Vehicles - Do you lease or buy?

[Dancing Fire]

i get 0% financing from cflutist.

i love the Lexus LS 430 (wife likes the SC 430) but,i just can''t convince myself to pay $67k for a car.

 

[diamondlil]

Date: 6/12/2005 6:44:03 PM
Author: Patty

Date: 6/12/2005 4:42:34 PM
Author: ForteKitty
Pay w/ cash, buy brand new. I know what people can do in their cars, and the thought of owning something that''s potentially contaminated, well, that just grosses me out. My friend bought a used M3 from a dealer, and found a small slit in the hand break leather area... upon deeper probing, he found a small vial of cocaine!!!

It turned into a huge mess with the police and all, and he ended up selling the car because he hated it. Even w/ a brand new car, I still bring my portable blacklight... just in case.

Do you ever stay in a hotel room? Because I think people do things there too.

I''ve watched way too many 20/20 episodes -- I don''t like hotel rooms at all. But I never thought about my car being contaminated -- eeewwww!!!!!!! My car was one of the dealership''s service loaners that I purchased so it was technically used. Now my imagination is getting the best of me. I''m sure glad I cleaned the leather seats when I got it.

DiamondLil

 

[cflutist]

Date: 6/12/2005 7:29:17 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
i love the Lexus LS 430 (wife likes the SC 430) but,i just can''t convince myself to pay $67k for a car.

Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW seem to be the car of choice at my office. One lady has a Mercedes and a BMW and alternates between the two to drive in during the week (she telecommutes on Fridays so it is 2 + 2). If memory serves me, she paid off her house, but then took out a HELOC to buy both cars at the same time.

Thank god I don''t try to keep up with the Jones (or rather my co-workers).

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/12/2005 1:17:41 AM
Author: cflutist
Are auto loan terms 7 years now? Used to be 4 years the last time websailor used one. His was one of those dealer zero % APR deals that was hard to pass up. Gee, that was back in 1996, maybe its time for a new truck for him?

cflutist
websailor got to get himself a Hummer for those outdoor adventures.

 

[Maxine]

have never leased...too many miles....usually finance, but pay off ahead of time.....add to payments and then just pay it off at some point!

 

[cflutist]

Date: 6/12/2005 9:34:25 PM
Author: Dancing Fire


websailor got to get himself a Hummer for those outdoor adventures.

Nah, they are gas hogs. Websailor is environmentally concious and just loves his 4 cyl Toyota Tacoma. Now, I do have one neighbor that has a Mercedes, a Lexus, and a Hummer. Another neighbor also had a Hummer while his wife drove a Jaguar convertible. I told you, we are the poorest in the neighborhood.

DF, did you grow up in the SF Bay Area in the 70s? If so, remember Dr. Don Rose from KFRC? He lived two doors up from me before he passed away recently. His wife and family still live there.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/12/2005 9:56:34 PM
Author: cflutist

Date: 6/12/2005 9:34:25 PM
Author: Dancing Fire



websailor got to get himself a Hummer for those outdoor adventures.

Nah, they are gas hogs. Websailor is environmentally concious and just loves his 4 cyl Toyota Tacoma. Now, I do have one neighbor that has a Mercedes, a Lexus, and a Hummer. Another neighbor also had a Hummer while his wife drove a Jaguar convertible. I told you, we are the poorest in the neighborhood.

DF, did you grow up in the SF Bay Area in the 70s? If so, remember Dr. Don Rose from KFRC? He lived two doors up from me before he passed away recently. His wife and family still live there.

70''s? you think i''m that old ?

no,i didn''t grew up in the bay area.i did listen to KFRC back then and yes, i do remember Dr. Don Rose.

 

[movie zombie]

i have never leased and can honestly say i probably never will.

i have purchased a car new using credit union financing as well as bank financing. in all cases, i''ve paid the car off early.

i have paid cash for both used cars and a used truck.

our next purchase will most likely be this year for a new car for which we will be paying cash.

current stable:

1965 ford mustang basic with 3 in the floor
1993 honda accord LX
1995 ford f-150 long bed 4-wheel drive

peace, movie zombie

 

[rfath]

For those looking to get out of a lease, or to lease a different car for less time, there''s LeaseTrader

I''ve known a few people who''ve used this service to get rid of their cars when they couldn''t get out of their leases for a reasonable amount of money.

