Yes, but a GTI with the 6 year warranty before those ended was an exception on a buy to be sure. Great overall car to drive for 6 years on a purchase with a few bucks in equity at the end.
No you probably wonāt lose buying a stick shift 911 or R8, you wonāt lose if you donāt buy them either.
Electric cars are my only justification for leases. We have solar so the cost of energy is relatively cheap. It would cost us more to drive a s***box then to drive the equinox we have today with insurance included. Thereās a huge value proposition for such with better technology but more importantly a very safe vehicle.
Buying used electric vehicles is a gamble with an unknown depreciation curve depending on the political climate as well.
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It is awesome you were able to do this with the Infiniti and pay down the mortgage on your primary residence. At the end of April I had some work done on my 2001 Prelude Type SH and have been driving it pretty much every day. Iāve been looking for solid used cars for a while now as I have an 18 year old with a summer job & a license as well as a 16 year old with his permit. Thereās a lot of worthless junk out there at the $5k & even $10K price point. I ended up leasing my wife a 2025 Camry SE AWD, Iām driving my Prelude, and my 18 year old son is driving my wifeās almost paid off 22 Highlander with 73K miles on it. Once my 18 year old goes back to school at the end of August, Iāll start driving the Highlander daily.
Thereās just so much unknown with the used cars as far as big ticket things that can go wrong from lack of proper maintenance. āonly thing Iāve ever had to do was change the oil & rotate the tires.ā
Think youāre assuming some bold withdrawal/growth rates. 4% is standard so 18 mil generates 720k safely.
Itās pretty hard for an 18 yr old to max a 401k but yes if you consistently do so for a long period of time and stay invested appropriately, compound interest is extremely powerful
Yes exactly people donāt understand LH is an extremely niche subset of mainly above avg income folks who also want cheap/ reasonable auto deal
4%? I cant remember the last year that I didnt make 8%ā¦
FYI a 30 year treasury bond is more than that 4.5% IIRC
Pretty sure he is referring to the 4% withdrawal rate, not the Investment Rate of Return. Though I admit that wasnāt very clear in the post.
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ohhhh that makes more sense
āA society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.ā ā Greek Proverb
In fairness, I was shitposting, but I donāt disagree.
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As a categorical statement this just isnāt true. It applies to whatever is hackable at any given time. Right now itās mostly EVs and PHEVs.
The vehicles that were front page deals over the years (gas MB or BMW sedans, compact and mid- to full-size sedans like the Cruze and Malibu, full-size trucks like the Tundra, mid-size trucks like the Frontier, premium three row SUVs like the QX60 and MDX) most of those deals existed in one short time frame and not necessarily a lot of choice besides.
Even with the benefit of hindsight, knowing exactly how/when to exit an existing or expiring lease to take advantage of the next best deal before it expired or programs got worse, Iām not sure one can map a 15-20 year journey for a customer who likes vehicles in one segment.
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This is the biggest hack for people uninterested in understanding how to hack anything else.
Obviously weāre talking about someone in the position to buy or a lease a brand new car. IMO the biggest mistake they make when looking at an unhacked lease like a Civic, RAV4, or Highlander hybrid is they compare the monthly payments on paper and just pick the lower one. I donāt think they think about how that plays out over time.
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Making a decision for what to buy and how to pay for transportation has a lot of parameters. So it is definitely not an easy decision for a lot of people.
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Based on my own experience leasing over multiple decades of leasing, the 
box buying vs. leasing argument the financial guru in the video is pushing doesnāt add up as a blanket recommendation for āmost people.ā There are many things that donāt get addressed in the video that stack up in favor of leasing that I think need to be taken into a more holistic assessment.
Here are things that are not taken into account in his video or in any of the arguments in this thread:
-
Repair costs
I donāt care if you have a Toyota or Honda, youāll have repair costs. Where I live, a labor hour, even at an independent, is close to $200/hr. Maybe itās less in other parts, but repairs happen. A/C compressors go out, transmission failures, head gasket leaks etc. those are not uncommon even on āreliableā cars. Theyāre still machines that wear and break over time. Unless you have a car mechanic background, youāll have to pay someone to do it. -
Maintenance costs
As cars age, they need more maintenance. New timing belts/chains, water pumps, suspension wear, etc. āReliableā cars arenāt immune to this. -
Diminished value in an accident
You get into an accident, you take a financial hit, not the bank. Your car will be worth a lot less. Nobody ever mentions this when they discuss owning vs. leasing. -
Brakes/Tires
Canāt remember last time I bought new tires or brakes. Iāve bought a cheap set of $150 tires to slap back onto a lease before returning it but thatās about it. Tire costs have skyrocketed over the last few years. $600ā$1000 a set is not uncommon these days. The older the car, the more sets you gotta buy. The alignment is sometimes off causing tires to wear unevenly, then you gotta replace one here and there. This all adds up. Brakes and rotors also. -
Lease arbitrage: Equity/Flipping
The majority of leases I got out of early and made money on equity or by swapping out of it and making money on the swap. And that happened before the pandemic too. This supplements the payment to a point where Iāve had free or nearly free cars. Others here, @ElectricEliminator for example, drove a Bolt for free after a recall. People forget how cheap some leases were in the past. Letās not forget those $60/mo Chevy Cruze for example.
