Did you buy or lease, and why?

Wikipedia is always right. Never forget.

 

I disagree. Leasing is a great option for certain people. I myself leased due to the great price I got vs. the price of a finance. I plan on buying out as stated above. A rental usually involves a vehicle that has been used prior to you. With a lease you are getting into a new vehicle (usually never owned by anyone else). If you haven’t read through this thread, there’s some great quotes regarding leases specifically to the Tacoma.

 

Agreed, I initially leased with the intent to buy it out at the end. The price was great and at the end I'd essentially be buying a used Tacoma, but one I knew the entire history of since I'd been driving it since it was new.

 

Exactly. I love my truck and did when I first saw it, I knew I’d be buying it. You don’t have the option to buy a rental. So if you love your rental, you have to go car shopping to find that exact car. How was your buyout process?

 

Lol although i am some random guy I did go through the process myself so it’s true

 

Purchase, we put on way too many miles to lease.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ0TlFYpAXY

Just a thought.

 

Bought mine, plan to keep it till the wheels fall off, plus dealer gave a better deal for cash.

 

The buyout was painless once I found someone at Toyota (TFS lease) who could help, but my situation was unique as I was only 4 months into the lease (I'd imagine it's not very common).
I needed to know if I could buy it out early without penalty, and once I ran the numbers and realized I'd save myself $8000 doing an early buyout it was an easy choice. Got the offer in writing, sent a cashiers check, and got the title a few weeks later.

 

Here's the perspective of a habitual leaser, who just purchased his first vehicle, a 2020 SR5. I've leased 1 Acura, 4 Audis and a Tesla just over the past few years. Being young, I wanted to keep my payments low and change my cars out every 2-3 years. Also, with cars that depreciate quickly, have higher cost of total ownership and aren't the most reliable, leasing is the way to go. Leasing can be a good option if you know what you're doing. Looking through this thread, the people who leased all disclosed their monthly payments, but not the negotiated price of the truck, pre-TTL, money factor (MF) and residual to get to their payment. When you lease, don't look at monthly payments, look to negotiate the cost of the vehicle, same as buying. You should also go in to the dealership knowing the manufacturer's MF for your region and the residual. Both of these are typically padded by the dealership for profit. These need to be negotiated based on your credit history. My rule of thumb on a lease is never put down more than $500, which covers TTL. It's crazy to put down $3,000 on a lease, it will drop your monthly payment around $60 but if you do the math; $60 x standard 36 month lease = $2,160. When you put money down on a lease it just goes in to the dealership's pocket, it doesn't decrease the amount you need to finance over the term of a loan, since it's a lease. If you total the leased vehicle, you're out the $3k.
For those who lease with the intention of buying at the end, just know what you're doing. You'll be leasing for 36 months paying the MF, then financing for another 60 months. When all is said and done, you'll have paid for the vehicle over 8 years with interest rates higher than a new car loan. The MF is higher than new car loan APRs, typically 4-5% and when you purchase at the end of the lease, you'll be paying used car interest rates, which are higher than new car rates.
As others have said, with a lease, you can and should treat the vehicle as if you purchased it when you are coming to the end of the lease. You can buy it out, sell it privately, return it and lease another vehicle from the same manufacturer or trade it in to lease or buy from a different manufacturer. As long as the lessee (Toyota financial) gets the buyout amount, they don't care if the money comes from you or another vehicle manufacturer.

When it came to the Tacoma, looking at resale value, total cost of ownership and reliability, mixed with the 0% for 60 month financing, buying was a no brainer. Albeit I bought it with once in a lifetime pandemic Toyota incentives.

Leasing vs buying is always a hotly debatable topic, as long as you do what makes you happy, all the power to you. Just do your research so you don't get ripped off either way.

 

Interesting that the lease vs buy is pretty much split down the middle.

 

It makes no sense to lease a Tacoma because of the resale value. You are better off buying and then selling after 2-3 years.

 

I was taught that if you can't afford the payments to buy then your not really ready to buy. Drive an old clunker and save up your down payment until you can afford the payments. I owned my previous truck for 18 years. When I was ready to purchase my Tacoma I was able to put half down on it. Of course I planned on keeping it forever so I have taken very good care of it. 33,000 miles so far on a 2013 model. The only way I would even consider a lease is if I planned on driving a new truck every 2 or 3 years.

 

Take a look at what 2-3 year old 3rd gens sell for with reasonable mileage. Compare that to your cost to purchase or lease over that time frame and you can reach a conclusion. Iirc, when I did that, the lease was $5k more than buying over 3 years.

 

I would double check on this. In Canada at least there is only one way to lease, through Toyota. When you go to buy out, they require you to have it inspected, because they are essentially selling you a used truck for the residual amount. Maybe different in USA since you can lease through various channels there.

Some people keep trucks forever, some like to get something new every few years. Different stroke for different folks!

 

Cash. I will not owe anyone on anything.

 

It's opposite actually. Because of high resale it makes a perfect lease vehicle. You want high resale, low interest and in demand.

You're way better off leasing and trading in or selling it yourself, since you will have equity in it vs buying and selling after 2-3 years because you didn't tie all that cash up for 2-3 years for no reason. Of course you have to be able to get a good interest rate, otherwise it doesn't work.

 

Buying and selling after 2-3 years makes little sense since you are building minimal equity during that time anyway. Its mostly depreciation (just like a lease) minus the rental charge. Buying makes most sense if you intend to hold the car 8-10 years, as many Tacoma owners undoubtedly do.

I'm only paying $289/mo on my lease precisely because the Tacoma resale is so high. I may buy my truck at the end of my 3-year test drive or I may trade it out for a different new or used vehicle. Leasing not for everyone but it makes sense for me now (kids in college) as it does for many others.

 

I bought my car. I have no payments. I have not debt. I have a lot of cash on hand.

In a dark time like this, I am watching my neighbors getting laid off and they all look really scared.

The comfort I feel right now is beyond words.

Go ahead and lease or go into debt. You're basically a slave to a bank.

 

The “buy” people know what they like and enjoy it. The lease people seem like they have ADD when it comes to what they like and are never really an enthusiast.