My son bought an 06 BMW 325i like this one (one owner) yesterday. 90,000 miles on it. Traded in his SUV gas hog. 2 yr. warranty. He brought it over last night. Drives like a dream. Leather and all the goodies. Amazing machine.
Posted on 05/31/2012 8:19:42 AM PDT by Kaslin
Dear Carrie: I've been out of school for just under a year and have a nice steady job. I need a new car, but I don't know if I should buy or lease. I'm earning a decent income, but I don't have much saved. Your advice, please? --A Reader
Dear Reader: This is a good question for someone in your situation -- or for anyone looking to buy a car. And actually there are three car-buying choices: buy outright, buy over time or lease. Buying a quality used car outright and driving it for many years is probably the most cost effective over the long run. However, the need for a large amount of cash upfront makes that impractical for many people.
The problem with leasing or buying over time is that you end up financing (that is, paying interest on) a depreciating asset. That said, these two options do give you the chance to get on the road with less of an initial financial commitment. However, there's more to consider than your cash outlay when deciding whether buying or leasing is the better choice.
WHEN A LEASE MAKES SENSE
The biggest advantage to leasing a car is that it will initially cost you less. There are plenty of low- and no-down-payment deals out there. On top of that, monthly payments are usually lower than if you financed the same car. That's because lease payments aren't based on the value of the car, but rather on the depreciation of the car over the time of the lease. So leasing a lower cost car could be quite economical, especially in the short run.
For this reason, a lease might make sense if you think you'll be in a better position to buy in a couple of years. Most leases are for two to four years. At the end of the lease, you simply turn the car back in and either purchase or lease a different one. (This also makes leasing attractive for people who know that they will want a new car every few years.) One caveat is that the car must be kept in excellent condition or you may pay a penalty.
If you use your car for business, there's another plus. You may be able to write most of your lease payments off your taxes.
THE FLIPSIDE
While all this sounds good so far, there are some disadvantages that you should consider. First, leasing is kind of like paying rent. At the end of the lease, you don't own anything. Beyond that, leases are restrictive. There is a mileage limitation, usually 12,000-15,000 miles per year. Drive more and you'll have to pay extra at the end of the lease. Also, you're pretty much locked into the time frame. If your life circumstances change, it can be very costly to get out of a lease early. (On the other hand, though, you will likely be able to extend your lease if you want to keep the car longer.)
Another possible issue is insurance. Should your car get totaled or stolen, the insurance company will only pay the value of the car at the time, not what's left on your lease. Many lease agreements offer gap insurance to cover such a situation, but if not, you could come up short.
WHAT ABOUT BUYING OVER TIME?
If you think you want to keep your car longer term or if you're uncomfortable with the restrictions of a lease, buying over time is another viable option. In today's car buying environment, it's possible to finance a purchase with nothing down and zero percent financing for a certain time period. This could make the initial purchase easier on your checkbook. But be aware that with these types of offers, the dealer often compensates for upfront savings with longer loan terms. The plus side is that when the loan is paid off, you'll own your car.
WEIGHING YOUR CHOICES
From a purely economical standpoint, it probably makes the most sense to buy a good used car -- preferably one still on warranty with very low mileage -- and keep it for several years. That way you get the pleasure of driving a fairly new car without financing the depreciation that happens as soon as you drive it off the lot. Plus, you'll have something to show for your money.
If you choose to lease, be sure to work with a reputable automobile dealer or leasing company. Read the lease agreement carefully. Find out if it offers gap insurance, what the charge is if you go over the mileage limit, and what the terms are should you decide to buy at the end of the lease.
There's no right or wrong choice. It depends on your current cash situation plus what you want from a car both now and in the future. Before you start shopping, I'd suggest running different scenarios on an online buy vs. lease calculator to compare both upfront and long-term costs. Seeing the actual numbers might be the ultimate deciding factor.
I’m pretty sure that every tire manufacture and retailer will require to purchase the wheels. /sarc
Repair costs?
Just about every car these days has one or more enthusiast forums.
If you spend a little time there, it’s pretty easy to find the common things that are likely to go wrong or have gone wrong with a model you’re considering. There’s always someone who puts a bunch of mileage or abuse on a car and they get to be first to discover the shortcomings.
Plus, a lot of times, the OEMs quietly fix things and don’t make big announcements about them. Word gets around quickly on the enthusiast boards, along manufacturer service bulletins, and recalls.
With that info in hand, applied to a low-mileage used model, you can make a pretty good guestimate of what’s likely to go wrong, and how much it will cost to fix it. Every car is just a machine, some parts are going to wear out or break sooner than others. It’s just a matter of finding out which ones for that model are the likliest and then determining what the downstream costs will be (if it hasn’t been taken care of already). On a lot of vehicles, some troublesome parts get revised and replaced as people complain to the dealer, but the manufacturer doesn’t necessarily broadcast that they’ll fix it unless it becomes a safety issue.
