Confused between buying or leasing because I am not sure how long I will have the car

Ask the Hackrs Buy/Finance
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Hello all,

I’m starting my job in PA (Philly suburbs) next week and have been looking to get my first car. There is not a lot of time left so I do have a temporary solution lined up where a friend can drive me to work for a week or two if I can’t get a car by Monday.

That being said, I have been leaning towards leasing a car. My budget is about $400 per month (not including insurance) and I have done a lot of reading/watching on how the lease process works. I am planning to head into dealerships with my own numbers/research to avoid getting a bad deal.

My main reason for leasing a car is that I do not know how long I will be in this area/job. I recently graduated college and this will be my first job. However, I am looking to attend grad school within a year or two and will almost exclusively be looking for schools outside the US. Therefore, I was thinking a two year or three lease is a good option for me.

There are a few caveats/complications. Firstly, any search for “lease” brings up all the posts on why it is a terrible idea in this current market/economy so that makes me second guess myself and severely doubt whether I am making the right decision. And secondly, my dad will be able to get me around $6-8k sometime towards the end of August. He has not been present for the majority of my life so it is surprising to see that he has/will have money saved up to put towards a car for me and is even offering to do so in the first place. With this unexpected cash injection, should I be looking to buy a car (perhaps used) instead? I will be living with my mom for the entire time I am in this area and my sister will be graduating college in 2-3 years as well so I can always “pass on” the car to them? What do you think?

Just for additional context: I am okay with any subcompact car or sedan and do not have any particular demands other than good drive, good mileage, and not too difficult to parallel park in the suburbs. I have been primarily targeting very simple and basic cars like the Camry, Corolla, Yaris, Civic, and Fit. I also have about $13k in my bank account of which $6k has been set aside for my student loans that I am looking to pay off in November to avoid accruing interest. And in case it helps in suggesting advice, my credit score is also close to 800 and my mom will be helping to cover some rent/household costs.

Please advise me in this situation! I really have no-one to ask for help except these forums, Reddit, and YouTube videos and the entire process is deeply confusing as I keep finding myself stuck in a decision loops.

Thank you!

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I’m a bit confused how Yaris in on your list since it hasn’t been made in 3 years.

Other than that, get a nice used car, don’t lease right now.

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Lease a Hyundai Ioniq 5 SEL AWD for two years and charge at Electrify America for free.

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This is the crux of your problem. There’s no such thing as a 2 “OR” 3 year lease. You sign one or the other.

Sign a 3yr lease and get into grad school 2 years from now? You’re ducked trying to get out of the lease unless you get extremely lucky.

Sign a 2-year lease and don’t get into grad school? What are you going to do? Sign a 2- or 3-year lease again? Ok but you’ll get ducked in another year trying to get out.

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Hahah yes I’m aware. I meant it as an example of the type of cars I am looking for.

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Small cars aren’t leasing all that well right now, over $300 for a Corolla for example (And Civics are worse)
Electrics are all the cheap ‘rage’ right now with those under $300.
Otherwise, get a used car and beat it to the ground for your ‘2’ years.

You can get out of SOME leases early, but each car has different rules.

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If it was me I would refrain from leasing. I would likely purchase a used car around $2-3K under my budget to have a little money set aside for repairs. Assuming a $10-15K budget I’d focus on mazda 3, Kia Soul, Acura ILX, Mazda CX-5. I think the Toyota/Honda options will be overpriced, the ILX has been around a bit so it is an exception. Put 50% of the purchase price down and finance the rest through a credit union. As an alternative check out an early 2010 Nissan Pathfinder (before they went to CVT). Those seem to be undervalued in the used market right now. Even if you only own for 2-3 years and the used market collapses you’ll still get your down payment and more back in equity.

Don’t lease you have a ton of other expenses on the horizon. If the car has a problem/repair you can uber for two days.

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Is there still lease support for the last 2019 Yaris sitting on the lot?

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Your best option would be not acquiring a car if at all possible. The SEPTA system serves a lot of the main office areas in the suburbs well. Any way to commute by train/bus?

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Great point as well

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2 better options rather than lease a new car:

  • get a nice used car with high residual, so you can sell it without losing too much before you go back to school

  • take other ppl’s lease transfer with 12-24 months left