maintenance history since new 2013

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ttforcefed

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so this begs another question - i paid $64k for my car plus all the maintenance outlined in this thread - not obvious that buying and owning makes sense.

$70k after taxes plus approx $15k in maintenance is $85k over 6 years is 1100 a month basically. i cld have driven a new car for 6 years - zero in maintenance.
 

Fuji4

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so this begs another question - i paid $64k for my car plus all the maintenance outlined in this thread - not obvious that buying and owning makes sense.

$70k after taxes plus approx $15k in maintenance is $85k over 6 years is 1100 a month basically. i cld have driven a new car for 6 years - zero in maintenance.
of course, you drove almost 20k miles a year. which might be onerous on a lease...
 

Fuji4

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not really - the overage on lease mileage isnt that bad...
Maybe I just don’t know anything about leases because I always buy but aren’t there significant up front costs (like $3500 +) at lease signing? Plus 5k miles overage per year at .30 a mile = $4500 on a three year lease. Plus a “disposition fee” at lease end tbd by LR. Plus “excess use and wear” fees (possibly given the miles).
Plus another round of fees at your new lease signature to get your hands on the latest model. Are you considering these amortized over the five years?
 

ttforcefed

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yep im not an expert either - prob a wash as there are very few free lunches in life
 
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Fuji4

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yep im not an expert either - prob a wash as their are very few free lunches in life
Yeah, my thought has always been that leasing is convenient (luxurious) and borderline expensive, and buying generally costs less. This is assuming that you keep the car for 5-6 years. if you are selling cars you bought new after 4 or less years it might be a wash. Generally speaking, rule of thumb, whatever. The value you are getting when leasing is the feeling of new car ownership, and the ease and convenience of not dealing with maintenance or selling. And that IS a value, but you are paying for it. to be More convenient, More luxurious, more hassle free, AND cheaper, seems impossible.

Of course... that will be the argument I make for my Rivian electric SUV (or whatever badass electric SUV/TRUCK comes out between now and 2020...
 

ryanjl

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If you are in the habit of buying a new car and selling it 3 years later, and you don't plan on modifying it in any meaningful way, leasing is normally the way to go. The monthly lease payment is just the projected depreciation plus sales tax divided by the number of months in the lease. If, at the end of the 3-year term, the projected depreciation turned out to be too much (meaning, the car did not depreciate as much as the bean-counters thought it would when they created the lease), the owner can always sell the vehicle to a third-party and pay off the lease residual, pocketing the difference. If the projected depreciation is too little, the owner can happily turn the vehicle in and walk away. Either way, the owner "wins," and isn't really out any value that they would have had if they purchased. In fact, it can kind of put the risk of over-depreciation on the car manufacturer.
 

cperez

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Maybe I just don’t know anything about leases because I always buy but aren’t there significant up front costs (like $3500 +) at lease signing?

Leases don't automatically require a down payment, at least not in my experience. My wife leases her cars for 39 months. She always goes with zero down. Sure, that money just gets spread across the number of lease payments but it's a business expense anyway.

The reason you may equate leases with hefty down payments is because all of the commercials quickly murmur through that disclosure info. They advertise leases with down payments as a way to get to a lower, more attractive monthly payment and they focus on that number. I think it's misleading but caveat emptor.
 

Fuji4

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anybody have any real world numbers on a lease they are on? I can't imagine a lease payment of less than 1100 a month with 0$ down on a loaded HSE lux at $65k+. I put like $22k down on a buy at 60 months, and still have $800ish a month payments. Up in a few short months though. I bet those lease monthly numbers are high... especially with $0 down.
 

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