Just relocated (OR) and need a vehicle in the near future. Have never leased before. I’m a retiree on a fixed income–need to focus on economy options. I’m a total beginner for leasing.
Suggestions, sources and guides would be useful. Any way to use my senior status as leverage? All feedback welcome and appreciated.
Leasing is typically not an “economy option” unless you’re looking at cash flow alone.
I would recommend purchasing a decent used vehicle, cash, if you’re able to. If you don’t have money to spare at this point, I really cannot recommend leasing. It’s an endless cycle of burning cash.
Click on Leasing 101 (At the top), it’s going to take a while to watch but it starts you off.
And No, being a senior does not have any benefits. (No matter what the dealer says) Unless you are ex military, that has bennies.
There seem to be some misconceptions around what leasing is and who benefits from leasing.
The people who benefited most from leasing were those who were going to drive BMWs, Mercedes, etc anyway and found leasing as a way to lower their TCO (total cost of ownership).
They could do so because they had the cash to put down MSD, had loyalty from prior ownership, or had corp/fleet from working at a select list of companies, knew about OL codes and had bought CCA membership, etc etc.
Leasing also benefited people who wanted … let’s call them toys for lack of a better word and again had the financial security to easily afford the overlapping monthly payments and insurance coverage on those extra cars. People who could pick up a Camaro V8 on a whim, an extra Mini to toss around, maybe even a Jaguar F-type.
What does a budget mean? Keeping a cap on expenses not just now but in the long run? That’s not what leasing does. A budget does not mean making auto payments every month forever until one passes away.
Thanks zaimer – there’s no benefit to leasing economy cars? Am considering leasing as my mileage would be low and I might want to try something different in two years or so. I also want something reliable and not have to deal with frequent repairs.
Buying a Civic, Corolla, Camry and keeping it for 7-8 years would be “the economy” option for you.
Depends on the price — do you see anything in the Marketplace ?
it’s usually hideously expensive to cycle through brand new cars every 2 years or so.
Toyota, Honda and Subaru are generally reliable. And 5-, 6- or 7-year OEM extended warranties are the cheapest in the business because the cars don’t need a ton of repairs on avg.
My $0.02 .
Unfortunately this is not economy option that You are looking for.
For economy option i would purchase up to $30k mainstream realiable sedan and drive it for at least 6 years.
Usually of a Japanese make sans Nissan imo
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