What’s that they say about opinions?
Anyone wanna take bets on what she leases? Personally Suze looks like a Mercedes girl to me, an S Class maybe?
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Suze is an idiot. She peddled a debit card years ago with a fee to poor people. Terrible person.
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Steve Jobs leased a new car every six months. If only he had bought a used car and kept it for 12 years he might have caught up to Bill Gates in wealth.
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Well, I think there was a reason for that, to do with CA licenses and HOV lanes…
Article says she keeps her cars for 12 years or more.
I get her point - she’s talking to people on a budget, maybe trying to get out of debt. And I agree with her point that if you can’t afford 3-year financing, that car’s probably too much for your budget. And she’s also talking to people who are not car people, and maybe just want to impress their neighbors with a badge.
I don’t care what badge is on my car - I want it to be “faster than” as many cars as possible. I’m sure my '05 Subaru wagon with fading paint and scraped wheels takes a few people by surprise… Plus, I’m a car nut, always have been.
For the average person, buying a used Corolla / Camry, driving it 6-8 years with minimal maintenance and then doing the same probably IS significantly cheaper than a constant 1% lease on a BMW. This site is mostly about getting a given car for a given price (maybe 1%, maybe a bit more or less), whether that’s $200/month or $800/month. You have to decide your budget, which this site doesn’t really cover. Who cares if you get a $399/month lease and “best hacker deal ever” on a Hellcat if you can’t make your mortgage payments?
Not saying she’s 100% right, but I do see how her advice could be helpful for the right people…
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Can we even start with David Ramsey. Here’s a recent clip.
I agree with her on one point…
“One of the best ways to build financial security is to spend the least amount possible on a car that meets your needs”
And the best way for me to do that is to lease. So I do!
She used to advertise for Acura a few years ago I seem to recall? I bet they gave her a sweet deal on some freebie.
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Agreed she is not speaking to the .5%er leasehackers who take the delta between a cheap lease and more expensive finance change and invest it etc…She is talking to people who are living paycheck to paycheck and have 10K+ is credit card debt…
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Dang, was hoping to beat everyone to posting that. Wayyyy too late it looks like.
And I’ll agree with her to a point. Need to run the math and be honest about your intentions with a vehicle. Whether going to change it up every few years or going to keep it for 10. Some people are wired totally differently. I change it up every year or two, my dad keeps his cars for 12. I’ve only ever known him to have 3 cars in my life, while I’ve already had around a dozen. 
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I think it depends on the individual’s budget and savings. For example ,If you can only afford $250 per month and wants an AWD car, you can probably only get a high mileage out of warranty car for the 36 month payment if you decide to buy it but do you have the financial capacity to pay for any small or major repairs ? If you dont have the capacity to pay for major repairs, that’s a big risk. Unfortunately majority of Americans dont even have $500 for emergencies. But if you have the financial capacity then it’s better to buy the car. Just my thoughts.
I heard her say awhile ago that she likes the cheap meals at Taco Bell too…her advice on this is obviously common sense, but I suppose I could save money on clothes by shopping at a thrift store and eating crappy food all the time. Live below your means, spend money on what’s important to you, and between now and dead you can enjoy your life. Personally I wish I wasn’t such a car guy, but I’ve driven my share of beaters and don’t plan on going back. I hate to say it, but some Nachos BellGrande are sounding pretty good right now…
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He didn’t want to have to put a license plate on it. Found out if he traded it in every 6 months he could get around having to get a plate. I would think not having a plate would stand out more than having a plate…I guess I’m just not smart enough to understand. I read this about a year ago…don’t remember where.
I agree with her - a lease is not the cheapest basic transportation
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I believe the point was: if he didn’t have to put a plate on it, he could be an ass and ride in the commuter lanes and/or go through toll lanes without a transponder and not get a ticket, because the cameras couldn’t get a license plate picture… (in CA, temp tags are a little piece of paper on the front windshield, license plate readers read the rear plate). In CA, plates stay with the car, not the owner, so he got a new set of plates for every new car, which meant the little piece of paper on the front for a while, which let him get around some of the rules…
However, I’m not 100% on that…
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Yep, everyone has their own situation and knowledge base. For every hakcr here leasing a 300 dollar Q50 or QX60, there are probably five posters talking about being 10k miles over their 400 a month Encore lease with accidents on the Carfax.
I work with a lot of average Americans daily including reviewing finances. I think the big thing is leasing is complicated, really complicated. For the average American, if they go to lease a car they are going to get robbed. They just don’t have the knowledge. It’s a lot simpler to buy with less confusing math.
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Totally - was just going to say this. Buying a used car, cash, is ONE number to worry about. Do you really think the average person who’s always had trouble managing money and staying out of debt because they can’t budget, don’t want to do math, just want to “do it”, should go to a dealer that offers them a $399 lease on a Camry/Accord/Sonata? As has been stated here multiple times - many people don’t know you can negotiate on a lease - they think you HAVE to pay MSRP. In which case, they will get robbed blind.
Mind you, people paying $20k for a 2 year old Corolla that sold for $19,500 have a different kind of problem, but it’s still simpler conceptually: don’t pay more for the car than it sold for initially (with some caveats). Getting MF, RV, $5k down, all that stuff involved - yeah, the average person’s going to get taken to the cleaners if they find the wrong salesman…
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Leasing can be cheap transportation, just needs to be under $200/mo
I think one major aspect of leasing that people miss out on is safety. Driving a car that is 12 years old is not nearly as safe as one that is 3 years old plain and simple. To get value out of a purchase you typically need at least 10 years of usage out of it. Safety packages are slowly becoming standard on all models (automatic braking, lane assist etc.). I know it already is on all Toyota’s.
This article is also good for a laugh, but the reason why he’s selling his car in the first place is very telling.
Another aspect is technology. I think having Bluetooth definitely falls into the safety category, but having Android Auto is a must have for me at this point. You can’t get that on a 10 year old car. Who knows what “must-have’s” will be out 10 years from now.
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Depends on the car + whether or not you can replace the head unit without losing any functionality. There are aftermarkets stereos with Android auto/carplay.
You could even put in a carputer, hook it up to your OBD2 and read all sorts of useless data from the BCM, PCM, etc.
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