It's also good for a tax write off in some cases

 

lol i don't even know how to think about this statement, except that it's beyond stupid.

when i leased my m3, i could have even paid cash for the car if i wanted. but why would i do that? i never plan to keep the car for long (some of us actually plan for kids), lease is perfect for business write off (some of us actually have businesses), and i don't have to pay tax on portion of the car that i don't own (some of us actually know how to save money )

fwiw, i also know plenty of people, well into 7 digits worth (if not more), but they lease all the time, because they enjoy changing to new cars every 2-3 yrs.

of course, there are people who lease because that's the way to stretch what they can really afford. but it's nothing different from those who find ways to finance a car for a stupid 72 months.

all i am trying to say is people lease / finance for different reasons, and the reasons or situations behind could be very different. just to generalize lease the way you are, you kind of just make yourself look silly. not very different from those who say lexus are boring

 

thanks, stupid is relative like you believing someone is leasing, and they have well over 7 digits, I have met and worked with people who had net worths of over 7 digits and a year later had nothing, why was that cause that figure was fake, people who lease and rent don't have money they only look like it

 

Actually not true. Are there people who lease to get into a car they can't afford? Absolutely. Are there advantages to leasing for people who can still afford it? Absolutely. My gf is a licensed veterinarian and makes a very comfortable living on her own. Could she have purchased the car? Absolutely. She prefers to get into a new car every few years and not worry about maintenance, selling the car, trading in, and such. So for her to lease is much more about convenience. I like to purchase cars because I intend to keep them long term. I enjoy doing the maintenance on the cars on my own but I can understand that could be a major inconvenience for many others. In the future I plan on doing all the maintenance on her cars and maybe she will decide to own instead of lease. But if she continues to like having a new car every few years, we will continue leasing. Making a generalization that every one who leases is just getting into a car they can't afford is just a ridiculous statement. I agree with the above that financing a car for 72+ months is just as financially irresponsible. And in actuality, so does a 30 year home mortgage. But many people do it. Sometimes renting makes much more sense.

I'm the last person who would advocate for leases. I buy only what I can afford and purchase everything cash, this includes all my cars and my condo to boot. But if I preferred to move to a different city every several years or so, renting makes much more sense.

M and AMG owners that I know tend to lease because those cars don't tend to be the most reliable of vehicles. And in my opinion, leasing those cars is probably the smart way to go! LOL. Main reason I chose to purchase the S550 and not an AMG. Oh and my colleagues who own those cars can most definitely afford to purchase those cars without financing.

Think before making generalizations. We all know the adage about making assumptions... (***-u-me)

 

Looks like everything worked out. Glad to hear for the posters GF. In my opinion I'm with VENOM. Never lease. Especially non-luxury cars! Pay with cash, buy used with a large down payment or leave it be. A Hyundai Tucson GLS Auto AWD 270 a month! Wow! Man a couple months of saving and she could of had a nice down payment on a certified used RDX or something comparable. Again my opinion. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

 

I agree. Again I'm not a pro-lease individual but if you want a new car (she doesn't like used cars... Go figure) and like having a new car every few years then it's an option. But again I'm no fan of 72 or even 60 month financing plans either. Her choice but I can see that it suits her. She is financially well off enough that she can pay for convenience. Some people can't. No lesson to learn.

 

apparently you just don't get it, which i am not surprised at all. never said all lease are great, but at the same time i don't think one can say lease is for sure bad

 

I do get it and at this point it's coming up on finals, and I don't have the time to continue to say **** to stir the pot anymore, I have other things to concentrate on

I understand everyone leases for different reasons, it has pros and cons

 

After reading your other posts about leasing I'm not even going to try. There are numerous positives to leasing, and can even be cheaper than purchasing a car in certain scenarios. It's pretty obvious no one is going to sway you, but that is like most people: they are always told leasing is a bad idea and never do it, without ever actually knowing anything about it. While you want to provide numerous stories of "riches to rags" of people that leased, I can show you 1000x more of people that purchased out of their means and went bankrupt.

 

Both buying and leasing have their own advantage & disadvatage:

Buying:
- best saving if you plan to keep the car 5+ years, big hit if sell within 3 years
- no mileage limitation or plenty
- 100% yours, no need for full insurance coverage
- don't have to stuck in a contract
- alot of maintance when it start to aging (normally start after 5 year)
- in tough time, you can sell it for extra cash

Leasing:
- new car every 2~3 year
- cheap maintance cost, (most car don't break down within 3 years)
- you already taking the big hit from the monthly payment, but no need to sell it
- low or 0 down payment, (good for those don't have saving)
- mileage limitation or plenty
- in tough time, it bring more harm then good

Nor did I like the above so I buy "USED"

Used:
- someone took the big price hit
- sell it whenever you want and no big hit, sometime you make profit
- no contract at all
- cons: need time & works to maintance
- more affordable and more choice
- you pay only fraction of the original price (I paid $12,000 for the 2005 G35x ($35K) in 2/2009 and sold it for $11,200 on 5/2010)

 

Keep in mind you can also lease used vehicles, albeit I wouldn't if the contract expires before the vehicle warranty will expire.

There is no maintenance on newly leased cars (aside from wear-and-tear brakes and tires), which there is no way to ignore that unless you stop driving altogether (purchased or leased).

 

My brother has always leased his cars because he trades his car in every two years, and he uses them as a business write off. The only cars that he has purhased have been his G55, and his exotic cars.

Everyone I know leases cars and they all make easily over $250k minimum.

 

Most of my remarks were my own personal opinions, and what I have seen of lease returns, leasing is an option and I leased several cars, I just feel I wasted money when I could have been saving and investing, currently I can't pay my cars off fast enough, my last car was leased and of the 500 dollar payment less then 100 bucks went towards the car, everything else was some percentage of a bank fee, ridiculous when you actually realize what is going on

 

with regards to taxes, I have heard of people buying expensive cars to push them into a lower tax bracket, pretty interesting that you can spend 100k on a car and suddenly pay less tax

 

In the past (pre-recession), if your choice was to buy or lease a new luxury car every 2-3 years, you kept your cars in good repair, and you didn't exceed mileage limits, it generally cost less to lease:

- Financing incentives were generally higher on leases. Auto companies and their financing arms wanted predictable possible repeat business.

- Residual values in the lease calculations were generally very optimistic (high) compared to trade in or private party sale prices of the same car.

- In our state, the 6% sales tax on a new car is calculated on the full sale price of the car with no allowance for trade-in. The 6% use tax on leases is based on your monthly payment. Even though the lease use tax includes interest in the calculation, the total tax paid on a lease is far less than a purchase.

Since the recession, the difference in monthly payments between buying and leasing have become much smaller. Some folks really like the convenience and predictability of leasing. They want to drive and enjoy new cars while not having to deal with selling or trading their old car.