I need a new car

His logic is flawed, as obviously you are not going to find 1 car to last you 40 yrs so you'll have to buy at least 2-3 more cars during this span. But even so, if you're saving 200 bucks a month on a lease, after 5 yrs, I'll own my car outright, and you'll still be rolling 200-250 bucks a month until you die. So it'll even out. Over time. The difference is, my truck will still be worth 5,000 or more after it's 10 yrs old. And I can put that towards a trade in on a new/newer car and make my monthly payments close to the same as your lease payment.0

You're pretty much going to tie with him unless you keep up with this exact plan for 15-20 years. You'll save tens of thousands by saving your money, then buying a vehicle outright that has depreciated by 2/3rds. After that it's just maintenance and that is cheap. Even if the transmission goes out, you would have paid the same amount with just a few months of car payments anyway. You're going to come out ahead no matter what.

The question is, can you.... as a white American, actually save your money and not spend it or finance it? Can you live without having something shiny and new? The answer is probably no because you're already talking about trading in the vehicle you'd have already paid off. Besides why trade it in when you can get a couple more grand by selling it privately?
 
You're pretty much going to tie with him unless you keep up with this exact plan for 15-20 years. You'll save tens of thousands by saving your money, then buying a vehicle outright that has depreciated by 2/3rds. After that it's just maintenance and that is cheap. Even if the transmission goes out, you would have paid the same amount with just a few months of car payments anyway. You're going to come out ahead no matter what.

The question is, can you.... as a white American, actually save your money and not spend it or finance it? Can you live without having something shiny and new? The answer is probably no because you're already talking about trading in the vehicle you'd have already paid off. Besides why trade it in when you can get a couple more grand by selling it privately?

I was just using that hypothetically. And if I keep my vehicile 10 yrs then I would be saving quite a bit of money. My truck will be paid off in 1.5 yrs. And it's still worth around 8-9 grand right now.
 
And a lease payment on a sedan is 200-250$ a month, saving 200$ a month or more...there you go, invest your heart out.

Yep, im sure you have figured out the big secret in life, but every money publication agrees that leasing a vehicle is the most expensive form of ownership. Why do you think they advertise for leases so much?
 
Yep, im sure you have figured out the big secret in life, but every money publication agrees that leasing a vehicle is the most expensive form of ownership. Why do you think they advertise for leases so much?

Cause car dealerships are so charitable and don't make any money off leases
 
You're pretty much going to tie with him unless you keep up with this exact plan for 15-20 years. You'll save tens of thousands by saving your money, then buying a vehicle outright that has depreciated by 2/3rds. After that it's just maintenance and that is cheap. Even if the transmission goes out, you would have paid the same amount with just a few months of car payments anyway. You're going to come out ahead no matter what.

The question is, can you.... as a white American, actually save your money and not spend it or finance it? Can you live without having something shiny and new? The answer is probably no because you're already talking about trading in the vehicle you'd have already paid off. Besides why trade it in when you can get a couple more grand by selling it privately?

That's the key. Getting a car that someone else leased is making money off a sucker. My car was a leased vehicle, mygirlfriend's car was a leased vehicle, so on so forth.
 
I really don't think ANYONE is arguing that leasing is a better financial investment than buying. But it is cheaper in upfront/short term costs, it allows for a nicer/more reliable vehicle, it allows upgrades every few years if you wish, and it still allows for ownership of the vehicle (a bit of an overpay - but still an option). It's also a lot more convenient.

Call me spoiled or a dumb American or whatever, but for something I spend hours in every day of my life, I want it to be something I'm happy in.
 
Leases are pushed hard these days because it's obviously in the dealerships favor.
I'm totally on board with zito here. When I graduate and start making real money, I'll buy a used car that's still relatively young/low on miles. I've been driving around in a '93 Buick Park Avenue for a year and a half so I'll be happy with anything newer.
 
I really don't think ANYONE is arguing that leasing is a better financial investment than buying. But it is cheaper in upfront/short term costs, it allows for a nicer/more reliable vehicle, it allows upgrades every few years if you wish, and it still allows for ownership of the vehicle (a bit of an overpay - but still an option). It's also a lot more convenient.

Call me spoiled or a dumb American or whatever, but for something I spend hours in every day of my life, I want it to be something I'm happy in.

Spending money on something that has cheaper upfront/short term costs only leads to losing more money in the long run. That's half the reason why most of America is in debt and why financially savvy people are against it. If you can't afford it, then you don't deserve a nicer/more reliable vehicle, you don't deserve upgrades every few years and you're kicking yourself in the ass by over paying to own that vehicle after you've already dropped a bunch of money into it. People that make $30k a year think they should be allowed to own the same kind of vehicle someone making $70k owns. It's that kind of thinking that gets people enslaved into debt for half their lives. Yeah people want to be happy in their new comfortable vehicle, but at what cost? Their ride to work is comfortable but now they have to stress over having credit card debt and pinching pennies just to stay afloat each month.

People think they're too good to own a 10+ year old car these days and financing has allowed them to get that new car while mortgaging part of their future. No one wants to bite the bullet and drive that ****ty 1998 Cavalier around for 5 years. Little do they know that they could have saved enough money to buy a real nice newer used car in that time. Then while driving that newer used car they could save up enough money for a down payment on a house. Instead, they buy the new car when they can't afford it and then they can't save anything. Once that new car is paid off, it's not so new anymore and now they go out and get themselves back into the same situation.
 
Back
Top