Is it bad to lease? - answered by a "financial guru"

No, not Ramsey this time, but equally painful.
At least it was a little funny.

YT Short:

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How is it painful? Leasing is negative expected value for most people, who get absolutely hosed.

None of this is wrong. Buying a new civic or Corolla and driving it for 10-15 years is undoubtedly going to be a vastly lower TCO than leasing the same cars.

Yes I would generally advise most people in most situations to not lease cars. That doesn’t mean there can’t sometimes be good lease opportunities to do so but it doesn’t do us any good to act like leasing is generally beneficial when it is not.

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Also ofc the concept that people prob tend to lease more car than they can afford (or at minimum are more likely to do so) due to how the payments generally are lower.

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You never have a car payment again, except the one you start paying yourself after buying shitbox #1 for cash and new/successor shitbox #2, and the month after you take delivery of shitbox #2.

I appreciate that personal finance types are preaching more austerity, especially as average sales price and transaction price and monthly payment keep going up, but there is a lot between a fleet vehicle Corolla and a Bentayga. I also appreciate that he didn’t try to make it “all leasing is financial genocide” we usually hear.

I too hope to win the game by dying in the most uncomfortably cheap hospice bed so a dog rescue gets a slightly larger check after my carbon gets reclaimed :expressionless_face::ghost::service_dog::money_bag:

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I am rooting for ya🤞

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I’m not sure you’re on the right forum.

Leasing far outweighs owning if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t that’s on you.

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No. Finding good lease deals does not mean leasing is always or even mostly beneficial.

Every deal is diff but no I would not say in general leasing does outweigh owning. It can for specific models but in general most folks are worse off leasing.

Think of it this way, if leasing was a free lunch/net beneficial, why would manufacturers offer it?

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My wife bought a new 2006 camry for 18k, own it for 18 years and sell it for $5k. No lease deal outweighs that. Whether someone wants to drive the same car for 18 years is a different issue.

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What car does she drive now?

This is 100% better than Dave Ramsey. Ramsey is so out of touch he talks about buying a five year old Corolla or Civic for $10K. Dude, the cheapest corolla on CarMax is $12.6K, 12 years old and has 124K miles. He talks about buying cars like it is 2000, when he probably was last in the used car market.

This guy at least understands you are getting a “S*** box” for your first car. I.e. a 15 year old Corolla with 150K miles.

People on here who disagree with this are just in denial. I like nicer cars and am willing to pay for them. But my mother, between 1992 and 2025 did this with Honda Accords. Buying a new one every 10-12 years. Her TCO was unbeatable. A reliable cheap car that you drive into the ground is always going to be the cheapest option. Now most people aren’t willing to do that so then the TCO becomes much higher. Also, with current insurance rates having cheap car which you dont need collision on can easily save $1,000 a year just on insurance.

There is just no way that is true with multiple qualifiers. Show some math for how driving a Corolla or Accord for 10+ years is not going to be the best TCO option for almost anyone.

The only thing I can think of that might make this true is leasing the best value EVs the past five or so years. And even so, within a few months that exception will no longer be applicable.

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EQB, and we are in a better financial position now. Most likely, I’ll get her another lease when it ended since she wants new car but doesn’t really care about brand (if it was up to her, she will buy the eqb at the end of the lease at residual :stuck_out_tongue:) while I’m picky about the car I drive but don’t mind getting used if I can get it for a good price & own it for awhile. There is not one plan fits all situation here.

An EQB lease followed by another lease when it’s done? lol

So? do you not read the rest of the statement or you just want to be smug about car choices. As I said, my wife is not picky about car, her qualification was a new car, suv and not red color. With the current lease, I can lease EQB 3 times and still come ahead instead of buying it. She’s fine with eqb and that’s all that matters.

My comment was zero about the car choice but ok. This thread is about buying :poop:box vs leasing and you start off by making a case for buying a car and owning it for 18 yrs, how “no lease outweighs it” all while currently leasing with plans to lease again.

This is essentially what my friend does (maybe not quite 18 yrs, though!).

Except now he is thinking of a Volvo (!) b/c he wants a car that is basically all touchscreens and has heard good things about Volvos (what good things he has heard, I have no idea).

I keep telling him that he should lease unreliable cars but that leasing, in general, makes no sense b/c he maintains his cars really, REALLY poorly (including cosmetically) and LOVES the idea of driving his cars into the ground (and actually does not at all mind driving the same car for 10+ yrs).

I also tell him that getting anything above, say, a Camry/Accord (he has plenty of $ and can afford whatever ) makes absolutely no sense for him b/c he couldn’t care less how a car handles/drives or what features it has.

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and what’s wrong with that? We are in a better financial position now where I can afford to do that. If it’s up to my wife, she’ll be going to the nearest toyota dealer, get a rav4 or highlander and drive that for another 18+ years. It most likely beat leasing again, but then I’ll have to drive rav4 or highlander if we’re going out (she doesn’t like the previous e46 & the current mini se :stuck_out_tongue: ). Since she’s not picky on car choices but just want new car as requirement, leasing seems perfect for her and give me some choices on the car as well.

I leased a 2020 Chevy Bolt Premier for Free. GM Bought it back on recall, substituted a Bolt EUV Premier for the remaining duration of the lease and cut me a check for 5 grand.

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Can you do it for the next 18 years though? :stuck_out_tongue:

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work mood GIF

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Sometimes leasing is better. Sometimes purchasing is better. Anyone that says it is always one way or the other is wrong.

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