Expensive parts can be a negotiating tool if you buy from a dealer, maybe to get them to pre-emptively replace a likely future failure part for less than it would cost you later in order to get the sale. This works especially well if there’s a manufacturer service bulletin that you can reference. Or if you’re considering buying a used car warranty, knowing what your costs will be can help you evaluate it better.
With things that commonly break, the aftermarket usually steps in pretty quickly too if you wait a few years until the problem surfaces.
Democrats lease, Republicans own. If someone is a Democrat they are better off wrecking someone else’s property.
My system is to buy a high mileage 2-3 year old car and run it till it dies. I’ve been doing that for over 25 years and have never had a lemon. We’ve never sold a car for over $1,000.
My current car is a 2006 Pontiac Vibe. I bought it in late 2009 with 142,000 miles. I’ll be passing 200,000 next week. Beside gas and oil changes, a set of front brakes is all I’ve done to it.
Buying new is a good idea if you wait until late summer when dealers are desperate to sell them because they want to make room for next year's model. The benefit over used cars is that you'll likely get 2-3 years with very little maintenance whereas a used car has already gone through that period, as a generality.
In this girl's situation and in the current economy, I would suggest buying used on time (you still want to build credit) in payments that ought to be easily affordable. It should never be a sizable chunk of your monthly income or it is too much.
What’s with the need for a down payment, balloon payments, or costs over normal wear and tear?
Yes, I’m self-employed, but I’ve leased three cars without ever having to pay any of those.
My son bought an 06 BMW 325i like this one (one owner) yesterday. 90,000 miles on it. Traded in his SUV gas hog. 2 yr. warranty. He brought it over last night. Drives like a dream. Leather and all the goodies. Amazing machine.
Buy a two or three year old used car that someone turned in as a lease. Do not buy a used rental car.
Do a little research on Consumer Reports/Edmunds/KBB regarding the best used cars in your price range.
Then drive it until it starts costing you too much in repairs to maintain. This is usually between 100-150K miles depending on the automaker.
Leasing cars is only for businesses that need to have a new car and can right off the business expense on their taxes.
That way, you don't have to worry about mileage, as long as you consider what the residual value of the car will be after you finish using it, knowing how much mileage you'll put on it.
You then only have to pay interest on the value of the car less the residual.
After the lease expires, you can either buy the car for the residual value or sell it for that and give it to the bank.
Your payments will be about half of what a dealership will charge to lease the car to you.
Last car I bought was a two year old Certified Used car.
It had 21k miles on it and was literally immaculate. It was a lease turn-in, so the previous owner took care of it to avoid penalties. Paid just over 20K for it (2K under high book). New, it cost around 30K.
Bumper to bumper warranty to 86k miles (3 year, 36K factory, 5 year /50K Certified Used warranty). At about 25K miles, had a breather valve go bad and made a whistling sound when driving, but otherwise safe to drive. Even though I bought it out of state, the dealer sent out a flatbed and had the car towed it to the local dealer, where the breather was replaced for free.
They’ll even come out and change a tire if I get a flat.
For value and peace of mind, it has been the best car purchase I’ve ever made.
Depending on where you are, there aren't a whole lot of car dealers who will make that "certified" deal with the customer. The only one I know of out here are the Mercedes dealerships and you are looking at increased insurance costs IF you manage to find a deal you like.
For a young person starting out, an economy car will still cost less than that $20,000 price you paid and give him a warranty that lasts at least 3 years and sometimes longer depending on the manufacturer. That, along with lower payments, lower gas costs, and less breakdown time make it a better deal for most young people. We have a relative who owned a used car lot and said the same as you. We owned at least 3 used cars and two of them made us crazy.
After the last one, I only have bought new cars and have been happy I have. Especially when something went wrong.
Thanks for posting. I am going through this now. My wife totaled her 97 Civic. It was like new inside and out. Havent had collision insurance on it for 6 years so after her accident we just parted the car out.
I drive a 98 Explorer with 160K on it but it is seems to be reliable. So have been looking for a car for her. She drives less than 5K miles a year. She didnt even have to get emissions test. I am disabled and on SS and she is retired.
Been looking at all the options and I did find something interesting. Leasetrader.com. Doin’ my research on it now. I cant make a mistake. We are on very limited income although it is reliable. Looks like another alternative.
You’re lucky. I was between careers for a couple of years and worked for a dealership in the leasing department. Those are standard practice.
This reminded me of the Web site, http://www.automanagement.com/
Depending on your circumstance, this could be an option.
CA....
that's my motto- I rarely give up a car until it has over 200k on it and that's usually either due to it rusted apart or a deer or welfare deadbeat hit me. Even then, if it's safely driveable, I'm doing it.
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