Rock Solid Advice....

[viper155]

....that I hope my kids never hear.

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/cars/T009-C004-S002-when-does-leasing-make-sense.html

This was my first time reading Kiplingers and the first sentence alone made me want to throw it in the garbage. How can you even write an article that accepts the premise of a car payment in perpetuity?

[viper155]

Sorry about the non-hyper-link......

[Grid]

Fixed.

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/cars/T009-C004-S002-when-does-leasing-make-sense.html

[TheMoneyBadger]

If you accept as a given that you'll always have a car payment then I suppose the premise of the article makes sense.  Of course for most of us here, the idea of having a car payment forever is so utterly ridiculous that comparing the relative benefits of a car payment vs. a lease payment in perpetuity is just crazy.  It just goes to show how a slightly different mindset is fundamentally game changing.

[Emilyngh]

Fixed.

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/cars/T009-C004-S002-when-does-leasing-make-sense.html

Ha-ha!   Next week: When burning your money makes sense- if you are going to flush your money down the toilet anyway, saving your plumbing by burning it instead might actually make sense.

[DollarBill]

Check this site out for a good laugh. People trying to get rid of their leased vehicles.
http://takemypayments.com/

You can drive a 2014 BMW X6 Series xDrive 50i for the low price of $1500 a month (15 month lease)=$22,500+$350 transfer fee.

[vern]

Ha-ha!   Next week: When burning your money makes sense- if you are going to flush your money down the toilet anyway, saving your plumbing by burning it instead might actually make sense.

Nice!

[Dicey]

Ha-ha!   Next week: When burning your money makes sense- if you are going to flush your money down the toilet anyway, saving your plumbing by burning it instead might actually make sense.

Nice!

+2!

[I'm a red panda]

I bought a car recently and the dealerships were really pushing leases. They seemed a bit sad that I wanted to buy a car. 

I paid cash, and the finance guy who did the final sale didn't seem to try to push for me to finance (though they did let me charge a small amount to my card, yay points!) had rate cards sitting on his desk. I was shocked to see a 72-month loan available. (I thought car loans were usually 36 months, with some people going 60?) and said so.  He told me there are 97!!! month loans available now, and some people use them.

Who in the world would finance a car for that long?   That might be the person who needs this "just lease" advise.

[Bob W]

I bought a car recently and the dealerships were really pushing leases. They seemed a bit sad that I wanted to buy a car. 

I paid cash, and the finance guy who did the final sale didn't seem to try to push for me to finance (though they did let me charge a small amount to my card, yay points!) had rate cards sitting on his desk. I was shocked to see a 72-month loan available. (I thought car loans were usually 36 months, with some people going 60?) and said so.  He told me there are 97!!! month loans available now, and some people use them.

Who in the world would finance a car for that long?   That might be the person who needs this "just lease" advise.

That's nothing!  I used to be a finance manager at an RV dealership.   Our typical loan at the time was around 14% interest over 20 years for a 20K trailer.   The monthly payments were something like $300.

I figured the average person used the unit for 8 nights the first year, 5 nights the second and by the third year they were why the hell are we spending $3,600 a year on an RV we never use?   

Ironically,  they could have rented a very nice Motorhome for about $150 per night but that just seemed too expensive to them?

Please remember that the average per night campsites still require renting at around$40-$60 per night. 

My wife wanted to buy a small pop up. 

[guitar_stitch]

That's nothing!  I used to be a finance manager at an RV dealership.   Our typical loan at the time was around 14% interest over 20 years for a 20K trailer.   The monthly payments were something like $300.

I figured the average person used the unit for 8 nights the first year, 5 nights the second and by the third year they were why the hell are we spending $3,600 a year on an RV we never use?   

Ironically,  they could have rented a very nice Motorhome for about $150 per night but that just seemed too expensive to them?

Please remember that the average per night campsites still require renting at around$40-$60 per night. 

My wife wanted to buy a small pop up.

Roughing it at its finest...  *smiles at his two person tent and camp stove, both received as gifts*

[NeonPegasus]

Leases make sense when you get a 2 yr lease on a LEAF and live in GA. I'm driving this sucker for free.  ;)

[UnleashHell]

My father has just leased a car. He knows what he's gettign into as he spend years selling and leasing cars before he retired. Plus the car they used for 5 years before this was inherited from my grandmother!
The lease was on a not quite new diesel in the uk in order to bring down the price and avoid tax on the car. Its for 2 years with an option to buy at the end (assuming more mile than he'll ever drive so he'll be getting a decent price on the car then).
he's also put me on the car insurance in case I need to drive it (and I lived 4,000 miles away - he likes to plan ahead!!).


Oh and even though he got a good deal on it he could have got a way nicer car - they have several rental properties that fund their retirement. The damn car spends more times at airports than it does their house!