But with leasing, I can sell the Eclipse for let's say $6k cash now, which would also be in a savings account or invested otherwise? The car doesn't just disappear in one and not the other.
True, that's a fair point and my error. Let's compare the two situations:
Leased Civic:Cash in Eclipse in 2015 for
$6000!
$201/mo in relevant costs @ 36mo =
-$7236-$100 from deposit or to clean it at the end of the lease, let's say, to be safe.
Net: -$1336You now need a new car.
Eclipse$150/mo in operating costs (gas and repairs) @36mo =
-$5400Sell off Eclipse after $50/mo depreciation =
$4200Net: -$1200Ouch, man. You spent $3240
repairing the car alone. That seems insanely high to me (I own a 2005 SUV with 127K miles and have spent $750 over a 4-year time span).
You now need a new car.
Based on this I can definitely see why you would want to drive the newer vehicle and not deal with the hassle, etc of the old car if the net costs are about the same.
But let's examine another possibility:
EclipseSell off Eclipse NOW:
+$6000Buy 2010-2011 used Civic:
-$10000Operating costs:
-$900. This assumes similar mileage and insurance costs to the brand spankin' new leased Civic, but in reality, car insurance would likely be less than the leased and newer car.
Maint costs:
-$1400. However....based on a car of that make and age, and driving 1000mi/mo, I would think this is a high estimate...
For fairness' sake, since at the end of the other 2 scenarios we needed a new car, let's say you sell off the used Civic in 3 years-
Based on depreciation of $2700 and an original price of $10K, let's say you get
$7300 for it.
That's based on this site -
http://www.edmunds.com/honda/civic/2010/st-101209939/cost-to-own/. I had no idea how to scale depreciation.
Net: $1000! You now need a new car.
A
$2000+ difference between that and the next best thing! It would seem that's the way to go. If I did the math incorrectly, I'd like to know where; I've never really examined lease vs buy...
And these calculators assumed you were driving about 25% more than you currently do...so their estimates of depreciation and maintenance are correspondingly higher.