Did a search and didn't find a thread on this. Anyway, my family is getting to a point where I need to potentially replace my current vehicle
which is a 2012 Jeep Patriot. It has been a reliable vehicle, I own it outright and only has 54,000 miles on it. My wife hates the car and we
will be taking more family trips to see her folks and my parents as well. It is not a comfortable vehicle to take long trips and the space to
haul stuff is kind of limited. I bought it as a single guy and it has done its job. Long story short.... I have a very short commute to and
from work. I think I put less than 10 miles on the car a day and I go home for lunch. Keeping the miles down on the vehicle is one of the
reasons I am considering going the leasing route. I'm also under the belief that the maintenance is pretty much covered during the life of
the lease which is attractive. Anyone here familiar with the ins and outs of leasing. Pros and cons of doing it? I have always owned my
cars.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

i think there is a very small percentage of people who a lease makes sense for. if you have to have a new car every few years, then its a what you should do.

but when i worked at a dealership it seemed the dealer always found a way to ding the leaser after the lease was over due to problems not deemed wear and tear. so while you may keep the miles down there is still not guarantee that you won't get charged at the end of the lease for some stupid bull shit.

leasing a car for a few years if necessary can make sense, but over the long term its a bad deal. like 10 years. if you lease 4-5 vehicles in those 10 years, you'll have spent more than if you did buying a car driving it for the life of the loan and trading it in for a new vehicle for another 5 years. and thats if you don't get charged for crap a the end of the lease.

The thing to keep in mind with leasing is that you are paying the difference between the purchase price and the residual price (the price it's worth at the end of the lease), which means that leasing a better quality car can often be less than a shitty car. For example, if a Chevy and a Honda are both $35k, but the Chevy is projected to be worth only $15k after three years but the Honda is expected to be worth $20k, the lease on the Honda will cost less because it is based on the difference.

If you are good with mileage limitations and keep the car in good condition, leasing can be okay.

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Thanks to you both. Bringing up good points I hadn't considered. Just starting the process of looking into this.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

It's almost impossible to do a lease and make it worth the money. It's for people that want a new car every 2 years and are willing to overpay for it.

I think loans are still pretty cheap too.

If you have some time, wait until the summer when the cars at the end of the model year start to come down in price with incentives to get them off the lot. For some cars, that starts as early as July if they have a lot of inventory to move.

Also, in terms of maintenance being covered, that is pretty standard for the first two years of a new car purchase but in reality it's also fairly meaningless for a low mileage driver. Oil changes in new cars happen about every 6,000 to 10,000 miles now. That means the maintenance was 2 oil changes and a tire rotation.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Do not lease... It's the most expensive way to buy a car. There is a reason people call it a a "Flease"

About the only time you should lease is when you have a deal where your employer pays for it.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

My personal opinion is that when it comes to cars, like blackjack, the dealer almost always wins. I'm a believer in used cars because with a used car I never pay what a car payment costs monthly over the monthly costs of repairs on the car. I think you can always get a decent used car for under $6,000.

I hope whatever you do you get the maximum value out of your current vehicle because generally speaking I think dealers underpay on trade-ins.

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God is the uncaused cause of the universe. He had no beginning and has no end. He is not bound by the laws of the universe he created.

Old Maid
Go Fish
Bridge

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What if you discovered that the used car was a believer in evolution, pro-choice, and was regularly used to sacrifice boxes of pasta to the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

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I've leased my last four vehicles and have never had a problem.

Yes, it is not the best option from a financial standpoint when compared to the other options. However, the best option to buy a car is to find what you want, find a similar make/model a couple years older, and pay cash for it. If you are able to do so, then by all means.

However, if you want more car for less money and you anticipate getting a new car in 4 years anyway, leasing is fine.

I'll also add that I haven't paid for a single car repair nor anything other than routine maintenance for 12 years.

Again... not the best option from a car acquisition standpoint as you will always have a car payment, but in my experience the money I save from driving a brand new car with updated safety features is worth it.

How many times are you doing this long drive to visit her family, and how close do you live to a major airport? It may be a lot cheaper for you to pay $60/year for a Costco membership and then get their discount rates for Alamo and Budget and rent when you need something the wife will find acceptable for the visit. Plus you get some long test drives with different vehicles.

As an example, I just priced out a 3-day full-size rental from O'Hare (Friday noon to Monday noon) with Costco, and it was $86 all-in for two drivers using Budget.

That's how I ended up with my Equinox, I had gotten it as a rental on business travel and fell in love with the headroom. Rented one for an 1100 mile road trip and was convinced, then finished saving up what I needed to buy a new one at the higher trim level I wanted.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I highly recommend leasing.

I do not recommend letting a drunken FavreFan drive your car.

When you lease can you find your car more easily?

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Elections have consequences.

I do not recommend letting a drunken FavreFan use your oven.

I'd vote against a lease, especially with you mentioning road trips. But others here have brought up the various reasons why buying is usually the best option.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Leasing is just a nice way of saying "renting with a difficult contract to break early."

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

The dealership will definitely try to "lock you in" long term by offering various early upgrades, looking the other way when mileage overages, etc. There's no question they get the better end of any deal.

I still regret nothing.

Listen. You don't want to fly. It's too dangerous. Here's the thing. Buy two cars. I had a cherry Mercedes Benz 560 that I used to get down to Jasper. But I normally keep her tarped at my barn loft. Unfortunately, I had to sacrifice her for a suicide mission. Mercedes' are built to last, but they don't survive shot gun blasts while flipping in the air.

For daily work, I use my Buick Riviera. She's a runner. She's cheap, so when 40 year old adolescents, felons, power drinkers, and trustees of modern chemistry decide to fuck with her, repairs aren't much.

Leasing is awful. Many of my clients regret it nine times of ten.

You'll be wearing rubber gloves. Do you own rubber gloves, T-Bone?

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

Did you ever find some fries or gum in one of them that was still in pretty good shape?

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

Saw this today:

The Cheapest Lease Deals This March
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/autos-m ... li=BBnb7Kz

See if Mac can get you a going-away deal on a nice pre-owned car at Webb Ford.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal