Lease, Finance or Own.

[flffpm]

I purchased a Bighorn off the lot recently, joined this forum and it seems just about everyone on here has a much higher Trim level and/or special ordered it (Limited). I am just curious how many have Leased vs. Financed vs. Paid it Off.

The reason I ask, my dad is 83 and long since retired (banker), has leased a new Lincoln every two years for himself and a another Lincoln or Ferd for my my 84 y/o mom and he has done so as far back as I can remember. It suits them mileage wise, and they are always in a nice new cars. Their house is paid off, but my 83 y/o dad still spends half a day the 1st of every month writing checks and balancing his budget.

Meanwhile, I squandered my higher education opportunities, but retired from an FD job at 51 this year, and pay my utility/cable/phone bill in 10 minutes. Granted, I have a downsized and less Luxe house and titles to an '18 Scat Pack and a '19 Ram that I wont be trading up anytime soon, but I am beholden to nobody except the tax man. I know the benefits of "renting" a depreciating asset and "buying" an appreciating asset... but I am still curious.

 

[Zeronet]

I purchased a Bighorn off the lot recently, joined this forum and it seems just about everyone on here has a much higher Trim level and/or special ordered it (Limited). I am just curious how many have Leased vs. Financed vs. Paid it Off.

The reason I ask, my dad is 83 and long since retired (banker), has leased a new Lincoln every two years for himself and a another Lincoln or Ferd for my my 84 y/o mom and he has done so as far back as I can remember. It suits them mileage wise, and they are always in a nice new cars. Their house is paid off, but my 83 y/o dad still spends half a day the 1st of every month writing checks and balancing his budget.

Meanwhile, I squandered my higher education opportunities, but retired from an FD job at 51 this year, and pay my utility/cable/phone bill in 10 minutes. Granted, I have a downsized and less Luxe house and titles to an '18 Scat Pack and a '19 Ram that I wont be trading up anytime soon, but I am beholden to nobody except the tax man. I know the benefits of "renting" a depreciating asset and "buying" an appreciating asset... but I am still curious.

When purchasing a new vehicle I normally buy it outright unless they offer some incentive to finance (usually $1000 off the price and must pay on the loan for a minimum of 6 months). In that case I put a $10000 down payment and finance the rest. The first months payment I will send them the bulk of the loan amount, then months 2-6 will pay the normal monthly payment. The 6th payment will payoff the loan. Only accrues $100-200 interest over the 6 months and saved $1000 off the purchase price.

Works for me. Not sure if it’s a better deal than leasing but I never know how much mileage I will put on it or how long I want to keep it.

 

[Jako]

Buyer and long term holder of vehicles.
Thought about leasing due to a new model and potential problems with a "New Generation". If I don't like it or problems give it back. If I like it I can buy it out.
Did the math and leasing was going to cost a lot more if I bought out the lease.
My conclusion was to buy and if there are problems or unsatisfied I will take the "loss/hit" on a resale or trade. Buying and keeping the vehicle has the best "value" and ownership cost over time.
I also have only 80,000 miles on my 2001 Dodge 1500, so mileage has to be calculated in the equation. Although with the the 2019 Ram "you just want to keep driving". Hopefully some vacations and exploring the US in the comfort of the Bighorn versus the wife's 2017 6 speed Honda Civic. Fantastic car by the way but tough on my 6' 1", 220, 63 year old worn parts body.

 

[SpeedyV]

I purchased a Bighorn off the lot recently, joined this forum and it seems just about everyone on here has a much higher Trim level and/or special ordered it (Limited). I am just curious how many have Leased vs. Financed vs. Paid it Off.

The reason I ask, my dad is 83 and long since retired (banker), has leased a new Lincoln every two years for himself and a another Lincoln or Ferd for my my 84 y/o mom and he has done so as far back as I can remember. It suits them mileage wise, and they are always in a nice new cars. Their house is paid off, but my 83 y/o dad still spends half a day the 1st of every month writing checks and balancing his budget.

Meanwhile, I squandered my higher education opportunities, but retired from an FD job at 51 this year, and pay my utility/cable/phone bill in 10 minutes. Granted, I have a downsized and less Luxe house and titles to an '18 Scat Pack and a '19 Ram that I wont be trading up anytime soon, but I am beholden to nobody except the tax man. I know the benefits of "renting" a depreciating asset and "buying" an appreciating asset... but I am still curious.