 

[appletini]

While a lease might be good for some people I could never do it, I like knowing that I have equity in my car, and at the end of the day I''ll get some money back. When my BMW was totaled almost 3 years ago, I got a nice insurance settlement that went towards my new car....If I had leased, someone else would have gotten that $20K check.

I then bought at new 2003 RX300 and financed it through my credit union at work, so the payments would come out with my direct deposit. I financed for 5 years at 4.9%. I had told myself no new car after this one, until I get a house first.

For my next car I will most likely buy a "certified pre-owned" vehicle thats 1-2 years old with low mileage (I drive a lot). This way I miss that initial huge depreciation chunk, and get a better warranty than if I had bought it new...6 years and 100,000 miles versus 3-4/50,000.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Author: movie zombie
i have never leased and can honestly say i probably never will.

We'll never lease either. Both my/DH vehicles were purchased with bank (mine)/credit union (his) financing but because we own our own business, my husband's truck can be written off.

 

[diamondlil]

Date: 6/13/2005 1:20:53 PM
Author: appletini

For my next car I will most likely buy a ''certified pre-owned'' vehicle thats 1-2 years old with low mileage (I drive a lot). This way I miss that initial huge depreciation chunk, and get a better warranty than if I had bought it new...6 years and 100,000 miles versus 3-4/50,000.

That''s how I got my RX300 and saved a huge chunk-o-change. Mine was a service loaner (still considered pre-owned) so I know it was serviced properly by my dealership. It still smelled new, and the car was in perfect condition. I would definitely do it again.

DiamondLil

 

[partgypsy]

My husband and I buy a used car with cash, run it into the ground, then buy another one. Best is person to person sale, so you get to talk to the seller and get a least an idea who drove the car and how the car was used/maintained. Last one was a Toyota Camry Le, blue book value 4400, got it for $3600, and the person had complete maintenence records.
You can say all you want about that new car smell, but not having to pay a monthly car payment, priceless.

 

[cflutist]

Date: 6/13/2005 1:23:10 PM
Author: MichelleCarmen

Author: movie zombie
i have never leased and can honestly say i probably never will.

We''ll never lease either. Both my/DH vehicles were purchased with bank (mine)/credit union (his) financing but because we own our own business, my husband''s truck can be written off.

Michelle, so if your business buys a vechicle, it can be depreciated? But if it leases a vechicle, then the payments can be expensed? Which is a better tax deduction? My neighbors are all business owners, but they lease?

 

[JCJD]

Dad bought my truck for me new in 2001 (didn''t trust a used truck to be in good condition), CU financing. I''ve taken over the CU loan now, and with any luck we''ll be able to pay it off early and pay my dad back too. My dad calls it the best used car I''ll ever buy.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 6/13/2005 3:35:12 PM
Author: cflutist
Michelle, so if your business buys a vechicle, it can be depreciated? But if it leases a vechicle, then the payments can be expensed? Which is a better tax deduction? My neighbors are all business owners, but they lease?

In the long run, leasing would be a better tax deduction than financing since you''re able to continually write off the expense whereas by financing/owning, you write off less each year. I suppose it''d be smarter for my husband to lease a truck, but I suspect he''s not comfortable doing so. I think choosing to lease has a lot to do with comfort level. There''s something about being locked into a set of rules and a contract that bothers me.

 

[fire&ice]

Date: 6/12/2005 7:17:36 AM
Author: tanuki
Wow are we old fashioned! (Actually we are complete nerds).

We are in a cycle where we plan to keep each car 10 years. We replace a car every 5 years so one is relatively new and the other is on the way out.

We don''t borrow money - we pay cash when we drive it off the lot.

We make our car payment to ourselves. I have two mutual funds designated for future car purchases. Both are those ''no brainer'' funds that move money progressively into bonds as you get closer to a particular date. A number of brokerage houses have them. Ours are Fidelity 2010 and Fidelity 2015.

I like a luxury car and we have been able to afford one so we save enough to plan for a Lexus budget. If we do that we would still have enough to have a new car even if the fund underperformed our expectations. If it overperforms maybe I''ll finally get that Porsche Cayenne I''ve been wanting.

We estimate what we think we will need to pay for the car in 10 years accounting for inflation and an average return and taking out any cap gain taxes and then set the thing on automatic draft from our bank account. We put money into them each month just as if we are making a car payment but we are paying ourselves. When it gets to be time to buy the car the amount of money in the fund determines our car buying budget.

Nerds? Nope, I''d say very WISE.

We keep cars for long periods of time. My present car is a 2001 & still feels new to me. Leasing never made sense because of the high mileage we put on the cars. The last car we financed through the dealership with 0% financing. Free money - take that all day long.

