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Why is leasing a car a bad idea?

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7 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

If you are looking to build wealth, leasing is a bad idea. But so is buying a new car. All cars lose value once you buy them. New cars lose anywhere between 30-60% of their value in the first 4 years of ownership.

Buying a good quality, used car is the way to go if you are looking to build wealth. And keeping the car for a while is also desirable. Re-leasing every three years is no way to build wealth.

The American Car Payment is probably the biggest factor holding many people back from building wealth. Don't fall into the trap - buy a used car and drive it for as long as you can until the maintenance gets too pricey. Then upgrade to a better used car, etc.

If you cannot buy a car outright with cash, you cannot afford it. Period.

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I think this is a bit hyperbolic. If you are able to save money, invest money, and still pay the monthly payment on a nice car, I think you're okay. Now, if you're paying $600 a month on a car and have $0 in savings, then thats roblem. – Jack Marchetti Sep 16 '10 at 14:18
If you are able to save money and invest money, then you would be much better off buying the car with cash and then investing the money you would be using for payments. – DJClayworth May 19 '11 at 13:57
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This says nothing to answer the actual question of "Why is leasing a car a bad idea?" – Jeff Swensen Jun 21 '11 at 16:21
While its true that new cars used value once they leave the lot, you're paying for a little more peace of mind that hopefully the car has fewer "surprises". This is also why you pay a little more for used cars from a reputable dealer then from a private individual. – Doug T. Dec 13 '11 at 21:08
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up vote 6 down vote

You SHOULDN'T lease one if you are going to get an economy car, if you don't drive too much (<15K / year), and you want to hang on to the car for a long time.

Otherwise, if you are a regular driver, driving a leased new quality car can be cost effective.

Many cars now have bumper-to-bumper warranties that last as long as the lease (say 80K). So there is rarely any extra costs apart from regular maintenance. The sweet spot for most new cars is in the 5th, 6th, or 7th years, after they are paid off. But at that point, you may find you have maintenance bills that are approaching an average of $200 - $300 per month. In which case, a lease starts to look pretty good.

I owned a 7 year old Honda Accord that cost only $80 less per month in maintenance than the new leased VW that replaced it.

Haven't looked back after that. Into my 3rd car and 9th year of leasing.

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$200-$300 a month in maintenance on a Japanese car? I sure didn't see that. My wife's 9 year old Civic cost us nothing outside of the normal checkups & oil changes the last few years before we got rid of it. – Jim Aug 28 '10 at 19:19
One big piece of work can easily push the average maintenence cost to $200 per month. – DJClayworth Jan 4 at 19:53
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up vote 6 down vote

Here are the reasons I did not lease my current car.

  1. When you lease, you're tied in at a monthly payment for 48 months or more. The only way to get out of that payment is to transfer the lease or buy out the lease. If you buy/finance, you can always sell the car or trade it in to get out of the payments. Or you can pay down more of the vehicle to lower the payments.

  2. Most leases calculate the cost of leasing based on the 'residual value' of the vehicle. Often these values are far lower than the actual worth of the vehicle if you owned it for those months and sold it yourself. So when you do the math, the lease costs you more -especially with today's low financing rates.

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#2 is only correct if you simply trade in your lease without knowing the value of a car. The lease itself does not lock you into this action or line of thinking, and if it is indeed worth more, you can sell it yourself and pay off the residual at the end, pocketing the difference. – NickC Sep 15 '11 at 19:29
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up vote 5 down vote

I agree with Speedbird389 - I leased an economy car 10 years ago, paid the residual at the end of the lease because I knew the car would last a long time, but that cost me $5000 more than if I had bought it in the first place...

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@JaimeS: If you agree with an answer you can just upvote that answer and add comments if you desire. This way the question doesn't get duplicate answers and the strongest answer will float to the top. – brainimus Aug 5 '10 at 17:23
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up vote 4 down vote

Also consider how cars fare under your ownership:

Does your current car...

  • Have flecks of yellow paint on the bumper from that tight corner of the parking garage?
  • Have stains from baby vomit, pets, spilled coffee or oil marks from drive-in movie popcorn?
  • Have Scratches and dents?
  • Live outside, exposed to the elements?
  • Frequently get parallel parked on the street overnight?

If any of the answers to these questions are "Yes", you're probably going to get hosed with fees when you return the car.

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up vote 3 down vote

I never understood why ppl lease rather than buy or finance. I'm financing a new civic 09 @ 0.9%. At the end of the 5 year terms I would have paid less than $800 in interest.

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One of the reasons people look at leases is the cash flow aspect -- their monthly payments could be lower. But yes usually they ignore the cost of financing, to their detriment. And auto dealerships are usually complicit in steering people towards leases by having them think in terms of monthly payment and not overall cost. – Chris W. Rea♦ Oct 11 '09 at 12:41
I just got out of school and the best they offered me was an 8.6% rate. Meh. I paid it off early, though. :) – fennec Mar 27 '10 at 6:28
I would lease because I drive about 4000 miles a year, and only paying $350 for a Lexus seems fine to me. Financing it would cost me $600 a month. – Jack Marchetti Sep 16 '10 at 14:12
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Some people also forget the option of a proven old time classic idea of saving up for a purchase to afford it. – Troggy Sep 27 '10 at 0:19
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up vote 3 down vote

I have an eight year old Kia Spectra that my wife is after me to replace -- but it hadn't been giving me any trouble at all. Soon after she started telling me I should replace it soon it started having problems; compressor, tires, and so on. How did she know?

Anyway, so now I'm looking -- not ready to buy yet, but I'm looking. The reason I won't be leasing is mileage. I live 45 miles from where I work, so with incidental driving, I put at least 100 miles a day on a car. That's about 26,000 miles a year if I do nothing but drive back and forth to work.

On a monthly basis the lease is advertised as being less than most payments, but that is with a mileage limitation. Since most leases I've looked at top out the mileage well below that mark I won't be leasing.

I am looking at the new cars that are available now -- but I don't plan on buying until next year, and buying a lightly used car that is only a year to two old. So I'm looking at what I will be buying while I can still find information about them.

So yeah, mileage is a strong reason why I'm not considering leasing.

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How did she know? (In my best Bugs Bunny voice) Diia-boh-lickal sabo-tay-gee. Seriously though, I'm surprised it lasted that long without any trouble. – George Marian♦ Aug 28 '10 at 15:55
yeah, so am I. At just under 150K miles it started falling apart. I'm now at 160K miles and beginning to doubt it will last till next year -- but that is the plan I'm stubbornly sticking with. Car shopping ranks just right under job and house shopping on my list of least favorite activities. – David Culp Aug 28 '10 at 20:27
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