06-21-2002, 10:38 PM
If you buy a car these days, then you truly are hopeless. The only way you'll make out is if you put more than 50% down. Leasing is great, if you can live with the terms.
To those who say you wind up with nothing at the end of a lease, what do you have at the end of your 5 or 6 year loan? Easy, a car that's worth about 1/2 what you paid for it, if you're lucky.
Cars today are just not built like they used to be. Sure, the engines don't need a tune-up until 100K miles, but the rest of the car will surely fall apart by then. Besides, we put a lot more miles on our cars today than we once did.
I leased my Escape on a 2-year lease, that has about 6 months left. I'm well within my alotted miles, and at the end of my lease, I get to wash my hands of the thing. Plus, Ford gives $1000 to returning lessees, automatically.
So, yes, for someone like me whose(I never know when to use who's or whose, but I think that's right.) milage isn't astronomical, and who likes to get a new car pretty frequently, leasing is the perfect option.
Buying a car is great, if you can afford to take a hit like that. But, realistically you'll end up paying the same payment for easily twice as long, and still be stuck with a shit car at the end. Plus, the buyouts on leased cars are a lot lower now than they were in the past.
If you can get over the false notion that you end up with nothing, leasing is great.
To those who say you wind up with nothing at the end of a lease, what do you have at the end of your 5 or 6 year loan? Easy, a car that's worth about 1/2 what you paid for it, if you're lucky.
Cars today are just not built like they used to be. Sure, the engines don't need a tune-up until 100K miles, but the rest of the car will surely fall apart by then. Besides, we put a lot more miles on our cars today than we once did.
I leased my Escape on a 2-year lease, that has about 6 months left. I'm well within my alotted miles, and at the end of my lease, I get to wash my hands of the thing. Plus, Ford gives $1000 to returning lessees, automatically.
So, yes, for someone like me whose(I never know when to use who's or whose, but I think that's right.) milage isn't astronomical, and who likes to get a new car pretty frequently, leasing is the perfect option.
Buying a car is great, if you can afford to take a hit like that. But, realistically you'll end up paying the same payment for easily twice as long, and still be stuck with a shit car at the end. Plus, the buyouts on leased cars are a lot lower now than they were in the past.
If you can get over the false notion that you end up with nothing, leasing is great.