Lease a $70k car or buy a $50k car

Ask the Hackrs Buy/Finance
1

So I keep going through this dilemma every few years in terms of lease vs buy, when I was leasing 3 row luxury SUVs at 400$ a month it made no sense to buy a car.

However most recently I had the option to buy a fairly loaded CX9 GT @ $45k financed for 60 days or lease the XC90 T8 @ $65k 36/15k for basically the same exact price, in the 750-800$ range per month whether I finance or lease.

Assume the 15k miles and 5 years I’m basically around 75-80k miles after 5 years when the car is paid off and that is not accounting for any wear and tear that comes along. Where as for the same I can lease a car and drive it for around 90k miles with pull ahead etc.

All else being equal does it really make sense to buy a cheaper car at all…

Curious what others think.

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First consideration of any potential purchase is what the resale value can be realistically expected to be.

I have no idea what this means but you cannot assume what, if any, pull-ahead options will be available in the future.

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Would you really spend 70,000 on a European car to buy. If your rich go for it. But if not leasing a Volvo is the smartest. Don’t want to get in maintenance hell. There is no issue in buying it but if you know how to treat your cars good unlike me then buy it

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You have to look at what a five year old Mazda is going for right now. Then take this price and assume this will be your selling price (adjust by another 15% to be safe). Then subtract that from your buying price and that will be your total depreciation. Then add in the interest payments to get true effective payment.

You will most likely come out ahead with the 50k Mazda.

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I wouldn’t base any future cost estimates on today’s insane used car market.

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If you’re even considering the CX-9, why buy it for 750-800/month? You can lease it in current market for 400-500(for signature trim).

Compare the 250-300/month saved to your other cost of ownership calculation.

So let’s say you can lease a CX-9 for 5 years (3 + 2 separate leases) & come lower by $250/month.

That’s $15k over 5 years. So if you’re able to sell the cx-9 for 15k after financing it, you’re in the hole cuz of maintenance.

P.S. - I’m surprised that @mllcb42 hasn’t told the OP to think twice about buying a CX-9.

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I usually try to hold my tongue until someone posts asking for opinions on the vehicle or talks about it meeting a certain requirement (like being a 3 row vehicle)

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Any issues with CX9 or CX5 I knew they fun to drive like they advertise. Last one I drove and own was 85 RX7.

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There’s nothing fun to drive about the cx9. It’s still a big, heavy vehicle.

The bigger issue is that it’s poorly packaged, so it’s useless as a 3 row and not even that big from a cargo standpoint as a 2 row.

Mazda infotainment is a miserable excuse of an attempt given the state of the industry.

The interior looks great for about 6 months until all that piano black trim looks like it got in a fight with a brilo pad.

Then there was the transmission that clunker every time you lifted off the throttle in mine that they insisted was normal.

Or the body panels that randomly cracked at thin cross sections.

It’s the kind of vehicle that has a great honeymoon period and then becomes insufferable.

2 Likes
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Haha thanks for the input I know the CX9 was terrible to buy and on the side of leasing it, I don’t like the idea of leasing non luxury cars it never made sense to me. Its worth it to lease a luxury car.

I ended up with the XC90 anyways so wasnt going to be making the mistake of buying it.

I hadn’t seen a good lease it was still coming close to 500-600 for 15k miles.

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Well isn’t it about the numbers ?

Nice. Enjoy.

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It really depends on your personal circumstances. Some people make more sense to lease because they don’t want the hassle or expense of owning a car. For others, it makes more sense to buy because they want to build equity in a car. It sounds like you’re leaning towards leasing, which is understandable, given your listed benefits. However, it would help if you also considered the potential drawbacks of leasing. For example, you will never own a car and always have a monthly payment. Additionally, you may have to pay extra if you exceed your mileage allowance or damage the car. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what makes the most sense, but I recommend getting Japanese import cars for sale on lease.

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Please don’t bump year old threads.