Lease or purchase?

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

I've been driving the same 2004 Nissan Murano for 9 years. It's only got 70K on it and it's in decent shape but
I'm thinking that I want to trade it or sell it and get another new car or SUV before I have to start fixing everything.
Love the car, it's been an awesome car. Sad to see it go but I think it might be time.

So just wondering, how do you decide to either lease or purchase?
The cars that I really like are ridiculously expensive.
Even if I just replaced mine with the same model it's almost 40K.
Which makes me think, maybe I should just lease what I want instead.
I've never leased before.
Never thought it made sense but I see some zero down deals that look better than buying.
And I could get a new car every 3 years.

Decisions, decisions.......

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

With the low miles you have on the Murano it may make sense to get a low miles lease. Those with an annual mile cap of 10,000 are VERY low cost. Check out what make/model you want and see what's offered. Check the residual value in case you love the car and want to buy out the lease at the end of the term. Cars like Nissan, Toyota and Honda have high residuel value and will have a lower monthly cost than cars like Ford, Cadillac, even Mercedes. Also check for the up front costs (tax, license, acc fee etc) and see if that makes sense for you; the trade value of the Murano will likely cover all the upfront costs and you may even get a small check back. As it is you are driving less than 10, 000 per year. Many of the low miles leases charge 15 to 20 cents per mile if you go over the allowance and that is if you buy the miles upfront...way more if after the fact.

Joy

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

We have been leasing for almost 20 years now. I know that financial experts say that it is unwise to do this money-wise because you are perpetually paying for something you don't own. However it works for us. We have a GM points cards,which earns 5% back of all your purchases. Added to that, they regularly add an extra $2,000 or so to your earnings to sweeten the deal. It works out that I can usually walk out with a brand new car every 3 years with out putting a single dollar down except for the motor vehicle fees. They even let you use the earning for the tax. The last time I got a nice Cadillac CTS for about $100 down and $323 a month. Buying that car would gave put the payments at about $700/month. To me it was a no-brainer.
DH got a Honda Civic in September. We put down $3,000 total, and the payments were $139/month. Amortizing that by 36 months, it puts payments at $222/month. To me, the low payments more than make up for not owning.

[mpizza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mpizza]

I like to keep my cars a long time (10+ years) and I use mass transit to get to work, so not a lot of mileage.

I would buy the car of your dreams that is 2-3 years old from a dealer so you have a warranty, but most of the depreciation has hit.

Maria

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

With the low miles you have on the Murano it may make sense to get a low miles lease. Those with an annual mile cap of 10,000 are VERY low cost. Check out what make/model you want and see what's offered. Check the residual value in case you love the car and want to buy out the lease at the end of the term. Cars like Nissan, Toyota and Honda have high residuel value and will have a lower monthly cost than cars like Ford, Cadillac, even Mercedes. Also check for the up front costs (tax, license, acc fee etc) and see if that makes sense for you; the trade value of the Murano will likely cover all the upfront costs and you may even get a small check back. As it is you are driving less than 10, 000 per year. Many of the low miles leases charge 15 to 20 cents per mile if you go over the allowance and that is if you buy the miles upfront...way more if after the fact.

Joy

Well I've not been putting alot of miles on the car in the past but now I'm going to be a full time realtor so that may change.
I'm not sure yet but I am going to try to target my neighborhood so that's not an issue.
I think most of the miles I put on this car was going to Orlando to see Mickey.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

We have been leasing for almost 20 years now. I know that financial experts say that it is unwise to do this money-wise because you are perpetually paying for something you don't own. However it works for us. We have a GM points cards,which earns 5% back of all your purchases. Added to that, they regularly add an extra $2,000 or so to your earnings to sweeten the deal. It works out that I can usually walk out with a brand new car every 3 years with out putting a single dollar down except for the motor vehicle fees. They even let you use the earning for the tax. The last time I got a nice Cadillac CTS for about $100 down and $323 a month. Buying that car would gave put the payments at about $700/month. To me it was a no-brainer.
DH got a Honda Civic in September. We put down $3,000 total, and the payments were $139/month. Amortizing that by 36 months, it puts payments at $222/month. To me, the low payments more than make up for not owning.

