Poll: Lease vs. Buy Auto

[retire@40]

I always buy. My hold time for each of my cars has been about 9 years.

[BigMoneyJim]

Some more info on "new car smell": it's bad for you. (of course...what isn't?)

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990528.html
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...ar-smell_x.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_car_smell
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005...e_that_new.php
And so on...

I was actually looking for where to *buy* it when I found the above. I was hoping for a more general retailer, but this place kept popping up near the top of the searces. Heh, it's a 32-oz bottle of the stuff!

http://www.lanescarproducts.com/newcarscent.html

Quote:

Directions: Includes Sprayer! Spray New Car Scent full strength on carpets, in vents, under dash and seats.

I find this funny, but I'm not here to pick on those who like new cars. I have my nonfrugal activities (eating out, travel), and plenty on this board have new SUVs or Lexuses.

Drive new cars, but don't inhale!

EDIT: Added quote

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles That Wayne Huizenga company is AutoNation ... same co. I worked with ... good company, and we loved those folks who liked the smell of a new car.*

i seem to change cars march/april, perfect vertible weather in florida. i rarely put the top up until july. so that new car smell is lost on me.

for the last 20 years i either had company cars or only bought/leased on the advice of my wayne's world buddy. never go car shopping without one.

[samclem]

Driving an old POS car is very liberating. I don't have a coronary every time find a shopping cart against my car in the parking lot. I don't park in a lone space 300 yds away. I don't get the willies if I park next to a junkerr, my car looks rght at home if I'm dropping by the thrift store to buy something. Many times newer cars yield to me at four-way stop signs .

I change the oil regularly, rinse off the undercarriage frequently in the winter, and make sure the CV boots are in good shape. It's simple transportation.

Also, I don't believe for a minute that Toyotas and Hondas are now designed to fall apart at 4 years--the reliability of these brands is what keeps people coming back. They've spent years building their reputations for quality, it is the only significant advantage they have over US cars. If JD Power really opined that these brands would start to engage in planned obsolescence, then they are just flat wrong..

[Jarhead*]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem Driving an old POS car is very liberating.*

Samclem: I have a 1967 P/Up that I use around my property for brush clearing, fishing, etc. Nothing, of course, functions except the engine.

I never take it to town, (hell, I've got a little pride. It's a mess)

Anyway, we've got two pvt. pass. cars, and one morning I was running a little late, for the first day of a golf tournament, and my car wouldn't start, and my wife had already headed to town in the car she uses. Didn't have time to "jump" the car, so I took the P/Up down.

After my round of Golf, there was a folded note on the windshield.
I unfolded it, and there was a $5.00 bill inside, and the note read, "Noticed you left the keys in the ignition. (True) I was going to steal your p/up, but I'm not that desperate. Please accept the $5.00 with my condolences."

I love that old p/up

My wife, to this day, swears she didn't put anybody up to this. (I don't believe her).

[gtmeouttahere]

Actually, I've always been a buy and hold kind of guy but....I just leased a new car for the first time.* It turned out that after doing a reverse amortization, it was equal to 2.9% financing with the option to buy after 3 years.* It was a Honda Pilot and I know it will retain its value very well.

Besides, I looked in the sales lot and other 3 Year old Pilots were selling for more than $8,000 over my buyout option.

This actually allows me to pay cash in 3 years for the vehicle, if I choose.* It also frees up money for me to invest over the next 3 years, instead of paying cash, which I would hope would outperform the 2.9% I'm currently paying.

Also, the family situation, and the type of fuel technology and cars that will be coming in the next few years, It's nice to have an option to offload the vehicle.* But in my case I'll probably buy the vehicle and sell it for about $5-6000 more and it will make the lease even cheaper.

This is the first time however that I found a lease that makes sense.

So for now on, I will not rule out a lease IMO, It may be a viable option.

Interesting, but not surprising, that new car smell is bad for you.

More interesting is that you can't buy it in a can. I tried some new-car-smell products and once ordered it when getting a car wash (do you want Pine Forest, Orange Supreme, or New Car Smell?). None of those things was close to the real item.

I'd think that an artificial thing like glue and solvent smell would be easier to reproduce than natural scents.

[mathjak107]

glue? ooooh wow reminds me of my teenage days growing up.......

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem Driving an old POS car is very liberating.* *

Yup. Every time see the long scrach on my 3 year old subaru that some numbnuts managed to do by sideswiping my parked car (!), I tell myself that maybe a 5 year old Taurus should be my next car.

