Thinking about buying a newish car

[HAULN-SS]

It's "newish" but it's actually a trailer camper, not a motorhome...


Sleeps 8 if everybody is snuggly..5 otherwise...may have to try to swing to some of these overnight raceway camping adventures MM has on occaision if I can ever get my schedule to jive.

[Apoc]

45,000 miles a year... at 65 mph thats 700 hours a year/13 hours a week in the car. 13 HOURS A WEEK.

It would be a really large paycheck to convince me to do that.

Forgot to mention - You really have to look at it as a difference between what you're already spending commuting. If you're spending 20 minutes in the car anyway (call it 20k miles a year), you're really only spending 6 more hours a week in the car.

In my particular case, things are better these days, knocked about 10 miles off the commute, dont have to take greenway anymore. I also drive home and to bluegrass jams and shit all over, so you're probably looking at an extra 5 -8k a year on recreational driving

20k a year is still pretty obscene IMO. I drove all over God's creation for racing and still only did about12k a year. I think 15k is about average so 20k probably isny a good comparison point.

[HAULN-SS]

Well i think 12k is the figure the industry uses as average, but thats kind of a bullshit figure meant for urban and tight suburban life. My dads commute in roanoke is < 10 minutes but living in a more rural area hes still avaveraging 20k/ yr

[Apoc]

Kinda a bullshit figure meant for the 80% of the population that live in non-rural areas? :dunno:

I think the "new" average the industry follows these days is more like 15k, though.

[HAULN-SS]

I guess it depends on perspective. I live in a rural area now, and i grew up in one. I never knew anyone that leased a car, or had a warranty expire on time instead of mileage, because we always drove more than that.

As a side topic, I have been thinking about leasing for my next car because it will be a secondary car, and really just something for "date night" and road trips, thus staying below mileages requirements. Anyone have any experience doing that? I haven't run the numbers on anything, but do you just trade in a depreciation hit for a larger downpayment hit up front?

[Apoc]

Where you take the hit really depends on the lease. Some get you up front and some have low down payments with a higher monthly payment. The easiest method is to figure out total cost of ownership for both.

Purchase = purchase price - sale price - interest (if any)
Lease = down payment + monthly payment

Whichever is lower is what you should do, assuming you are pretty comfortable about the possible sales price and how long you'll keep the car. If you think you may hold on to it longer or it'll be worth more down the line, everything changes. Note most leases have mileage limits, so I doubt it could be a primary car for you.

[Evan]

leases arent really anything magical. with a lease you are just financing the depreciation instead of the whole purchase price.
advantage is that you pay less in interest, disadvantage is that its the steepest part of depreciation curve.

if yorue already buying new cars every 3 years it kind of makes sense, otherwise not.

[CaptainHenreh]

Seriously, the math is not that hard. Get the numbers, go home, crunch them.

[.RJ]

And like everything else, lease terms are negotiable too.

[WRXtranceformed]

I was under the impression that you should never put money down on a lease. Aren't you basically throwing money away unless you intend on buying it out at the end of your term?

[Ken]

No, you just shouldn't put down more than about 2-3K, pending the value of the car. The more you put down, the more you put towards the depreciated value and lower monthly payments (an taxes in my case here in NY, not sure how VA is). Of course, if you're putting down more than what I stated, you should probably just be buying a car anyway.

[WRXtranceformed]

Well yeah, I mean obviously you are going to lower your payment when you put more down, but that is just money in the bank for the dealership right? When you walk away from your lease you essentially walked away from that money with nothing to show for it.

[Ken]

Right, but you were spending that money anyway. Whether you wanted to do it up-front or over time is your choice. From what i've heard around here a lot of the NYC execs like to just front the whole thing, essentially renting the car for 3 years when you think about it. It's all preference really, if having a new car and warranty is important to you, and you plan around having a car payment all the time, than leasing works. Not to mention it allows you to get behind the wheel of something you probably couldn't afford if you went to buy.

[JPolen01]

I never understood how leasing could be economically viable unless you were making enough where it really didn't matter what you spent. Why would an average earner choose to lease unless they really wanted a car they couldn't afford?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

[WRXtranceformed]

Right, but you were spending that money anyway. Whether you wanted to do it up-front or over time is your choice. From what i've heard around here a lot of the NYC execs like to just front the whole thing, essentially renting the car for 3 years when you think about it. It's all preference really, if having a new car and warranty is important to you, and you plan around having a car payment all the time, than leasing works. Not to mention it allows you to get behind the wheel of something you probably couldn't afford if you went to buy.

They do it because they generally aren't paying for it. Plus, it's all a write off at the end of the year. Corporate leases are a dealership's absolute best friend from what I have heard.

I agree with the statement that I don't think it really ever makes sense to lease unless you can get away with putting almost nothing down. Plus, you get nickle and dimed to heck when you bring it back in, especially if you have had any accidents or issues with it. And obviously leasing is not an option if you have a commute like Derek, or you drive a lot in your own car for a living.

[G.Irish]

The advantage to leasing is that you end up with lower monthly payments that you would if you were buying. If the lease rate is aggressive then it could allow you to drive a much more expensive car than you'd normally be able to afford. For example, you might be able to lease a $40,000+ BMW 3 series for $300 a month. If you put the same money down and financed a 3 series for 60 months your payment would be over twice that amount.

At the end of your 3 year lease you can just walk away not owing anything (assuming no abnormal wear and tear or mileage). Some people tout being able to walk away owing nothing as a huge benefit. But, had they bought the car they'd probably have some positive equity that they'd get back when they sold it.

Personally I don't think I'd ever lease anything. The upside of being able to drive something nicer isn't worth the constraints for me. Then there's the fact that the good lease deals are on cars I'm not super gung ho about driving (luxo sedans, luxo SUVs) Even if there was a smoking lease deal on a cool car that I really wanted to drive like a brand new M3 or 911 GT3, I'd probably be stressed about wadding it up. Well, more stressed than if I bought it.

[HAULN-SS]

Yeah as i mentioned i wouldnt be leasing a primary car, but an occasional drdriver. Definitely doesnt make sense if you drive like i do

[.RJ]

I never understood how leasing could be economically viable unless you were making enough where it really didn't matter what you spent.

In a lease you're only paying for the depreciation from when you take it to when you return it.

[WRXtranceformed]

So what you're saying is.....leasing is the American way? Buying more than you can afford? :lol:

[.RJ]

Or, its smart in that you're only tying up the money for what you're going to use if you know you are going to want a new car every 3 years - i.e. paying $300/mo for the depreciation rather than $600/mo on a purchase.

Its just a shell game.