That’s extreme. I’m sure the vast majority of Americans can trim their calorie budget without going on saltines and water. And that’s by no means as presumptuous as saying Americans don’t save, and are fat and stupid, like other posters alluded to. Sorry I’m done with this one…
If you want a great lease deal hit me up. We can do the math together. In the meantime…go eagles
do you really expect people to brew their own coffee and even put cream cheese on the bagel themselves like savages? Once an elderly gentleman at work saw me eating cereal for breakfast and exclaimed: “That’s smart!” I almost fell like I found cure to cancer.
kind of fun that this topic made to dietary planning as well.
I actually found this pretty interesting as I’ve been toying with the idea of buying instead of leasing due to low mileage use and thinking of savings options. It’s been an entertaining read with some useful insights.
Totally agree!
We’ve gone done the 
though. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll be the first to admit I have attributed to that!
I posted mine. I’m burning $24.92 a month on a Route 66 MBI policy, which leaves me $6,600 over two years to replace wear items and cover the microscopic depreciation on a nine-year old INFINITI.
And that’s comparing my G37 convertible to whatever I could lease for $300/month today – with taxes and everything else rolled in. Not sure why you picked $300/month, but no thank you, I’ll stick with what I have.
It’s kind of a strange paradigm until you realize that the people who want to grind every nickel out of the cost of a lease might have some overlap with the population who wants to apply the same mania to other aspects of life. 
I’ll try to provide some real life anecdotal evidence that in the end, it’s all a crapshoot. The longest I’ve ever held onto a car is our current ‘11 CX9 - next week it’ll be exactly 8 years since we bought it new. Purchased it for $34k ( including TTL and $1k in finance charges) and over the years spent maybe $1-$1.5k in routine maintenance (doing my own) and tires (1.5 sets - replaced 2 first time around and then did an entire set). The only 2 “serious” issues were take care of by warranty (transfer case and brake booster). My total cost to own the car is ~ $35k. In current condition (bumps and bruises here and there, compliments of kid drivers) and 115k miles, the car might be worth $4-5k (trade-in). To make the math simple, our current cost has been even $30k, or $312+/month. Not what you’d consider a screaming deal - after all, we (or should I say kids) are driving an 8 year old car, which (with the current advancements) is an eternity. The longer we keep the Mazda, the better the numbers will favor buying.
Our other 3 cars (‘08 Fit, ‘06 Tundra, and ‘08 LS460) should fair better, since we purchased all under $15k and they are generally reliable.
I fully expect to have repair expenses with older cars.
We just put > $2,500 in struts/shocks and tires on our 2008 RX. It also needed a battery a couple of years ago. We even splurged on a new $7 cabin air filter from Amazon and replaced the wiper blades at least once. Maybe even twice. 
We paid about $18,000 and it’s worth maybe $9,000. So we’re out ~$12,000 in 5 years, or ~$200 a month.
Yes, it drives like a bucket of crap and it’s as visually exciting as a ball of yarn, but it’s dramatically less expensive than leasing a comparable new CrapYarnMobile.
If anyone is keeping score, this is actually a huge win towards the car purchase. “The bumps and bruises” alone on the 3 leases in this time frame, plus full coverage insurance with kids on the policy would add up nicely.
Yup - it’s definitely a win, at least when it comes down to $$$. Realistically, with 15K/year needed, we would have had hard time finding something comparable for under $400/month ($5K/year), which would have cost us $40K over the years. We do drive a lot (wife put 50K miles over 3 years on the LS) and it appears I’ll be doing 20K+/year (job change), so leasing might not be the best scenario for us. BUT, if I could find one of these “unicorn” fart BMWs for under $300/15K (might be tough with no loyalty), I wouldn’t be opposed to leasing (which is why I’m here - duh 
).
That’s with you doing your own maintenance which most can’t do. Plus you aren’t counting your time to do the maintenance.
The point is with this amount of driving, you get to do similar amount of car maintenance when you lease.
That’s my “quality” time in the garage. I know I’m not saving much doing the oil on the 3 “regular” cars (might be breaking even), but it’s definitely worth to do on the LS. Dealers charge $100+, and I can do it for under $40 (assuming SuperTech synthetic oil). That’s $60/30 min of “work” (while having a cold one or 3). That $60 will get me 18 holes at one of the decent local golf courses.
Unless you get one of the cars that come with maintenance included (might have to spring for 1 or 2 due to excessive miles driven).
Comparable? 2019-20 ex to a 2008?
Toyota’s come with all maintenance for 25k miles 
Bmw as well with their 24 month lease.
You won’t need tires, brakes or any other wear and tear item either.
RFTs are a joke. By 18k, I needed a set. I am definitely not alone either.
just can’t win, either way you cut it.
So swap it after 12 months for $1000 down and they pay the transfer fee and dispo fee. You’re on leasehackr enough…
