We have mostly purchased our cars but did lease on two occasions and I've decided that leasing is not for me. Here are my reasons:
1. For me, cars are a "freedom tool". If we want to take off for somewhere the car lets us do that. With a leased vehicle I found that I was always thinking about whether I was adding too many miles (or not enough!). I found that it was psychologically limiting. It sometimes affected which car we'd take on a trip as we'd avoid a car that was accumulating too many miles even though it may have been the most appropriate vehicle. Or if I was low on miles I'd drive that car rather than risk leaving lease miles "on the table".
2. I think leases are more prone to manipulation. On our last lease, the dealer tried to sneak in a monthly charge for "rental car replacement". Said they added it to all their leases. I'm guessing many folks wouldn't notice as long as they could afford the monthly payment.
3. At lease expiration I didn't like being forced into a vehicle change on the leasing companies schedule rather than mine. The lease was up so now it was my responsibility to do something "this month", when I wasn't really interested in changing cars at that particular time. Then there was the hassle of the vehicle inspection. Although I've never personally had problems with this I'm acquainted with others that ran into additional charges for excess "wear and tear".
4. On my two leases, I never found that buying the vehicle at lease end was a very good deal. Seems like the residual value was more than the market rate, making it harder to break the lease cycle.
5. Once I got into leasing it seemed hard to get out. If you have leased a car and then decide to go back to a purchase you have no vehicle equity to apply to the new car purchase.
6. I think leasing tends to put you into a fairly rapid "refresh cycle" and results in higher overall costs. I guess this point could be argued but I think this is why Dave Ramsey refers to leases as "fleeces". Related to this is that leases make it easier to select a more expensive vehicle with all the "doodads" as long as one can afford the monthly lease cost.
7. I don't like monthly payments and, conversely, love the feeling that comes with having a car completely paid for.
Bottom line for me is that I feel more "in charge" with a vehicle purchase. With a vehicle lease I felt that it was all about the dealer and the leasing company.
My 2 cents, anyway.