Valerie wrote:I'm confused at this suggestion. I've been leasing my VW Tiguan (2016) for $269 mo. & it was $0 down, sign & drive- so that's way less than a rental car? I'm trying to understand the advantage of your suggestion- I've never had a car payment of more than mine is now- leasing, if you find the right deal, seems a good option for someone in my situation (it seems)
Leasing is essentially a long term form of renting. It can be fine if you're okay with making monthly payments for the rest of your driving life, and never actually owning a car.
Instead of $0 down, I take the opposite approach, with 100% down and $0 monthly at 0% APR.
Valerie wrote:I'm confused at this suggestion. I've been leasing my VW Tiguan (2016) for $269 mo. & it was $0 down, sign & drive- so that's way less than a rental car? I'm trying to understand the advantage of your suggestion- I've never had a car payment of more than mine is now- leasing, if you find the right deal, seems a good option for someone in my situation (it seems)
Leasing is essentially a long term form of renting. It can be fine if you're okay with making monthly payments for the rest of your driving life, and never actually owning a car.
Instead of $0 down, I take the opposite approach, with 100% down and $0 monthly at 0% APR.
we tried to stress to our children, “a car payment is NOT a requirement of life!”
Valerie wrote:I'm confused at this suggestion. I've been leasing my VW Tiguan (2016) for $269 mo. & it was $0 down, sign & drive- so that's way less than a rental car? I'm trying to understand the advantage of your suggestion- I've never had a car payment of more than mine is now- leasing, if you find the right deal, seems a good option for someone in my situation (it seems)
Leasing is essentially a long term form of renting. It can be fine if you're okay with making monthly payments for the rest of your driving life, and never actually owning a car.
Instead of $0 down, I take the opposite approach, with 100% down and $0 monthly at 0% APR.
we tried to stress to our children, “a car payment is NOT a requirement of life!”
We didn't have car payments for most of the last 20 years- it is great- but we also poured a lot of money into cars for repairs, and that's not so great- everyone's situation is different
Buying vehicles new or used is a personal thing. My dad buys a new truck every 12 to 14 years. Same make and model, same features. But he uses his stuff pretty hard and he maintains it pretty well.
My wife and I are looking at adding another vehicle to the fleet and I'm tempted to go the same route. I see the wisdom in it, but I'm dragging my feet on the issue.
steve-in-kville wrote:Buying vehicles new or used is a personal thing. My dad buys a new truck every 12 to 14 years. Same make and model, same features. But he uses his stuff pretty hard and he maintains it pretty well.
My wife and I are looking at adding another vehicle to the fleet and I'm tempted to go the same route. I see the wisdom in it, but I'm dragging my feet on the issue.
our typical compromise was to buy the newest, lowest mileage vehicle we could.
10,000 miles reduces the price, but provides very similar results, including warranty, as a new purchase.
i have not looked at Consumer Reports for years, but we used to look at their maintenance cost comparisons. quite an eye-opener. upkeep costs are important to us. we would also ask for insurance quotes before purchasing, too. all costs of owning+operating.
temporal1 wrote:our typical compromise was to buy the newest, lowest mileage vehicle we could.
10,000 miles reduces the price, but provides very similar results, including warranty, as a new purchase.
My typical strategy is to buy the newest, highest mileage vehicle in my price range. A few more miles reduces the price even more, but also provides assurance that it has been on the road rather than in the shop, so it must not be a lemon.
ohio jones wrote:
Leasing is essentially a long term form of renting. It can be fine if you're okay with making monthly payments for the rest of your driving life, and never actually owning a car.
Instead of $0 down, I take the opposite approach, with 100% down and $0 monthly at 0% APR.
we tried to stress to our children, “a car payment is NOT a requirement of life!”
We didn't have car payments for most of the last 20 years- it is great- but we also poured a lot of money into cars for repairs, and that's not so great- everyone's situation is different
We haven't spent over $1000 on buying a vehicle in probably 10 years. Sometimes they break down in a year and are not worth fixing so we buy another cheap vehicle, other ones we spend the money to fix. It certainly is a hassle and I understand that will not work for everyones situation. However it has helped us immensly with finances!
Currently we own a car, a truck , and an SUV. Total cost of all three combined: $450 - People like buying vehicles so much that we have been given our truck and SUV - so the car was $450.
They are all old and for us it has been a great opportunity to learn mechanics with our 12 year old son.
temporal1 wrote:our typical compromise was to buy the newest, lowest mileage vehicle we could.
10,000 miles reduces the price, but provides very similar results, including warranty, as a new purchase.
My typical strategy is to buy the newest, highest mileage vehicle in my price range. A few more miles reduces the price even more, but also provides assurance that it has been on the road rather than in the shop, so it must not be a lemon.
This is the advice I give almost everybody. Age always kills a vehicle before miles do. A late model vehicle with very high miles can often be purchased for close to the same price as an older vehicle with low miles. The older vehicle is almost always going to give more trouble than the newer one even if it has less miles. A vehicle with lots of miles put on in short order has very little wear to anything except perhaps tires, brakes, and wheel bearings. Engine and transmission will often look like new in a 2 or 3 year old vehicle with 100k miles on it. I have seen a 10 year old vehicle with 50k miles that the engine and transmission are completely gunked up. I know which one I would rather drive.
temporal1 wrote:our typical compromise was to buy the newest, lowest mileage vehicle we could.
10,000 miles reduces the price, but provides very similar results, including warranty, as a new purchase.
My typical strategy is to buy the newest, highest mileage vehicle in my price range. A few more miles reduces the price even more, but also provides assurance that it has been on the road rather than in the shop, so it must not be a lemon.
This is the advice I give almost everybody. Age always kills a vehicle before miles do. A late model vehicle with very high miles can often be purchased for close to the same price as an older vehicle with low miles. The older vehicle is almost always going to give more trouble than the newer one even if it has less miles. A vehicle with lots of miles put on in short order has very little wear to anything except perhaps tires, brakes, and wheel bearings. Engine and transmission will often look like new in a 2 or 3 year old vehicle with 100k miles on it. I have seen a 10 year old vehicle with 50k miles that the engine and transmission are completely gunked up. I know which one I would rather drive.
Except of course if its the 2019 Final Edition that you'd hope would be an "investment"
