Buy or Lease

[tbroye]

I am almost 73 wife is in the late 60 range. We have a 2002 Toyota Prerunner Pickup 145K miles, a 2004 Ford Expedition 144K miles and a 2011 Mini Cooper Clubman 32K Miles (her's not involved in discussion) All paid for. Some time in the next few years we will replace both the older vehicles The Mini stays. What would you do given the cost of new vehicles, Buy or Lease. I am getting to the age I won't have a need for a Pickup but would need a all around vehicle, like a smaller SUV. The Mini is covered by a extended warranty and service till 100k by BMW/Mini so we are good there. I am leaning toward a 3 year lease as we don't put more than 15k a year depending on how many trip we take. the average has been about 12Ks. Haven't even started looking at cars yet just thinking about what to do. Hopefully I can drive until I am 99,LOL This is something I have never thought about but it is coming. Don't want to mess with the hassles of a used vehicle. New ones have a warrant and a service contract of some kind the days of me laying on the garage floor are coming to an end. Have to do the brakes on the Ford next weekend, but don't relish the idea any more. I need something to haul dogs to dog park and fishing.

 

[Edgar]

It's hard to say what would be best Tom - there are so many individual factors that enter into these decisions & only you know what works best for you.

In my case, I'm 70 & my wife is 68. We have a 2004 Taboe that we bought used in 2006 and a 2011 F250 that we bought new in late 2010. No regrets on either decision. I generally keep vehicles 8-12 years before replacing.

We will probably replace the Tahoe sometime in the next year or two. We will consider both new & used, but either way, it will be a purchase - I'm not a fan of personal leases.

This was our first used car purchase - every other vehicle has been new. It was only 2 years old though & only 10,000 miles & a good price so we went that route. If I find a similar deal, I will certainly consider it again.

I too plan to keep driving to at least 99. I'll probably keep working that long too.

 

[Ed McDonnell]

Maybe look at it this way:

Can you afford to purchase for cash? If no then lease.

If yes, could you invest the purchase price somewhere it will earn more than the cost of the lease interest / fees? If no then purchase. If yes then lease.

Good thing you don't think you need a new truck. I thought about replacing my 10 year old truck this year. I couldn't believe the prices on new trucks. It doesn't take a whole lot of options to get the price way north of $50k real fast. I paid ~$30k for my truck 10 years ago. Same truck today was almost $60k. I think I'm going tor 20 years on the current truck.

Ed

 

[JimB]

One of the problems with leasing is you will be asking yourself these same questions in 3 years when the lease is done. Do you lease another new vehicle, buy the one you have leased for the last 3 years or buy a new one.

Since you are not in a rush you have the time to look for a great deal with great rebates. Once you know what truck(s) you want just keep watching the rebates. The best way is to go to the websites and check them each month. There are rebates they don't always advertise. When I bought a car in December I knew more about rebates then the salesman.

 

[BSea]

If you like a new car every 3 years, then lease. If you want to keep it 5 years or longer, buy. I will never buy another new vehicle. That $60k truck can be around 40 after a year or so. You just have to shop a little harder, and not be too picky on color.

 

[plantman]

Tom. I think the key to your question is age. At 72 myself I own 3 autos. I have A 4WHEEL drive Astro van 2001 60000 miles, a 2004 VW bug convertable 30000 miles only driven in the summer, a 1999 Porsche 986 Roadster 60000 miles and driven only in the summer. We also lease a 2015 Toyoto Rav 4 fully loaded. Although my cars are well maintained by an excellent auto shop, you never know when something could go wrong at any time. For this reason we lease the Rav 4. Lease payments are much lower that making payments to buy the same car. I can make more money investing the price of a car than I would be paying interest on one. The age factor !! Me 72, and my wife 68, don't want or need the hassel of having to maintain an automobile. If something should happen such as a battery going dead, running out of gas, flat tire, etc, we have On Star and roarside assistance to come to us and fix the problem. Free oil change and maintance for the length of the lease along with 39 month warrenty. We usualy trade this lease back in every two years and because of the low miles and featurs on the car, make money on the deal. That's the way we roll !! Jim S

 

[CaptainJane]

opposite view

I have a 15 year old Honda with 275,000 miles. I could buy a new one, but why? I still drive it all over the country, by myself, with no worries.

If you still trust your current vehicle, keep it awhile longer. If you do not trust it, try leasing 1 vehicle - you still have your owned 2 others. If leasing works out for you, when the time comes, you can make a decision whether to lease or buy the next one.

One step at a time - no rush to do both.

 

[SteveJ]

When money was tight for us, we always bought cheap used cars - and spent all sorts of time or money fixing them. We then took the jump to buy a 3 year old Honda. We still have the Honda, but for my regular car we lease. Here's why. Although we have had the Honda for 9 years and it is still worth something if we were to sell it, we have spent about $225 a month on that car for those 9 years. That includes the first five years of payments and then repairs since then, averaging our costs over the 9 years.

When we leased my car, our payment was $225 a month. At the end of the lease we purchased it and turned right around and sold it for $2000 more than the lease buyout. That brought our monthly expenses to $170. $55 a month cheaper than it has cost us for the Honda. We could sell the Honda now and probably bring the monthly cost down to something similar to the leased car, but that is the point - with the lease I always have a reliable, worry free car to drive.

Of course the longer I am able to hold on to that Honda, the lower the monthly expense COULD become (depending on cost of repairs on a car which is now 13 years old). The older you are, the less the chance of keeping a car for long enough to make purchasing more cost effective than leasing. (Unless you want to make sure you leave the value of a car to your heirs.)

