Great work 
I would agree in your situation, leasing makes the most sense. I am flirting with a 3rd option, buy a fully depreciated 10 yr old luxury vehicle, wrench on it myself, and then throw it away if engine blows up.
I’d be more worried about when the air suspension fails or the decade old infotainment, or some mystery electronic gremlin one can spend their life chasing.
Definitely some brands probably more risky than others.
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Air suspension would be a relatively easy fix (or conversion). Infotainment is a problem, but if you choose a vehicle that is old enough where it isn’t all integrated (e.g. separate HVAC controls), then installing a 3rd party stereo with Bluetooth is an option. I would stick to models where there is a strong support forum structure/parts structure and plenty of youtube videos to show how to fix things. [Dealing with the upcoming issue of having 5 drivers in the family, 3 of whom are teens-early 20s.]
The problem is parts cost. You can compare vehicle parts costs on rock auto. That’s why I have a 2005 Odyssey Touring instead of a 2005 X5 or whatever. Parts are dirt cheap and readily attainable.
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That’s a different scenarion than the 1-2 year old German CPO comparison above where I’ve convinced myself leasing with the leasehakr approach is a much better way to go. Cheaper, less headaches, newer technology, warranty, pay as you use sales tax, disposition without worry…
I’ve also recently done this driving an RX330 into the ground with 175K miles. Dropping collision and having teens use for a few months when learning to drive. Some scrapes and dings but still had plenty of interest on Craigslist getting rid of the thing 13 years after purchase.
If possible try to find a vehicle where you know some history and make sure it is either Japanese or American SUV/truck with higher quality, cheaper part and labor costs. Family member, friend, etc.
I’m curious how much these things fetch in real life as a # to play with in scenarios lease vs buy.
That car probably sold for ~45k when new so 39 for an almost 18m old car seems high … plus Audi still suffers from questionable resale values. Among German luxury sedans it would be my third choice to own.
At the time was a pretty solid deal as I looked for months for the right CPO. New A6s weren’t being discounted more than 8-10% without loyalty so 47-48K was about the best price on a new 2015 ~52.5K sticker at the time. And the A6 was my choice over the dated 5 Series and E300 competitors at the time. This one also had Audi Care included and the 6/100 CPO included with a car at barely over 7,500 miles.
So 39K with all that for a 15-month old A6 wasn’t too bad at the time.
Back in 2015, Audi was in a multiyear record run for US sales, the A6 C7 Platform was mid cycle, the MSRPs – while high hadn’t been pushed to the absurd levels we see in 2019. Also was before the A6 stop sale/recall issues in 2017/2018. And Tesla hadn’t yet invaded the entry/midlevel luxury market.
But for sure, even if the math was a couple thousand lower it doesn’t change the conclusion that leasing would have likely been a much better way to go. In 2019, an equivalent low 60s MSRP A6 looks to be CPO’d for mid 40s so the inflated MSRPs are making the already terrible Audi sedan depreciation curve worse.
i have a question
thinking about RX 350
not sure if Buying vs leasing
other than the reliability etc…if the car is 60K and got 6K discount ,how much do i pay assuming i do not want to finance it…in other word when i lease i pay aquisition +documentation+DVM fees ,
what other fees do i pay other than the car price + tax if i decide just to buy it??
Tax, title and license, and the sales price.