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We are moving to Princeton, and this will be our first time in USA.
My husband is going to work in Princeton University for at least 1, at most 2 years.
I think, we are going to need a car wherever we rent a house.
So, in your opinion, which one is rational?
Buying a second-hand car from a dealer, or renting a car for long-term? (ex, for 1 year)
Thanks BobKovacs.
You are true.
But bying a second-hand car has a lot of details, it is hard to trust the seller. Plus, we are not from USA, we don,t know the tips of buying a 2nd hand car..
Car dealers in the US lease cars in addition to selling them. They are brand new cars, just like you're buying a new one. The only difference is that you do not own it (although some lease to own, too). Typically, you have to put some money down when you sign the contract--kind of like paying first/last/security when you rent an apartment, and then you pay a monthly rate for the term of the lease. You can lease new economy cars for less than $200 per month. I don't know what the lowest rate is--maybe even below $150 per month for some cars. You typically need to pay $1000 or so when you sign the contract.
That is different than renting a car from a place that calls itself "car rental". That would be ridiculously expensive--you'd spend more in a couple years than you would to buy a nice new car.
So there are THREE options in your situation, not two. (1) Renting a car from a car rental place--way too expensive, (2) Buying a used car--which has a number of risks that you might not want to take, plus you might have the hassle of having to get rid of it in a year or two, and (3) LEASING a new car from a dealer, which I think is the best option for your situation. You can think of those three options as being akin to (1) living in a hotel--which would also be ridiculously expensive--the idea with them is that people need them very short term--usually a week at most, so they're priced accordingly, (2) Buying a used house or condo, etc., and (3) renting an apartment or house long term (years or months, not weeks).
Some dealers might also lease used cars even more cheaply, by the way. I just don't know what the market is like, because I've never leased a car myself. I generally buy vehicles and keep them for a long time (I"ve only owned a few and I'm middle-aged). I've only sold cars when they've become too expensive to keep, because they are starting to have regular mechanical problems, etc.
Last edited by TheLuckoftheDraw; 09-24-2010 at 06:02 AM..
also, how much are you looking to spend on a used car? i have a 5 year old car that's very well kept. not definitely considering selling it, but am mildly considering it. i'm not trying to tell you to buy my car, the point is, there's a lot of people like me around that have a 1-owner car and may be selling. It's tough to find these people though, so if you need the car when you get here, i'd either lease, or get recommendations on here from people who have had good experiences at dealerships in the area you're buying in.
if you know you're going to need to get rid of the car in 1-2 years, leasing sounds like the best option. there's also ways to take over someone else's lease (saves you a lot of the upfront costs by taking advantage of someone else needing to get out for whatever reasons they have). there's a website for this, but i can't recall it off the top of my head.
Keep in mind coming from outside the US you are going to have major difficulties if you are not buying in cash. I'm not sure how that works for leases.
I would think your best bet would be to buy a cheaper used car for cash.
In the USA there are thousands aand thousands of used vehicles for sale, both from dealers and from individuals. Two other things to consider, you will need a NJ drivers license if you register a car to your name and you will need insurance.
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