For about $4,500 up front I could do a 36 month lease on a Buick Encore. No monthly payments. Paying it up front. Interesting. That is the Lease Hacker numbers from their calculator.

That is one of the cheaper leases I've run into if I could actually get it.

 

How about you take the new car, and give the kids the old one...I still don't believe in the kid gets a brand new car, maybe I'll change when my boy can drive (12 yrs. from now). I just think when they get everything brand new and given to them, they'll be like the kid in the commercial who doesn't know what a lug wrench is and doesn't care....

 

I hear you. I can see the kid driving a Buick Encore. I can't see her driving an LS 430. Well I can, but she can't drive a "grandpa car". Ha ha.

Plus, I don't want to drive a Buick Encore. I like my LS too much. I will keep looking and find a good used car. The oldest I found a 2007 ES 350 with 65k miles (78k now) for $9,900. A bit more than I wanted to spend, but a 1 owner beauty with a $2,500 stereo upgrade. She has done great with it so far for the past 2+ years.

 

It is a pretty amazing lease deal, and the Buick Encore is actually a very nice little SUV. I'm like you, and wouldn't want to swap my LS460 for an Encore, but for a teenager, it would be heavenly.

You have to ask yourself how much it would realistically cost to own an older $9000 used car for 3 years so you can compare. I can imagine all sorts of scenarios with a cheap used car that would end up costing way more than $1500 per year. When you factor in likely repairs, replacing worn out brakes, tires, etc., paying interest on your loan (or opportunity costs on the $9K you'd have to pony up to buy the car), worrying about your daughter driving alone at night in an unreliable old car, etc., I think the cheap lease wins out almost every time...

 

Don't do it. Read my username. I made a mistake once and hope you don't do it.

I recently bought a car for my kid. A V6 Hyundai sonata with 65k miles which would have been under 100K warranty. For $6k, it runs great, and hopefully he won't be stranded on side of the road. He likes LS430 but at the time he didn't want it. Now he says his Hyundai is not as quiet. lol.

 

I did extensive research on the 7 series and the consensus is to run not walk away from the 745. The 750 doesn't get much better but it is better.

 

You make truly excellent points! Add those costs to likely depreciation of any used car over 3 years and the Encore becomes cheaper for sure. Of course, increased insurance costs will offset that a bit.

 

2008 Camry 120 k miles prolly 6500 bucks

 

Pretty sure it's hard to raise kids nowadays from all the info I'm getting, I dunno what happened, within the last 2-3 wks my 4 y.o. is using the iPad, unlocking it by himself, searching YouTubes. NOT GOOD and it happened out of nowhere. I had him on ice skates at 1 1/2 y.o., but you know how it goes, you can lead a horse to water....(every parent thinks their kid is so headed to the NHL and a Yale scholarship)

With BMWs, 2 things are the equalizer or offset'er. DIY, and indies who install customer parts. Actually that is no different with Japanese cars like Lexus, but it's more critical with BMW. Once you can DIY, it's just crazy how much one saves on parts due to how plentiful and competitive the market is. But in my travels, an inline 6 is the way to go. I need a walnut blast now and I just think I can't DIY it. Such a service was $1,100 at BMW back in the late 2000's. Today? And indie will do it for $350.

I think we are very fortunate that our 3UZs are PFI and not DI (didn't this change in '07?), maybe the last of the set it and forget it motors! Just because my buddy researched it for maybe 4 mos., I may draw upon his experience and if I had to, buy a diminutive used maybe CPO Japanese car. And if the kid doesn't like and feels ashamed of being seen in it like the Versa my buddy bought, good! Just because I did, doesn't mean you should drive at 16! haha

 

And how many of us had our parents buy us cars? Yet, here we are buying cars for our kids? I'm guilty, I admit it. My parents couldn't afford to buy me a car. I could afford to buy my kids a car and did as it made life much more convenient for me and them when they could haul themselves to school and practices.
Times have indeed changed. I started my daughter on a Honda Accord that served her well, and my son got the 95 Avalon that was passed down to him. The Avalon has since been passed on but still rolling through the streets of DFW with over 270k miles on it.
I have not done math on the new rates, but I found years ago, that the $4k cars and liability only on all cars was the cheaper way to go. My kids have been on their own for awhile.
As far as the BMW... never appealed to me and I'm just a Toyota/Lexus guy.