My wife and I have gotten ourselves into the routine of 1 car payment. We bought her compact luxury SUV new in 2014 (2015 model) and paid it off in 4 years. I bought an old truck (2003) used in 2010 and paid it off in 3-4 years, so I've been payment-free for quite a while. We ordered our loaded 2019 Longhorn in May and took delivery in September. We took advantage of affiliate pricing and available incentives to bring down the price, put $15K down, and financed the rest (~$50K) with our own credit union for the best rate. I was prepared for a monthly payment (based on 60 mo) of $1K, but we ended up closer to $900. I sold my old truck outright (~$10K) to help bring the net cost down further.

We hope to keep the truck for 10+ years. But the best laid plans can backfire, and only God knows whether reliability concerns, an accident, or some other compelling event will change our course.

 

[thcmas35]

I purchased a Bighorn off the lot recently, joined this forum and it seems just about everyone on here has a much higher Trim level and/or special ordered it (Limited). I am just curious how many have Leased vs. Financed vs. Paid it Off.

The reason I ask, my dad is 83 and long since retired (banker), has leased a new Lincoln every two years for himself and a another Lincoln or Ferd for my my 84 y/o mom and he has done so as far back as I can remember. It suits them mileage wise, and they are always in a nice new cars. Their house is paid off, but my 83 y/o dad still spends half a day the 1st of every month writing checks and balancing his budget.

Meanwhile, I squandered my higher education opportunities, but retired from an FD job at 51 this year, and pay my utility/cable/phone bill in 10 minutes. Granted, I have a downsized and less Luxe house and titles to an '18 Scat Pack and a '19 Ram that I wont be trading up anytime soon, but I am beholden to nobody except the tax man. I know the benefits of "renting" a depreciating asset and "buying" an appreciating asset... but I am still curious.

I leased my first two Rams. It was my way of convincing my wife that a crew cab truck would work well for our younger family/dog, etc. She loves it now. Our second leased Ram was a result of me trying to time with the new model coming out. When leasing, we stuck with an Express the first time, then a Big Horn. They were both low mileage leases and the "deals" at the time. Ram was the cheapest lease option our of the major brands. We do like using the truck for our utility vehicle and road trips, but we have had to be concerned about miles at times. Being that they were 'cheap' leases, we stayed disciplined and saved "the difference" of what we expected a new car would have cost us and made a little interest to boot. For the 19 with all the bells and whistles, I figured we would drive it more and there would be no more lease deals to be had on the new released model, so we needed to buy if that was the route we wanted to go. We also have the flexibility of when we part ways with it. I had planned on financing using 0% if it was available and keeping our savings invested, but we took the rebate offered at the time in lieu of and just wrote a check. We also prefer not owing anybody anything (being 'debt slaves' as I like to say to the wife). In the meantime. we don't have payments, we still make 'payments' to ourselves for the next vehicle.

 

[Gman]

We went the purchase route for long-term ownership with our last vehicle...and never were big fans of it. I had traded-in my 2003 Tahoe in 2015 for that purchase. Got some money back out of the sale nearly 3 years later, but new cars are a terrible investment. Especially new German cars.

We own our 2012 Hyundai Azera and will probably never sell that vehicle until we drive the wheels off of it (if that's possible). Best sedan we have ever owned. Great for long road trips. The Infotainment/Telematics were years ahead of most other manufacturers. If Genesis made a full-size SUV, we'd probably go that route.

Having no experience with FCA products or the support of them, and with the 2019 1500 being an 'all new' model, we decided to lease this time. Affiliate pricing going through a broker got us a good price and we have options going forward. If the vehicle has issues, we can walk away at the end of the lease. If we like the vehicle we can buy it out. If the vehicle is worth more at the end of the lease than calculated depreciation, we can sell it and keep the difference.

In your dad's case, he doesn't ever have to be surprised by a big repair bill. Like my 82 year old dad has told me, "Why should I pay extra for roofing shingles with a 45-year warranty? I won't outlive the less expensive ones with a 25 year warranty."

Go with what makes the most sense to you and your situation. There is no correct single answer.

 

[Jordan2929]

Financed, and after my down payment I expect to pay it off in 2 years

 

[MTRHEAD]

Fortunately we were able to pay for our vehicles.

 

[MrHankbot]

For the Ram, 25% down payment and financed the rest with the expectation of paying it off early.

My wife and I are car buyers. She used to lease before we met, and I was able to convince her that leasing is expensive compared to owning cars for 10-15 years. Up to this point I have just inherited her hand me down cars, as I like being in cars where I can be more cavalier about the dents, dings, and scratches that life brings. I was still driving newer and nicer vehicles than I did as a single guy.

Now the wife is in a 2017 Pilot, and I'm in a 2019 Limited, and we have the 2007 Element that I have been driving for the last 7 years as backup and a work vehicle for hauling tools to rentals. The Pilot and Element are paid in full.