[mathjak107]

here in nyc you cant worry about scratches and dents,its our way of life...the imortant thing is the reliability and performance...although as i get older and gas more expensive i think less performance and more shift to reliability.............
god forbid you break down on our cross bronx expressway you can get eatin by cannibals.

[mathjak107]

i always find it amusing that the same people who chew the dealer down to the 9th degree when they buy the car outright end up trading it back in to the dealer where they end up with the wholesale price instead of selling it retail on their own only to loose alot of the residual value they tried to capture by buying . ..of course here in nyc its risky selling it on your own.....so chaulk one up for the 4 auto leaser........

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathjak107 here in nyc you cant worry about scratches and dents,its our way of life...the imortant thing is the reliability and performance...although as i get older and gas more expensive i think less performance and more shift to reliability............. god forbid you break down on our cross bronx expressway you can get eatin by cannibals.

I drive on the cross-bronx every day, unfortunately. *The sideswiping happened in Greenwich, of all places. *I guess there are plenty of A-holes among the well-off, too.

When I was living in Queens and parking on the street (fun), I had a paid for 1995 Ford Escort. *Nothing special to look at, but it ran like a top and I didn't give a crap about dings on my thousand dollar car. *My sister has it now and it still runs like a champ. *I just couldn't stomach my horrendous commute in that car.

[73ss454]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathjak107 i always find it amusing that the same people who chew the dealer down to the 9th degree when they buy the car outright end up trading it back in to the dealer where they end up with the wholesale price instead of selling it retail on their own only to loose alot of the residual value they tried to capture by buying . ..of course here in nyc its risky selling it on your own.....so chaulk one up for the 4 auto leaser........

You are correct buying and selling cars gets expensive.

But when you trade a car in you get the tax advantage that you don't get if you sell the car on your own.

The Cross Bronx Expy. is the road from hell!

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73ss454 The Cross Bronx Expy. is the road from hell!*

Not at 6AM.

[azanon]

Quote:

Yup.* Every time* see the long scrach on my 3 year old subaru that some numbnuts managed to do by sideswiping my parked car (!), I tell myself that maybe a 5 year old Taurus should be my next car.

You make that sound like its expensive to have a (long) scratch repaired.* * Its not.* *Think $100 max.

I just bought a new 2007 Honda Fit and they gave me a free bottle of touch-up paint.* *A scratch would bother me just as much on my sort of frugal Fit as it would had i went with the Turbo Scubby.* *(New) cars are expensive regardless.

[73ss454]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 Not at 6AM.

I'll take your word for it! *But what do you think of it at 5PM?

[azanon]

Quote:

But when you trade a car in you get the tax advantage that you don't get if you sell the car on your own.

This is incorrect;* at least in the state of Arkansas.* As long as you sell your car within 45 days of buying the new one (either 45 days before or after), you only have to pay tax on the difference of the new car cost, minus what you got for the car you sold.

In Arkansas, we dont pay sales tax at the dealer. We have 30 days to pay it after the purchase. If you sell the car you're replacing after 30 days but before 45, you can just fill out a form for a reinbursement.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azanon You make that sound like its expensive to have a (long) scratch repaired.* * Its not.* *Think $100 max. I just bought a new 2007 Honda Fit and they gave me a free bottle of touch-up paint.* *A scratch would bother me just as much on my sort of frugal Fit as it would had i went with the Turbo Scubby.* *(New) cars are expensive regardless.

Maybe. *This is along a rear door and the quarter panel and is pretty deep in spots. *If it starts to rust I will deal with it, but otherwise I will just take it as a mark of sliding down the depreciation curve. *I put 30+k miles a year on the car, so it will be a moot point all too soon.

[azanon]

Quote:

This is along a rear door and the quarter panel and is pretty deep in spots. If it starts to rust I will deal with it, but otherwise I will just take it as a mark of sliding down the depreciation curve.

I'd get it fixed before that happens. We have a place here in Little Rock called the "Dent Doctor" that claims $100 or less per scratch/dent. If it was unusually long, they might in person count it as 2, but still i'd avoid the risk of rust, as well as prevent you from lamenting everytime you see it. You're initial post made it sound like it bothers you a lot. I'd eliminate that sort of stress if it were me =p.

[saluki9]

This is just further proof that I don't think I could stomach having to park my car in the city (Chicago) let alone NYC.

Just the thought of a scratch or dent on my baby is enough to make me physically ill. My family always jokes (not incorrectly) that my cars are cleaner when I sell them than they are when I get them from the dealer.

anyway, my company leases my daily driver for me. My weekend toy I buy and plan to keep for a long time