I kind of have been thinking the same thing.
Owning sounds nice but I averaged out what I have spent with all the money I tied up in this car and it's roughly about $275 a month for the last 9 years. I paid cash for the car at the time but didn't have access to that money all those years either. I guess it's a trade offf.
Kind of like renting or owning Wyndham points. It depends on where you want to go whether it makes sense to own or rent.

There is a nice Volvo with zero down and only $449 for a XC60.
Looks like a nice deal.
http://www.warrenhenryvolvo.com/specials/new.htm

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

I like to keep my cars a long time (10+ years) and I use mass transit to get to work, so not a lot of mileage.

I would buy the car of your dreams that is 2-3 years old from a dealer so you have a warranty, but most of the depreciation has hit.

Maria

I've had terrible luck with used cars. Tried it twice and even with the warranty wasn't happy and ended up trading them too.
I don't like smoke and sometimes these used cars have so much new car smell perfume in them that you don't notice the smoke until it wears off and then it's too late. Happened to be already. And then I was dying to get rid of the car.

I know that financially it sounds all great in theory but I think I do better with new cars.
I take care of my cars and they last a long time since I don't do high miles.
I had another car for 10 years that I bought new. It was also a Nissan.

And even the car of my dreams is too much money for me.
I want one of those Land Rover Evoque and even used is 40K.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Do the math and take all costs into effect to determine what is cheapest. Most people feel that a lease is cheaper, but in reality it is likely not.

[easyrider Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close easyrider]

Well I've not been putting alot of miles on the car in the past but now I'm going to be a full time realtor so that may change.
I'm not sure yet but I am going to try to target my neighborhood so that's not an issue.
I think most of the miles I put on this car was going to Orlando to see Mickey.

Either way will work for you if you can write the new vehicle off as a business expense. The nice thing about buying the vehicle for a write off is you get to use the vehicle for 1 to 6 years as a write off and then sell it. Many people flip vechicles every 2 to 3 years. The money you get for selling the vehicle goes in your pocket and then you buy another new car and use the dealer financing.

Many real estate agents like to show up in a nice ride and the cost could be a factor so leasing makes sense. I know some agents who always have a newer Jaguar, BMW and the likes. Congrats and good luck with the new career.

Bill

[stevio99 Member Find all posts View Profile Close stevio99]

I usually base my lease decision on whether or not I'm likely to go over mileage. Seeing as the average person gets rid of their ccar every 3 years, and provided im not traveling enough to go over miles, it seems to make the most sense to me in that case

[timber Banned Find all posts View Profile Close timber]

I think it would be always nice to get a car on lease, when you are having the intentions to get another care after a two, three years. As, If you will buy a new Car and will go for sale after few years it will lose most of it,s price you might gat a low sale price for it. While getting it on lease would not hurt you enough, when looking to skip to another one.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

You know what? I'd keep the Murano. If it's only got 70,000 miles on it, it's probably good for another ten years. You might have to do a repair here and there, but it's not like it's going to start falling apart after so little mileage. Cars today last 120,000 miles easily, and a well-made car often lasts longer--and you're in Florida, where the car isn't challenged by ice and snow and salt. I'd hang on to that Murano and save my money for now.

[chriskre Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close chriskre]

You know what? I'd keep the Murano. If it's only got 70,000 miles on it, it's probably good for another ten years. You might have to do a repair here and there, but it's not like it's going to start falling apart after so little mileage. Cars today last 120,000 miles easily, and a well-made car often lasts longer--and you're in Florida, where the car isn't challenged by ice and snow and salt. I'd hang on to that Murano and save my money for now.

After looking at what is out there I'm sorta leaning towards keeping it.
I'm having trouble trading down at this moment and the car is due for the 75K major check up in a few months.
I guess I'll re-evaluate after they give me estimates on repairs.
Hopefully it won't be a fortune.