Yes, that requires someone to know what theyāre doing, and yes, thatās not the norm, but there are always deals to be had for someone who is flexible and is willing to track deals. With LH, itās gotten significantly easier than when I did it before LH existed. -
Rising MSRPs
MSRPs have gone through the roof. MSRP on a 2005 Civic was like $14k. Today a base Civic starts at $24k. Lease pricing, on the other hand, is driven by incentives, MF, and RV. $300/mo leases have existed in 2005 and today. -
Safety
Cars have gotten safer. An old car lacks features like lane-keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, and side-curtain airbags that come standard on many new vehicles today. -
Medical costs after an accident
Driving an older car doesnāt just increase your risk of injury, it increases your risk of massive medical bills. Newer cars come with more airbags, better crumple zones, advanced crash avoidance tech, etc. That can mean the difference between walking away or ending up in the ER with a broken leg. And how many people either donāt have insurance, have high deductibles, or arenāt fully covered? Thatās a hidden risk that can cost thousands or worse. Leasing a newer car in a way is a form of protection. -
Fuel efficiency
Most cars have gotten more fuel efficient over time, so thereās annual gas savings you gotta take into account. -
Risk of being underinsured
Many owners skimp on collision or comprehensive coverage to save $25ā$50/mo. In the event of an at-fault accident, they could be left with a total loss and no way to replace their car. Accidents are not a matter of if, itās a matter of when for most. So you could be stuck with not being able to afford a car youāve been saving for and either not having a car or settling on a car you didnāt want because you relied on the equity of the old car or on having more time to save. -
Modern features
Youāre missing out on all of the modern features driving an old car. Not all of them are necessary, but even most basic cars today have standard features that werenāt around in old cars. Even a base Hyundai Elantra comes with wireless CarPlay, adaptive cruise, and lane assist, all unheard of in economy cars 10 years ago. Iām not even talking about super luxury features like A/C or massage seats. Those all contribute to more enjoyment as well. And thatās a big point, why not enjoy yourself a little? Especially when itās not more $, or at least not a lot more money if you do it right while at the same time enjoy all the other benefits as well? -
Opportunity cost of capital
Buying a car cash ties up a lot of capital. Why park $30k+ in a depreciating asset when you could lease a nicer car and invest the difference or keep cash liquid?
Sure, you can come out ahead owning a box if you buy the right car at the right price, stay on top of every oil change and timing belt, never get into an accident, do your own repairs, and hope nothing major breaks. But thatās the exception, not the rule, just like true Leasehackrs are outliers. Most people arenāt either. And thatās why I donāt buy into the guruās box argument. With leasing, even a āset it and forget itā approach gets you a reliable, safe, and modern car, without surprise repairs, rising maintenance costs, tire and brake expenses, or worrying about diminished value after an accident. You save time, you avoid the headache, and if youāre even a little savvy, youāre not paying that much more. Or if you want to be a more savvy, you can be paying less as I outlined above. To each their own.
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Well I guess itās good for you and the rest of the world that automakers decided to come up with leasing, clearly to reward their customers and provide tons of free value
Good points! I leased a new 2024 Audi Q4 etron Prestige 55 for two years for half the monthly payment with zero down than a 2025 Camry hybrid bought for $800 per month for 60 months with zero down.
I get a new car every two years, use that $400 extra per month elsewhere as opportunity cost money and donāt have a five year old Camry at the end that I still had to pay more for with gas. I saved a minimum of +/- $20k in payments if I leased again 1.5 times for 3 years with a similar deal if not a little more. Is the Camry $20k in equity value at 5 years over my $20k plus whatever I made on my $20k?
Maybe, but maybe not and I am also driving my 3rd new car at that point in time as well.
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There you go. 
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Many of the same valid reasons I started leasing after being so averse to it. Breaking point for me was mechanics misdiagnosing and not being able to fix things properly, even so called foreign car specialists.
Leasing may cost more versus holding a car for 5+ years but the peace of mind when it comes to some issues has been priceless.
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peace of mind and time not spent on maintenance (outside of checkup)/issues > money anyday.
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