Lease or Buy? Whats everyone doing

Old fart here. To my mind, a lease is just a long-term rental. They've never made sense to me. I went with the 0% 36 month financing on this truck.

 

I went into the dealer payed cash on my SR5 sticker was a little over $35,000 I payed $30,700 out the door

 

Thats the dream!!

 

Back in 2006 I bought a used GMC truck and agreed to take over the lease. A while later I did the math of what it would cost me in the end; I quickly got a bank loan and paid off the lease (luckily the terms allowed that) Not sure if my lease just had really bad terms or if most leases are way more costly than regular bank loans in the long run.
I do vaguely remember my accountant saying something about leasing vehicles for work and being able to write off more per year vs owned vehicle depreciation.....???
Anyway, i’d get all the numbers/terms from your banking and leasing people, talk to your/an accountant, then do the math and a Pro/Con list.....My 2 cents anyway.....

 

I have company car and we have a Tesla, I am going to lease the 2020 PRO that I have money down on. For me it makes total sense. I am not modding anything and will want a new something in a few years anyway.

 

looking forward to the apple car play of the 2020?

 

I'm leasing a 2019 at the moment. I owned my 4Runner for 18 years, and there were many good years of no payments and no worries. Over the last five or so years though, I would get surprise $1000, $500, $2500 repairs or things that would come out of nowhere and potentially put it out of commission. Most people won't keep a vehicle that long and the Tacomas do have great resale value, but I'm very fond right now of making a $257 payment each month and paying for no maintenance and no repairs for three years, at which point I can get a new one with updated features and no miles again. May go back to a purchase in the future but that's where I'm at now.

*Edit - I'll add that I have leased three other vehicles while I have owned this and have had great experiences all around. I'm not staunchly in favor of one or the other. Whatever makes sense.

 

Best way to go; buy something today with tomorrows dollars.

 

I follow what my father taught me....cash. If you don’t have the cash it’s not time to buy. Never steered me wrong.

 

When you get close to the end, look real close at the market. Toyotas usually have equity at lease end. Do not just turn it in. Sell it back to them. Use your equity as a down on a Raptor. Boom!

When my 4Runner lease was up, I was sitting on almost $3k in equity, and I didn't even put anything down. Wanted to sell, but my boss got her panties in a hissy fit and wanted to keep it.

 

If the monthly lease payment comes out to less than $135 per $10,000 worth of vehicle, then the lease deal is good. The best lease deals will hover around the $100 per $10,000 mark.

The Basics
Further Reading

1. How Does Car Leasing Work?
2. Lease Terms Explained in Plain English
3. Auto Leasing Do's and Don'ts
4. Biggest Mistake When Leasing a Car
5. The 2 Different Types of Car Leases
6. Where to Shop For Car Leases
7. Sample Lease Contract

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Many people assume car leasing is a bad financial decision, but the truth is - leasing makes sense IF you meet the following three criteria:

1. You want a new car in 4 years or less
2. You drive 15,000 or fewer miles per year
3. You have excellent credit

If you answered "yes" to all three, then leasing is a smart choice. You just need to be very careful when entering into a lease; there's a lot of confusing terminology, and dealers will try to take advantage of your lack of knowledge

 

I guess I’m just old school on this topic. I paid cash for my 2018 TRD OR. I got a deal on the purchase by paying cash (Almost $6000 under MSRP). I like to think long term when it comes to money/financial decisions. What will be the best decision 10 years from now?

Another thing many ppl don’t think about is the opportunity cost of having a car payment. I like having options with my money every month.

And another thing ppl don’t think about is the risk that comes with debt and car payments. Unexpected things can happen and that car payment might not be affordable after a job loss, injury, disability etc.

 

Even with those occasional repair costs you saved money because, you didn’t pay that every month. It’s cheaper to keep a vehicle long term.

 

Id say your correct, but technology is quickly changing that argument in my opinion.

I already learned a hardlesson having to replace a CD-Rom navi drive on a 13 year old car. New unit was a grand from Acura, went used $350 on eBay, prayed it worked and sold the SUV FAST!

Edit- i never once entered a address in the Navi, Acura in their wisdom made it so you couldnt use any of the touchscreen option when that drive wont read the disc.

 

Leasing is good if you know you're going to be done with the truck after 3,4 x years etc. In NY you are only paying sales tax on the payments you make, not the whole car. Another advantage of leasing is if you have a major accident. If the car is totaled, you don't need to fight with the insurance co. They will work with the leasing company and you're done. If you have a bad accident and the truck is fixed, your accident will show up on CarFax and theoretically the car will have diminished resale value. If the car is leased, this is the leasing company's problem, not yours. As long as you had it fixed properly, they have no claim against you.
If you're planning to own long term, or you think you may want to get out of the car every year or 6 months, then buying is the way to go. Yes, you will pay sales tax on the entire price, but you will be better off. It's really an individual specific question.

 

I debated on leasing but got a deal I couldn't turn down on buying. Plus I plan on keeping it for quite some time so it made sense to buy anyway.

 

I don't know why the alternative to leasing has to be owning a vehicle until it's falling apart. If you have great credit and secure your own bank loan you can trade the vehicle a lot sooner than a 3 year term and not lose any money through financing. You can even take advantage of multiple incentives and make money entering another finance deal. Trade incentives are scored just higher than the average new vehicle down payment, if you put 2K down you can recover your full down payment and have a 2-3K down payment on the next vehicle.

IMO, if the vehicle has good resale that is just more reason to finance. Why go for a high resale on something you're not going to own? Just so you don't end up owing more by the end? I'd rather that value go towards the overall worth of the asset I would then own. With mileage limits, you're not even getting the most use out of the depreciation year to year.

 

So I can have some kind of health insurance even if it is only from the state of Illinois. I own now but I have a $21,000 spend down on my medical card because I like to drive new trucks. (The same as not having any insurance in my situation.) Thinking about trading in my '19 SR for a leased Tacoma TRD Sport. If I don't own a truck I will have health insurance.

 

Sounds like you can’t afford a new truck. This is the reason most average consumers lease.