 

I inherited my grandpa's 1972 Dodge after he passed away. That was my first car. Rust and mechanical issues took it two years later and my parents helped me buy a $1,500 car. Buick Skylark, manual transmission.

Many edges to buying kids a car. I want them to learn how to drive and be good, defensive drivers. The best way is through learning and experience. I want the car to be safe. Side curtain airbags is on my "really want to have" list. However, I'm not going to get a brand new car just for auto-braking or lane departure. The car for a teen driver helps us too. Driving to soccer practice, cross country, track, student council, etc. These things take a toll on parents shuttling back and forth.

I am getting a lease quote on the Buick Encore. I highly, highly doubt I will do it. I'm not a lease fan in general. Higher insurance costs would likely diminish the deal. It is interesting thinking about a price point where it could make sense to not own a car. If a person could lease for $130/month and do the same thing after 36 months, that might be tempting. Subscription car services are getting some buzz, but the prices are $600/month and up. Not much of a deal at that price point.

I am hoping this 05 Lexus ES 330 with 76k works out. I will see that early next week. Good combination of features and comfort. The 07 ES 350 we have is a good car. Not quite up to the LS standards, but FWD and a nice riding car.

 

OK. Heard back from the Buick dealer on the lease. This is why I hate car shopping.

2018 Buick Encore. $21k price after all discounts.

39 month lease with 10k miles/year. $0 down only $289/month. $2,000 down only $241 per month. What the sam heck?

Where is my $135/month with $0 down? Is it my state? Are they just taking me for a ride? Is the $135/month lease just a teaser rate and you can't really get close to that? Not even close. Which is exactly what I expected.

This is why I stick to my early 2000 Lexus cars. I'm going to be that 75 year old driving a 40 year old car. :-)

 

What's selling price listed of the car for the cheap lease deal? Is it for the bare bones zero options base model? Even then that base it on MSRP and you can do even better by negotiating the price.

Too many of those ads have the fine print which states crazy down payment which first off you shouldn't do on a lease.

 

I'm off the lease train. If I could pay $4,500 up front for 36 months and have no payments (Lease Hacker calculator) that would be interesting.

This is the Encore I had them run the numbers on.

https://www.lutherfamilybuickgmc.com...-ND/3165578293

Would you rather:

2005 Lexus ES 330, 6 cyl, 76k miles $7,000 (timing belt not done, it is due)
2010 Toyota Camry, 4 cyl, 114k miles $7,000

With a kid driving ~3,000 miles/year or maybe less, I still like the Lexus even if 5 years older. I would do the timing belt/water pump/tensioner after the purchase.

Both cars are in very good condition. Not junk.

 

Going way back to when I was shopping for a 1998 Nissan Maxima. The newspaper would have 1998 Maximas, $16,995 (mine had a list of $29,400, so that sounded really cheap). My buddy and I go to check it out. I asked the salesperson, can I buy this car in the ad? He says of course you can, I can't advertise something I don't have (the ad has the VIN). I say great, then what's the catch? He says, well, the catch is I don't have it here at the dealership. It's in the warehouse. So it will take maybe 3 hours to get it over here, but we won't do that until you sign all the paperwork. I say well how come it's so cheap? He says that cheap price is to get you into the dealership. First of all, it's a 5-spd, 95% of the people coming in don't want it. Also, it has no ABS, and it has a fixed mast antenna. Like I said, the ad is to get you in here, and sell you something more expensive. Hmmmm....flash forward 3 years, I saw the same when my bro was looking for a Hyundai Elantra. The newspaper said $8,995? lol in 2001 brand new (didn't Dale Carnegie teach this as bait and switch)