We got suckered into a lease and I would never do it again. We looked for the truck we wanted in the used listings for more than a year and couldn't find one. So we decided we would buy new--end of season sale, almost 0% financing. Knew this would be the truck we would drive until it dies--hopefully 15-20 years. Took a deep breath.
When we talked to the dealership, they told us that the overall price would be exactly the same for a lease or a purchase, the only difference was with the lease the monthly payments were lower, because they were taking the chance that when the lease was up, most people would want to either re-finance the buyout cost, or exchange the vehicle for a new lease. Either way, the dealer liked the lease option because it created an ongoing customer.
We decided that the lease was the way to go. It kept our payments lower, our options open, and we saved up the money for the buyout so we would be ready when the time came. As it happens, that did end up being useful, as that savings pot became an emergency fund when a health crisis hit during the 5 year term. We borrowed from ourselves and paid ourselves back.
Anyway, this past month, we were ready to close the deal and buyout the truck. That's when we realized we had been suckered. There are WAY more closing costs for shutting down the lease than simply financing a purchase until the vehicle's paid off. Tons of bullsh*t extra fees, and a HUGE amount of hassle: the dealer still technically owns the vehicle when you lease (obvs), so there were inspections, appraisals, title transfer fees, lease buyout fees, taxes on everything...it took hours of time, another round of dealing with incompetent salespeople absolutely intent on not letting you out of that "relationship". Massive amount of frustration for no reason.
We hope we'll never have to buy new again. If for some reason we do, we'll never sign another lease.
Oh. And the morning AFTER all of that hassle to actually end the lease and own the vehicle, we got a call asking if we wanted to come in and talk about trading in our lease for a new car! AARrrgghhh!