There may be ways to make a lease look cheaper than ownership, but they all involve changing cars fairly frequently. Leases just sound like a good way to pay for a lot of depreciation over the years to me. If my 9 year old is really really really lucky he may inherit the RAM as a college vehicle in 10 years, which will make full ownership and the lifetime warranty that much more justified.

 

[flffpm]

Interesting replies... Thought it would have leaned more towards leasing. Glad I am not alone, bought what I could afford with a personal check, Happy Holidays.

 

[Ls15]

Personally i'm in my 20's and keeping a car for more then 3-4 years isn't realistic.
Leasing is my way to go

 

[User_3336]

Leasing is most logical when they run these "$299 due at signing" (for example), which no money down, except the first $299 payment.
They have these quite often, but you have to follow the ramtrucks.com page like a hawk. More often, however, its a lower trim level that no one prefers. Venture out of specs, and you'll find yourself paying ALOT more (with money expected down)

 

[Jako]

Leasing vs buying is like bench vs bucket and chrome vs paint. Is it age related?
Age 63 - buy, bench and chrome.
Bench is the least desired, low in numbers on dealer's lots and I think they may sit awhile.
How about colors and age? Silver for me.

 

[John813]

Financed with a Credit union.
Rate is low enough where I'm fine with keeping a note for 3-4 years and having my money elsewhere.

I went with a Laramie, with a few options as I didn't want to spend too much on a truck that will see 100k in 4-5 years.

 

[thcmas35]

Age 36 - Buy, Bucket, Paint, Grey.
Wife (34) was biased bench FWIW, but okay with bucket.

 

[Agitated]

Leasing a vehicle for personal use is the worst thing someone can do financially. Follow and embrace Dave Ramsey and you'll never finance a vehicle or own a credit card again. It is very liberating. It takes a bit to figure out this quote, but once you do it changes your life forever....I had to live like no else, so that now I can live like no one else.

 

[moosem]

I lease all my vehicles. I pay for what I use while it's still worth it. I'm all set with a $700 payment on a vehicle with no warranty. I change the oil, put gas in them and turn them in when the lease expires. I, personally, would never buy the first year of a new redesign. Plus, vehicles nowadays fall apart in 5 years or less. Case in point: the 2015 GMC SIERRA that I just turned in had a fully rusted frame in less than 12 months, and the drivers seat fell apart and was replaced after one month and the new one also fell apart. Plus, all the technology in modern vehicles is GOING to break eventually! How many computers do you own that are still working after 5 years? All these touch screens are nothing more than a tablet. They will eventually fail, and when they do, it's going to cost thousands of dollars to replace. I pay $347/mo for a truck with a $48,000 sticker. It works for me! I also have a commuter car for travelling back and forth to work and to subsidize the mileage limitation.

 

[SpeedyV]

Leasing a vehicle for personal use is the worst thing someone can do financially. Follow and embrace Dave Ramsey and you'll never finance a vehicle or own a credit card again. It is very liberating. It takes a bit to figure out this quote, but once you do it changes your life forever....I had to live like no else, so that now I can live like no one else.

I mostly agree with this, as it's all about smart money management. My wife and I have credit cards and charge everything to them...and then pay them off each month, accumulating enough airline miles for business class international airfare every few years. We financed our truck, even though we could have written a check, as we want to keep cash free for other purposes. We think we're doing okay, but of course we didn't need a brand new truck...we wanted one. Following Dave's advice, I'm not sure anyone would have bought a 2019 (with 2018s having steep discounts).

 

[Agitated]

That is true, he does not think buying new is smart. I agree, but Im not perfect either lol

 

[alwi228]

Here's my thought on it. Dave Ramsey drives me nuts, but I certainly agree with the concept of being fiscally responsible (for anyone interested, bogleheads is a forum with a little more reasonable approach), and I agree MOSTLY with the concept that leasing is not the greatest financial move. For me, I leased because 1. I've never leased before and have just been buying and swapping cars every few years so, wanted to see if this suited me any better. 2, the totally new 2019 I assumed would have a few bumps along the road. My plan is at the end of 3 years, decide if we want to buy or not, and most likely...I'll get into something new. I justify the expense as cars are my hobby, my transportation and...there's another way I justified it to myself but I cant think of it now . For what my buddies spend on hunting and golf, I roll that into my vehicle budget. We are very fortunately, a high income household and medschool tuition has been paid off. I only say this because I believe if your household income is 50k a year, leasing a vehicle is taking way too big of slice out of the pie.

age 32 - undecided on lease/buy, bucket and paint.