Buy a car ... lease a car (auto, prices, Lexus, repair)

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by skeddy

The Port of Baltimore is the largest car shipping port on the East Coast. It's now closed due to the bridge collapse. I'd be concerned about availability of cars to buy or lease on the East Coast.

Ehhh.......

Porsche drops cars there then continues south to Jacksonville. I'd bet they just drop everything in JAX and ship the NE stuff back on trucks/train.

[Dave 92 LSC]

It also depends on an individual. I take train to work. My cars are mostly for fun, light chores and road trips. I put 3-4K miles on my old MB convertible and 7-8k miles on my older S class. I hate monthly payments and aside from mortgage I have no other payments, not even CC. I like to save and have money in the bank. Financing a car that’s losing value every month plus feeding a bank at 7% for 3-6 years is just lunacy to me.
As a car nut, I much rather have a 4-5 year old S class than a new honda accord or similar.
A lot of people lease for image. For them a car is just a mode of transport from A to B. Not for me. I much rather have a 4-5 year old $120k car than a new 50k car. But that’s just me. I love complexity and engineering that goes into it.

I think mainstream consumerism has a big hand in today’s trend. People are programmed to get new things as often as possible instead of saving as hard as they can and say paying off mortgage as soon as possible, retirement , extra properties, kids future funds.

I am fanatical about getting the mintest older car, I research the cars history, maintenance and past owners.
We did lease a Honda accord once for my wife, it was dull but reliable. Nice that was. Done we got a 5 year old Lexus RX 350 that we enjoy a lot more and took it all over country, road trip after road trip plus daily trips to and from work. Zero payments, repairs. Just regular maintenance. Our kid will probably have it once she starts driving in 6 years.

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by rabbit33

Thing is, people come on these threads wanting monetary advice about leasing vs. buying etc., and then always comes the line "well, some people have lots of money and just want to spend it that way". Well, the people who have FU money and don't care, they're going to have a new car every 3 years - they're not asking for financial advice about which is better to do, how to get the very best deal on a bad deal, etc.

If you come on a thread asking how to save money when leasing a car every 3 years, I'm going to tell you to check your premises. As I said above, it's like saying "I plan to whack my thumb with a hammer as hard as I can every month for the next 40 years; should I use a 16 oz. ball pein or a 16 oz. claw hammer?"

You're the one who needs to check his premise. Whenever a lease vs purchase thread is created here, the most nonsensical responses are from those those who state you should just buy a used car and keep it for 150k miles and 10-15 years. And the reason those are nonsensical replies is because those people who keep their cars forever aren't in the subset of the population for whom lease vs buy is even a consideration. (And the second most idiotic type of posts are from those who state that leasing isn't for them because they drive 15k-25k miles a year. Well, no you-know-what, Sherlock. Again, that's the type of person who would never ever be interested or concerned with a lease vs purchase scenario.)

Lease vs purchase is only relevant to those individuals who drive an average or below average number of miles/year and who normally purchase new cars and routinely trade them in every 3-4 years. For such people, there could very well be a significant financial advantage to leasing vs purchasing (or even vice-versa).

If you're not one of the people for whom leasing vs purchasing is a relevant consideration, then perhaps you should move on along to another thread where your input might be more appropriate.

[rabbit33]

Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda

You're the one who needs to check his premise. Whenever a lease vs purchase thread is created here, the most nonsensical responses are from those those who state you should just buy a used car and keep it for 150k miles and 10-15 years. And the reason those are nonsensical replies is because those people who keep their cars forever aren't in the subset of the population for whom lease vs buy is even a consideration. (And the second most idiotic type of posts are from those who state that leasing isn't for them because they drive 15k-25k miles a year. Well, no you-know-what, Sherlock. Again, that's the type of person who would never ever be interested or concerned with a lease vs purchase scenario.)

Lease vs purchase is only relevant to those individuals who drive an average or below average number of miles/year and who normally purchase new cars and routinely trade them in every 3-4 years. For such people, there could very well be a significant financial advantage to leasing vs purchasing (or even vice-versa).

If you're not one of the people for whom leasing vs purchasing is a relevant consideration, then perhaps you should move on along to another thread where your input might be more appropriate.

You don't know the meaning of the phrase "check your premises".