Steve

 

[maxwell_smart007]

I'm the opposite. I hate throwing money away - so a lease to me is throwing money away and asking me to rebuy or renegotate after a few years - for only a few bucks less than buying.

At the end of buying, I have a car I can trade in, or sell,or keep, at my discretion - an the car is mine, free and clear - at the end of leasing I have nothing to show for it.

I'd buy once, get an extended warranty if you're so inclined, maintain the heck out of it, and not have to worry about cars again for a while....

That being said, I've still never bought a NEW car - so take that with a grain of salt! I'm a quality used sort of guy (and on a teacher's salary, with massive student loans)

 

[TonyL]

I can run the numbers for you ---but the numbers are only one factor in several to see if leasing is right for YOU.
PM your number to me if interested - too many factors to consider in a post - at least for mine limited mind.

 

[TellicoTurning]

In years past I only drove leased vehicles... during my first marriage (in California), we changed cars almost as often as I changed shirts... if it got dirty, the wife wanted a new one... back then cars were less expensive, and held their value better I think... nowadays, not so sure lease is a good option if the vehicle doesn't hold it's value. My last lease was a Ford Explorer and it was supposed to have a residual value at the end of the lease at 1/2 + of the original cost... it did not and we took a bath getting out of the lease. I wound up with a 1996 Toyota Avalon that is sitting with 290K miles on it and still running almost like new. At 73, I don't plan on taking on another auto payment any time soon.

I know that leases are somewhat different in Calif vs Texas where my last lease was... not sure how they will work here in TN, but not planning on looking into them either.

And to answer your question, I can't answer it as was said, there are a number of factors that will come into play and only you will know your circumstances.

 

[Smitty37]

Lease or Buy

I have gotten cars a number of ways....the first 4 cars I bought I paid Cash, then I did conventional financing on the next couple, in !988 I got my first lease 5 yr 60,000 miles turned it in at the end of the lease it was a peach of a car that didn't know what a repair was. Since then I have used 'smart buy' which is similar to a lease except at the end of the lease period there is a specified balloon payment due that you can buy for cash, finance, or you can walk away and owe nothing - mine have always had a residual value higher than the balloon so I bought usually for cash and came out well. I also leased for two years and turned it back in.

Anyway, you need to do the exact arithmetic in order to make a good decision. You also have to take into account the market at the time you buy. Try to buy when most others are not and you will find much better deals.

 

[Scotty]

The answer is simple for me......find a car, gently used or new, and buy it.

 

[tbroye]

This is more of an age related thing, how long am I going to be able to use one. and the cost of repairs to the two 10+year old vehicles we have. The Expedition is worth 2-4K depending on who you ask so the trade in value is almost 0. It is in good condition but will need a few things done to it. Shocks and Struts, and a full Brakes and possibly tire this year. It is a great vehicle to travel in big, quiet, fast and comfortable 300Hp and 5700 pounds. Gas mileage is not great but like I told friend for cost of new vehicle I can buy a lot of $4 gas. The Toyota Pick up is in good shape and it has good sale or trade in value. I think it is just a matter of wanting a new car after 13 and 11 years of the two cars but will probably keep them a while longer or until something Major happens they both have been really trouble free. The wife's Mini is a whole different animal full of quirks and a bad reputation for reliability. He particular year and model/engine are ok as far as I can find but I did made her buy the Mini extended service and warranty as there is no way for me to work on it. Every thing is electric, power steering throttle, oil pump. To change a belt remove Right front tire and inner fender panel. She loves it and it is a kick to drive, it even has changing mood lighting and is very expensive to get parts for and with current labor rates there are no $200 repairs. I spent $100 on a repair manual just so I can know where things are, my floor jack barely fits under it. The good thing is it's not the Turbo "S" model so the reliability is better. So for now I will keep Big Green.

 

[Whaler]

We just went through kind of the same thing. I will be turning 78 in May and my wife the same in June.
Our idea was to go from a 2 car to a 1 car family. We had a 2003 BMW 325i wagon and a 2007 VW Beetle convertible, the VW was to small to keep as an only car and the BMW was getting a little old. We decided to dump both of them and buy new as we feel like this will be the last car we purchase. Did our research and went shopping found one that we liked and got a heck of a deal on a 2015 Subaru XV Crosstrek. Only have about 300miles on it so far but love it.

 

[Smitty37]

You are an old codger ain't cha....I won't be 78 until December----thanks for making me feel young.

We just went through kind of the same thing. I will be turning 78 in May and my wife the same in June.
Our idea was to go from a 2 car to a 1 car family. We had a 2003 BMW 325i wagon and a 2007 VW Beetle convertible, the VW was to small to keep as an only car and the BMW was getting a little old. We decided to dump both of them and buy new as we feel like this will be the last car we purchase. Did our research and went shopping found one that we liked and got a heck of a deal on a 2015 Subaru XV Crosstrek. Only have about 300miles on it so far but love it.

 

[Carl Fisher]

At 145k, your Toyota should just be getting broken in!

I leased a car once and will never do so again. Just didn't see the benefit. It's just like the rent an apartment or buy a house argument. Do you want to pay towards something that will create equity and become a possession, or do you want to rent something with your hard earned money that you have no stake in after 3 years.

However I've also only ever bought 1 new car in my life. I'm perfectly happy buying used and letting someone else eat the immediate depreciation.

 

[tbroye]

It's still good needs a little TLC and Tires in fact both do. The both have been trouble free. I would probably get rid of the Expedition and just have the Mini and the truck. I would probably buy a CPO vehicle because of the warranty and service contract they have.