How do you convince the wife’s finance manager that leasing isn’t always financially stupid? I have a client who is on the forum and shall remain nameless but may chime in if he sees this. He contacted me looking for a 3 row SUV. After deciding on the one likely to have the best payment and ensuring he is ready to buy I get started. After the a day of emailing etc I get a text saying that his wife has to clear weather to lease or purchase with the financial manager.
I know that is not going to go well. I told him that’s like asking a vegetarian if they want a hot dog or a hamburger. Obviously she is going to be told to buy a used Toyota with cash or short term and drive it till it dies.
So now they are looking for a used car and my question to the forum is how to combat the old boring way of thinking.
I think you are assuming quite a bit
And is the Financial Manager and his Wife one in the same or is there two different people? But if they/she/whoever doesn’t want to lease, then why try and change their mind? Just move on…
Try to figure out why they are replacing their current car.
If they say it’s breaking down all the time, the used option might share the same fate.
Lease vs Purchase is harder. You have to convince the person on paper chart that it’s pretty much the same or better. If you can’t do it, it’s lost cause.
I lease or buy new because trust worthy shops are hard to find.
The wife has a financial advisor.
Lease is good on ev cars where they front load the tax credit
The bigger question is why do the wife and husband not have a joint financial advisor that they are on the same page with about their goals and how this lease/purchase works into those. . .
The short answer is… unless you have a weird fetish with brand new cars, it is almost always better to buy a 1-3 year old used car. However… sometimes lease deals can be really good (which is why this site exists), and can upset the balance.
I’ve seen several lease deals where you could lease a new car for 3 years… then another brand new car for 3 years, and it would cost slightly less than buying a 1-year old used car, 6-year financing, and selling it at the end of 6 years. In this situation it is obviously better to lease (less money, newer cars, more optionality), but it is rare unless you get at least a somewhat decent lease deal.
But, more to your question, I’d focus on the cost of maintenance. Not just the $ cost, but the labor cost as well - it is a pain in the butt to have to take the car in to the shop… even if it were somehow free.
financing a vehicle is like trying to add candle wax back after the flames lit. it’s never going to be back to where you started. but there is no right or wrong answer.
lets say a cheaper purchase is $400 a month and you pay it 72 months - $28,800.
you might still drive it at the end of 6 years, but considering most vehicle life is 8 years. so you’re about to restart that cycle a year after you drove it.
you spent another $400/ year on repairs etc so that’s another $3200 per year spent.
so you paid $4000 a year to finance said car which is equivalent to $333/month, which you could lease a nice new car for $300/month and keep turning them in and onto new ones.
BUT if you drive too much, this equation does not make sense. i blew out of 15k/ year lease in 9 months and had to accept the fact i drive 30k+ a year.
Someone needs to take into account the kind of buyer they are and include that in a discussion with a financial planner. If you’re the person that buys new and sells after three years, leasing makes a lot of sense in most situations. Financially it will almost always make sense to buy 1-3 years used and keep it for 5-6 years unless you fall into the educated consumer category (see below).
For the member of Lease Hackr who understands the components of leasing, knows how to capitalize on aggressive leases, and are flexible, leasing can be a very easy way to come out ahead of purchasing even in situations where buying would traditionally make sense.
If you take the average consumer who can’t play the game, wants specific cars, with specific options, with specific colors, and isn’t willing to travel to get the best deal then leasing will almost certainly be a net loss.
Out of everything I’ve heard, what bothers me is that someone didn’t take the time to go into the purchasing process with a clear sense of what made sense for them financially. Why bother negotiating a lease if you’re only going to end up buying? Seems like a waste of energy doing math.
If he’s a financial manager he should know the mantra:
If It Appreciates, Buy It. If It Depreciates, Lease It
J.P Getty (who knew a little about money and investing)
at a minimum you have new qualifier question -
Have you spoken to your spouse and are you both ready to execute this lease?
Also positive thinking … maybe the advisor sees the deal and uses you also down the line
Well said 
20202020202020
I passed the CFP exam two weeks ago and with many of the deals I see on here I’ve been converted to leases. I’ve always bought brand new cars at 20-40% off of sticker but I’ll most likely be leasing my next one since I’d prefer a new one every 2-3 years.
In California lease has a huge advantage for people who change cars often as we have high sales tax and we dont have a tax allowance on trade in
@chevysalesgirl hit the nail on the head. I’ve given up on trying to help people buy cars, it’s brain damage. If they have any brains and they know that you are knowledgeable they will appreciate the advice, some people are just impossible to convince that leasing is the way to go. I’ll offer once to help but I’m not hounding anyone about it.
That’s car sales 101
Thanks for the input. On a related note, I now have this: 2018 Hyundia Santa Fe SE AWD w/ premium package 322/month + First mont, taxes, DMV, Doc
Lease is good for a business as a write off.
By the way, convince everyone they need a business. you don’t need sales. you just need the paperwork that shows you have a business so you can have deductions. try convincing someone that has an hourly or salary job to go out and create a sole proprietorship. When your ducks line up, a lot of decisions are no-brainers.
What I have learnt is that, some times its much harder to convince the older folks but heres a pitch still to try and it works for me 90% of the time.
Cars aren’t built the way they used to be built and that’s a fact. Cars 3 decades ago had material and build quality that used to last for a good number of decades. Quality has been falling year after year and I dont care what car you drive, the case is same. Whether its domestic, Japanese, German, heck even chinese built swedish…
The reason is simple, car makers have much more competition then they used to have decades ago. Model lineups of 2 or 3 vehicles are now at 8 or 10 and if you add trims to it, it can go all the way up to 17 or 18. (Civic alone has like what sedan, coupe, hatch, si coupe so hatch, si sedan and type R). On top of that, generations used to last for 5 years, now that has been reduced to as low as 3 years ( camry has been redesigned every 3 years now).
Now imagine, all the money spent in R&D on these by the company and then to come back out with another model in 3 years. How do they keep profits or heck even grow profits?
New Tech Look at the tech on cars today compared to the cars a decade or two ago. The numbers of computers, programs and etc is just insane now. The chances of this stuff breaking down or having issues as soon as warranty expires ?
10 years ago, I had a 5speed 2004 civic coupe in college, I owned it for 6 years and put a 130k miles on it. The only thing I worried about but never had to experience was a burnt clutch, engine transmission mounts, shocks and thats about it.
Cars these days are not that simple. You not only have so much more in gadgets, the worst part is thst some gadgets are all-in-one. For ex if your touch screen goes bad, its not just a simple control to your radio that you loose. You most likely loose access to your AC, your Navi, your bluetooth connected Phone and the list goes on and on and on.
Lastly, lets just say to you decide to fix these issues… before you look for prices on these parts which btw are mostly dealer only parts, imagine the cost of labor to replace these…
There’s a whole lot more to this, but then I guess this should be enough to explain. If you do succeed, do try to get the financial advisors contact info… im sure he is leasing his ride 