Lease or Buy? Whats everyone doing

My accountant said there was a benefit if I was depreciating the vehicle through my business. I am sure that is not true for everyone, though.

 

I don’t accept your logic that one size does not fit all. That means I have to figure out what is best for my situation. Just tell me what to do.

 

Buy.

Monthly payments are $480. I overpay by $200 a month, so if I don't miss any of those it should be paid off about a year and a half early. Didn't really occur to me to ask how the buyout on a lease might work, it may lower the first few years of payments but then I can't overpay and it's highly unlikely it'd work out in anyone but the banks favor.

 

I don't believe there is any benefit to paying off a lease early. You owe what you owe. The buyout consists of the assigned residual + plus some fees. Sometimes there is an early termination charge and there is usually a purchase option charge. You will need to look at your contract.

 

Buy, 3 year term or your car is depreciating faster then your paying it off. If you can't afford it, save up till you can.

On my 3 year financing, at the end of 3 years, I think I will have paid a collective total of only $1002 in interest. Rates aren't bad right now, I locked in 2.99% a month ago on a 2019 OR.

 

Cash if you can.

 

Not true. Had a 3 year on my first tacoma. After the second year it was worth nearly $4k than what I owed.

 

I don't disagree with your post in its entirety, but this last point is a blatant logical fallacy.

There are so many reasons why wealthy people might lease and it has nothing to do with the lease being the better contract. Owners, executives, and employees of dealerships and automotive companies get wildly different deals on their purchases or lease that it's not an across the board apples to apples comparison.

 

Also tax write offs.

 

Huh? I'm not talking about leasing. That was based on purchasing.

And no, there's not a lot of benefit to me either. My interest is so low it's not going to save me a ton of money. It just eliminates one of my monthly bills in 3.5 years instead of 5.

 

Smart move.

 

Depends entirely on what you put down of course, generally stating it is true.

 

Better check on that. Laws very from state to state.

 

There are prepaid leases worth considering that can significantly reduce the money factor.

 

This exactly.

 

i prefer to finance if there is an incentive to do so.(rebate) and then pay it off in 12 days.

 

I'm keeping my truck for the long haul with the intention that it will take me into retirement. We had a healthy downpayment, so we opted to purchase.

 

Put a little over half down, rest will be paid off before it hits a year old.

Did the research on leasing before an overseas assignment and the structure didn’t appeal to us.

Plan to keep this one as long as I can, of course that was also the plan for my 08’ before it got totaled at 117k.

 

Wife is self employed. We have a tax guy, her lease is a write off.

 

Am accountant. Leasing a vehicle for a business makes far more sense than as an individual.

Honestly, with as low as interest rates are currently, there is a real argument to financing a portion. I had 13k financed on a 33k truck. At the end of 36 months, I paid just over $300 in interest and allowed me to keep 13k in my pocket that allowed me to build my truck up a good bit immediately.

Sure you could pay cash and have title in hand, but that extra liquid cash in your account may be worth it to some people like me.

Do your homework and check federal and state tax code first.