The premise that needs checking is the one about "those individuals who drive an average or below average number of miles/year and who normally purchase new cars and routinely trade them in every 3-4 years" - the premise that this behavior is fixed and can't be changed. Now of course if someone WANTS to spend their money that way, it's a free (ish) country and they are certainly permitted to do so, but trying to optimize the economics of doing so is trying to optimize an economic choice that's demonstrably sub-optimal (one might even say, "pessimal".)

And telling me to "move along to another thread" is kind of the very best way to ensure I'll do the exact opposite.

[skeddy]

Originally Posted by City Guy997S

Ehhh.......

Porsche drops cars there then continues south to Jacksonville. I'd bet they just drop everything in JAX and ship the NE stuff back on trucks/train.

maybe Porsche, otherwise you bet wrong. Thousands of cars unloaded there you can see acres and acres of them from the highway.

Baltimore ranks first among US ports for autos and light trucks, handling a record 850,000 vehicles last year.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/busin...ses/index.html

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by rabbit33

And telling me to "move along to another thread" is kind of the very best way to ensure I'll do the exact opposite.

I didn't tell you to do anything. Try reading what I wrote again.

If you want to stay here and waste your time writing irrelevant nonsense that has absolutely nothing to do with the specific issue at hand, by all means, post to your heart's content.

I, on the other hand, have much better things to do with my time than sit here and argue with you. But since I know you can't help yourself anyway, feel free to have the last word on this matter. I made my point and now I'm out of here.

[burr]

I am thinking seriously about leasing instead of buying. We have always paid cash for 'new' used, and kept the vehicle 10 years or so, putting few miles with proper maintenance.
We are now retired, close to 70yo. The 2010CRV has 72K, we've owned 12 yrs, and it will need a few things done soon.
It's time and since last purchase, prices have gone ridiculous, especially 'new' used. It seems leasing a vehicle that one chooses or prefers over perhaps settling on a pre-owned makes sense, both personally and financially. After 3 yrs, trade it in for another. Does this not compare to 3 yrs cash investment of a purchase ?

[rabbit33]

Originally Posted by burr

I am thinking seriously about leasing instead of buying. We have always paid cash for 'new' used, and kept the vehicle 10 years or so, putting few miles with proper maintenance.
We are now retired, close to 70yo. The 2010CRV has 72K, we've owned 12 yrs, and it will need a few things done soon.
It's time and since last purchase, prices have gone ridiculous, especially 'new' used. It seems leasing a vehicle that one chooses or prefers over perhaps settling on a pre-owned makes sense, both personally and financially. After 3 yrs, trade it in for another. Does this not compare to 3 yrs cash investment of a purchase ?

See above comments.

If you drive 6000 miles a year you don't need to replace a car every 3 years. You should be able to keep cars 20 years at a stretch. If you drive enough to put say 120,000 miles on a car in 3 years (instead of the 18,000 you indicate would be more probable) then you'll grossly exceed the mileage limits on a lease.

There's no way leasing can be better than buying on a purely financial basis - the leasing company has to make a profit that you as an individual owner don't.

Businesses often (almost always) lease their vehicles, but that's for tax reasons and to limit fixed costs associated with depreciating assets. Again, for an individual owner that's not applicable as your vehicle costs are not part of doing business (Unless, of course, you ARE a business owner, but you didn't indicate this).

Now, if you have a strong desire to drive for just a few years a car you can't really afford, leasing can offer a way to do that without too much damage, so for non-financial reasons it might be a choice you would consider.

[MKTwet]

Lease makes sense if you like a new car every 2-3 yrs, get the newest features, maintenance and work covered. High end and luxury cars makes a lot of sense with a good lease you don't ever need to worry about depreciation and expensive repair bill.

Purchase makes sense if you plan on keeping for more than 5 yrs and it's not a luxury brand and you intend to daily drive it for more than 15k miles a year.

[burr]

Originally Posted by rabbit33

See above comments.

Now, if you have a strong desire to drive for just a few years a car you can't really afford, leasing can offer a way to do that without too much damage, so for non-financial reasons it might be a choice you would consider.

As I stated, vehicle prices have gone thru the roof and was wondering about exactly this angle. Instead of buying a 40K or 45K previously owned (Lexus450 or ToyHighlander or four runner), lease a new one. Three years, do it again. Looking at it, it may not be as I had thought, investment could be 15K-18K for three yr lease, or more. I'm really asking just to see if it would be an viable option.