mule65

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I like reading Suze's financial advice but I think she's too hard on leasing. I plan on buying my car after my 3yr 2% lease is over for about $20g. I could have bought the car outright, or with a 6% loan, but to have the same payment I would have had to put $20g down. I'd rather save my $20g for three years then fork it over. If the residual is bloated, or I don't like the car, I'm insured and can give it back at a guaranteed price -- buyers can't do this.

I didn't get an A4 because it's an "ego stroker", I got it because I wanted a fun AWD 6-speed that gets good gas mileage. Country club member or not (me!), life's too short for used Toyotas.<ul><li><a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e16buylease/">You Auto Think Twice About Leasing a Car</a></li></ul>

saholz

...since a late model used car is usually the best way to get into a car. If you want a new car however, I think her anti-leasing stance is just wrong. If you don't put a lot of miles on a car and intend to trade every 2 to 4 years, a lease is very practical. It's no more expensive than buying and there can be very little upfront outlay of cash. I've leased my last two cars and came out ahead on both...compared to outright purchase or financing.

JasonR-NYC

Why does she write like a politician speaks? She makes many legitimate arguments but most of them ignore the counterpoint as if it doesn't exist. Her math is completely skewed, perhaps to support her apparent hatred of the leasing industry.

She leased a car that she couldn't afford. If you think of leasing as a way to get into a car you otherwise couldn't afford to purchase, then you're taking a significant risk. If you're leasing the same car you'd buy because there are advantages that you're wise enough to see, then it might just be the right choice.

So here's my advice - never buy a car to impress a potential love interest. That's a pretty clear sign that you need therapy, not a 730i. Anyone "with priorities so far out of whack doesn't deserve such a fine automobile."

- Jason


Oh, and Save Ferris.

mule65

Well said.

Reggie

Unless you own a business

Or the leases are subsidized by the car mfr - like Saab was doing

jsamans

Whether you buy outright, finance it, or lease, you get screwed. The only way to be even remotely financially responsible in terms of what you drive is to buy cheap used, highly reliable Asian cars, and drive them into the ground.

SteveMondragon

Buying a car is the worst investment you can make since they all depreciate at a high rate, some faster than others (most European cars have a high rate of depreciation compared to most Japanese cars).

However, you can sometimes luck out and make money on a used car that you have if you are able to find it cheap and in relatively ok condition, then you do the maintainence &amp; labor on the vechicle and eventually sell it for a slight profit from what you orginally got it and your sunken costs. That's basically what I did with my last car but then that car was considered "rare" to begin with. But on a late model European car, forget about it.

Bada Bing

I think it's a misconception that a car loses that much the second it's drive off the lot. I would buy 10% but this 20 or 30% stuff is nonsense.

HAudidoody (Jrsyboy)

PEOPLE, Money, Things.

ChrisS -2008 A6-4.2

Dear ole' Suze would like to tell you that buying any car that you can't pay cash for is a bad financial move. Of course, she won't say that because her TV rating would fall through the floor and her book and lecture revenues would dry up. I think it's safe to say we live in a period of time where debt is accepted, a fact of life, or even desired.

If one could adopt the mindset (even for a moment) that purchasing a car that exceeds the requirements of its intended use is a want vs a need. Couple the prior outlandish concept with the idea of living debt free and I doubt few would actually finance a car. It wasn't all that many years ago that people actually paid cash for cars and traded up as their financial situation improved.

While I don't have the facts to support it, I would suggest that 25 years ago car leases were the sole domain of the business environment. An accounting tool used to acquire needed capital equipment and generate a deductible monthly expenses absent of a capital outlay.

In the modern era, I would be hard pressed to be convinced that a personal consumer lease, (no business deductions involved) is nothing more than a tool allowing an individual to aquire a vehicle that exceeds basic transportation needs and represents a purchse value he/she could otherwise not aquire.

It's true that a consumer leasing tool offers some "nice to have- risk reducing" features, like the ability to return the car at the end of the term and drive a newer model car every few years. However, leasing a vehicle does not ever address the premise of living debt free.

Of course, much of what is written here will be rejected by most reading it as it is not accepted thinking just now. And- I too have financed cars and leased them over the years for the very same "want" reasons. However, deciding what car you can afford, parsing wants from needs and then writing a check for is also a viable but unpolular approach.

Flame- gladly accepted - as I'm old and view things from a different perspective.