't be bothered selling on my own. i have way to much stuff going on to wait around here for some craigslist flake who half the time never shows up, then he want to low ball ya, then you have to wait for him to get a loan..etc.etc...etc just not worth my time to be honest.... plus the market is flooded with tacomas around here. if someone wanted to buy a 3 or less year old tacoma they have their pick and can just low ball everyone till someone bites. even then they may still go to a dealer so they can finance and possibly get an extended warranty... lie i said i just cant be bothered with all that crap.. leasing and doing it how i did works well for me.. at the end i'll just turn it in and be done with it. no strings attached... money well spent for me..

 

shit i have enough hobbies that i could easily retire at 50 and not ever worry about being bored..

 

I looked at the 5 year Lease, but decided on a 6 year Loan. It wasn't much difference in monthly payments, knowing I would have something to show for it, whereas after 5 years, I would have nothing in my hands... (I never put money down)

 

I have bought all but 2 of the dozens of vehicles I have owned. I still think the 2 I leased made sense at the time.

Let's face it, we're not talking about ginormous sums of money. When you have to pay a couple of thousand in taxes and fees, and probably twice that in finance charges, the amount you come out ahead buying vs leasing is probably not significant.

You lose money with a trade-in. The dealer ALWAYS comes out ahead with a trade or a financing arrangement, otherwise they wouldn't be in business very long. And congrats to those who sold their trucks on CL quickly. I sold an RV last year, and it was a MAJOR headache. Don't have time for that.

No offense to anyone, but just an observation from participating in car and guitar forums for many years that it must be a testosterone thing to prove that you got a better deal than everyone else. I mean we're talking about, at most, 10% of the price of an expensive item. Practical advice is great, but in the end it's YOUR money and how you want to spend it is YOUR business.

 

Hind sight has proved this time that I wished I had leased my Gen III....
At least I would be able see the end of the tunnel on this one and get out from under.

The payments would have been a lot less and if by some miracle this truck does begin to win me over, I could have still purchased it at the end of the lease, non ?

 

At 50, You'd probably run out of dough unless you have a LOT of money. Life is good, but it's getting wicked expensive.

Having subscribed and practiced your thought @ 45, another thing I found is that meaningful work is good for one's self.
Ya can't be screwing off everyday, all day with "hobbies". I went back to work and wish I hadn't gotten out of the game.
Depending on your skills and chosen vocation, It can be fun and rewarding !

The dynamics change too when you realize you're going in to participate and accomplish something instead of doing time, collecting a check, making payments and wishing for the day it will all end.

Be careful of what you wish for !

 

I let the dealer talk me into leasing, but I wish I would have just bought it. I want to say the monthly payment was about $150 higher to buy. Granted, I could have afforded the higher payment: my wife is military and they cover housing, and we didn't have kids (but just found out our first is on the way ). If you can't afford it then don't be stupid.

I use to have a Nissan Frontier that I had paid off. In college I traded it in for a BMW (worst decision of my life). Maybe two months later I wanted a truck again. I was actually interested in the Chevy Colorado. A friend's dad got one and I wasn't that impressed with it. I drove by a Toyota dealer and saw some Tacomas on their lot. The rest was history. So I leased because the payment was lower, and I wasn't sure how I'd like the Tacoma. I purchased it with a year left on the lease because I believe it'll save me a little bit in the long run.

 

Not true. But correct at the same time.

I leased mine for 4 years at 15k miles a year. My payment is 469 a month. At the end of the lease, I will have paid roughly 22k towards principle and the selling price is 31k. That leaves me with 9k difference. I have 3 options. One, give it back and pay the fees. Two, give it back to trade for another vehicle forgoing all fees. Or three, buy it, forgoing all fees and finance the 9k. This is all outlined in the contract. And yes, that 9k is negotiable!

The lease company doesn’t want the truck back. It will either be sold to the dealer for buyout or sold at auction. They will negotiate. Now, if my truck is worth 20k at lease end and have paid 22k towards principle of the 31k selling price they will use that 2k towards a down payment on either a leased or bought vehicle if you negotiate. Sounds weird??? Well think about it, truck worth 20k. They buy it out at 9k from lesser. They give you 2k as down payment. That’s 11k they just bought your truck for. They will sell it at 18 to 20k.

Before you say I’m wrong, I’ve done this twice before.

 

Lots of interesting/bad info in this thread. First off, Tacoma is a perfect lease candidate because of high residual. That's what you want in a lease. Low residual vehicles make the worst leases.

At lease end, you don't walk away with nothing. Because Tacomas have such good resale you will have equity in your lease. It would be silly to give it back in most cases. I personally sold my Tundra lease and made $7500 over what the residual was. Nothing stopping you from trading a lease in or selling it when you have that kind of equity.

I'm leasing my Tacoma now and after 1 year my current buyout is lower than what I can sell the truck for privately. 0 chance I will turn it in.

OP if you lease there is no reason to put money down. Rule of thumb is never put money down on a lease unless it's a deposit to reduce the interest rate. You don't want to expose that money to risk if you smash the thing up or want someone to take over your lease quickly.

 

Retired when I was 53. I have never been bored. If you are bored when you retire, it is your own fault.

 

If you cant afford to pay cash for a new vehicle, lease it or better wait until you can afford to pay cash. NEVER TRADE TO A DEALER. Pay cash and drive it for 7-10 years and you are far, far ahead of the curve especially with a Toyota product....extremely low maintenance and depreciation. All my Toyota vehicles are kept 10 years plus and usually sold at 20-30% of original cost; however I do take care of them and there is usually a list of folks knocking on the door to buy it. The Tacoma if kept original in most respects, brings the highest resale of 98% of vehicles, period! Still looking for the 2%. Just sold my '03 Tundra for $9.5k, original cost $26k loaded and buyer was ecstatic.

 

nowadays the end price is negotiated before you leave the lot if you lease.

 

Can also be negotiated at end of lease. They DON’T want the truck back if the residual is low or equal to. They’d rather you buy it than trade.

Let’s say: your lease is up but paid 15k towards principle and The price of truck is 45k. That’s 30k difference. If the truck is worth 25k, that’s 5k loss to lesser or dealer. Dealer won’t buy it out with that much negative equity (most likely) so the lesser will just auction it taking maybe a much bigger loss.

They will negotiate to save time and trouble.

 

So you essentially rent a depreciating asset instead? Leasing doesn't stop the depreciation.
No thanks.

 

That amount of miles a year will cost you big time at the end of a lease,better too buy,or lease and then purchase.