Don't forget insurance and registration on that second vehicle. And never even consult your insurance company over minor damage. They might pay for it up front, but then they crank up your rates to cover it, plus you have a claim in your history when you try to shop for other insurance. Not usually better than paying OOP. There are literally millions of used cars out there. Unless you can get out of your lease early at no extra cost, I'd wait until about 60 days out. The pain of waiting will keep you from ever leasing a car again.
Yeah good call on the insurance. And the advice to endure the torment to learn a lesson!
The only reason I'm considering looking so early is because I bought a used vehicle a couple of years ago (a motorhome — don't worry, already sold and learned that lesson!). The process of searching for that thing was a nightmare.
When my Jeep Wrangler of 14 years finally had a rusted frame right after buying the RV, I was so fed up with used vehicles that it played a factor in the leased car choice.
Have to say in hindsight that both the RV and the lease were the best choices I could have made — both forced me to finally examine my finances and educate myself on investing. It got me to the MMM blog, and got my focus straightened out. I also took some trips and other new adventures that I might have not done without a reliable car. But yeah, lesson learned, time to break those chains!
Reading over this post, I sound like the poster boy for MMM — Jeep Wrangler (plus I used to commute 45 mins 3 days a week for a crap-paying job in that thing), motorhome, leased car! And now I'm biking all through Ohio winters for all local trips.