We are so not into cars. I don''t care what I drive as long as it takes me from point A to point B safely w/ enough room to put the two dog crates in. Unless the dealership offers 0% financing w/ no penalty, we will pay cash for the next car - though maybe not since we keep them well beyond the life of the loan & interest rates are low. I can deduct interest for the portion I drive my car for business. Sometimes it all washes out.

Makes tons of sense to "make your own car payments a la Tanuki". We may think about that.

Just like a house mortgage, all things should be looked at in terms of what works best for your personal situation.

 

[fire&ice]

I''m surprised how many get bank or credit union loans. It''s been our experience, even with rate breaks, that the dealer''s offer the best rates - at least of recent history. I don''t think my bank would offer 0% financing.

And, our last car (1997), when I called my banker he said -"while I''d love to loan you the money, I think you an do much better at the dealership - the car companies subsidizes the rates." He was correct - at least with Ford Credit.

 

[ForteKitty]

Date: 6/12/2005 6:44:03 PM
Author: Patty
Do you ever stay in a hotel room? Because I think people do things there too.

OMG, I am beyond paranoid when it comes to hotels. I bring my own towel & sheets, and i scrub down the shower/bathtub with lysol before using. I wear disposable slippers around the rooms, which I toss afterwards. Not gonna take any chances on stepping on blood, or worse! Watched too many shows... soOOo grossed out!

 

[ForteKitty]

Date: 6/12/2005 7:08:02 PM
Author: Jennifer5973

I sooooooooo get where ForteKitty is coming from. My mom''s motto growing up was ''there''s NO clean like a BLEACH clean...'' lol. We''re all germophobes. I am super picky about hotels and still Lysol everything in the room, don''t walk on the carpets or sit on bedspreads, and wear flipflops in the shower. I heard that Joan Rivers travels with her own toilet seat but I haven''t graduated to that... yet...lol/j/k.

Haha! Are we related??

 

[Mara]

FK...off topic re: cleanliness. I'm pretty much a clean freak for the most part, overwashing the hands and all that...and I do know what goes on in hotel rooms, movie theatres, public door handles, etc...but I figure if I haven't caught something and died from it yet, hopefully it'll continue to be okay. Knock on wood of course. I try not to think about it. But the first thing I do when I come into a hotel room is pull off the comforter!

They say that you can be TOO anti-bacterial and it could be just as problematic if your body does not know what to do with a foreign germ. So who knows. But my mom was a huge clean person when I was young, had to come home and change clothes into 'home' clothes, no shoes in the house, couldn't use public restrooms or we had to take a shower, if someone comes over and uses her bathroom (to this day) she cleans it after they leave, etc. I got 'some' of that but definitely not all, thank goodness!! She has totally mellowed with age so there is hope for us all.

Oh and the blacklight? I want one! I love CSI.

 

[appletini]

My boss told me that when she bought her car (I think its almost 10 years old) now, someone had told her to start putting $X into savings each month for 6 months before she planned to purchase, this way she already had a lot of money saved up for the down payment and then only had to finance for 2-3 years.

Its amazing how much the interest adds up, even when its not very much.

 

[codex57]

Date: 6/12/2005 7:29:17 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

i love the Lexus LS 430 (wife likes the SC 430) but,i just can''t convince myself to pay $67k for a car.

What about $60K? The LS430 goes for under $60K unless you get the Ultra Luxury package in which it then costs a little less than $64K.

The SC430 goes for less than $60K as well.

Check out carsdirect.com to get an idea of a decent deal in your area. And no, I don''t work for them. When we buy cars, I print out the carsdirect page showing the price and ask the dealer to beat it.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/15/2005 1:01:39 PM
Author: codex57

Date: 6/12/2005 7:29:17 PM
Author: Dancing Fire

i love the Lexus LS 430 (wife likes the SC 430) but,i just can''t convince myself to pay $67k for a car.

What about $60K? The LS430 goes for under $60K unless you get the Ultra Luxury package in which it then costs a little less than $64K.

The SC430 goes for less than $60K as well.

Check out carsdirect.com to get an idea of a decent deal in your area. And no, I don''t work for them. When we buy cars, I print out the carsdirect page showing the price and ask the dealer to beat it.

out the door? a friend said he just paid 67k for one

 

[codex57]

No, not out the door. Your friend got pretty much a fully optioned one for $67K out the door.

The SC430 should be around $65K out the door.