Should I buy or lease a car given that its not a super luxury car and I only drive 15 miles/d on avg?
I have a few recommendations/comments: The trick here is to make it clear to the dealer that you will not be getting a new car from them and their only hope of making some money is to sell you your own car. You need to be prepared to walk away and follow through. DON'T buy a new car from them even if you end up turning it in! They could still come back a day later and offer a deal. Leasing a new car every 3 years is not the best use of money. You have to really, really like that new car feeling every three years and be willing to pay a premium for it. If you're a car nut (like me) and want to spend money on a luxury car, it's far wiser to purchase a slightly used luxury vehicle, keep it for 8+ years, and that way you won't have a car payment half the time! If you lease a car, you are paying for the depreciation of a certain number of miles, even if you don't actually use those miles.  Since you know you will be well under the standard number of miles when your lease is up, and you already know that you want to keep the car, buying is better than leasing. Alternative: buy a recent-model used car in good condition. Or buy an older car in good condition. Let someone else pay the heavy depreciation that happens the moment you drive a new car off the dealer's lot. Which to do is determined by how you like to consume cars. If you don't drive a lot and like to get a new car every 2-3 years, leasing is often the better choice. If you drive a lot or want to keep a car longer than 3 years, you're normally better buying. Leasing is not exactly a scam, but it doesn't seem to be the right product for you.  The point of leasing over buying is that it turns the capital purchase of a car which needs to be depreciated for tax purposes into what is effectively a rental expense.  Rent is an expense that can be deducted directly without depreciation.   If you are not operating a business where you can take advantage of leasing's tax advantages, leasing is probably not for you.  Because of the tax advantages, a lease can be more profitable for the car dealer.  They can get a commission or finder's fee on the lease as well as the commission on the car sale.  That extra profit comes from somewhere, presumably from you.  If a business, you can then pass part of that to the government.  As an individual, you lose that advantage.   At this point, the best financial decision that you could make would be to buy out the lease on your current car.  Lease prices are set based on the assumption that the car will have been abused during the course of the lease.  If you are driving the car less than expected, its value is probably higher than the cost of buying out the lease.  If you buy that car, you can drive it for years.  Save up some money and buy your next car for cash rather than using financing.   Of course, if you really want a new car and can afford it, you may not want to buy out the lease.  That is of course your decision.  You don't have to maximize your current financial position if buying a new car would return more satisfaction for the money in the long run.  I would try to avoid financing for what is essentially a pleasure purchase though. "I usually recommend along these lines.  If you are going to drive the same car for many years, then buy. Your almost always better to buy, and then drive a car for 10 years than to lease and replace it every 2 years. If you want a new car every two years then lease. You're usually better off leasing if you're going to replace the car before the auto loan is paid off or shortly there after. Also you can get ""more car"" for the same monthly money via leasing. I honestly would advise you to either buy out your lease, or buy a barely used car. Then drive it for as long as you can. Take the extra money you would spend and spend it on an awesome vacation or something.  Also, if you're only driving 15 miles a day, then get a cheap, but solid car. Again, just my advice." "Cars depreciate and lose value the second you drive off the lot. Why lose money?  Foreign cars require too much maintenance. What will kill your wallet will be the maintenance on the car, not the payment. Think tires, oil changes, spark plug changes, transmission oil changes, filter changes, brake changes, cost of maintaining is the expensive part. Call the dealer speak to the servicing dept, and go to town. Ask away what all this costs. Basic stuff you expect to have, and find out what the cost of owning that car. Then ask yourself, ""should I buy it?""."
Wow that's awesome that you drive in such a luxurious model. I've got a 2002 Toyota Camry (albeit less miles). In all seriousness, everytime I think about getting a new car, there's just nothing really wrong with the Camry. "You are still paying a heavy price for the 'instant gratification' of driving (renting) a brand-new car that you will not own at the end of the terms. It is not a good idea in your case, since this luxury expense sounds like a large amount of money for you.  Edited to better answer question The most cost effective solution: Purchase a $2000 car now. Place the $300/mo payment aside for 3 years. Then, go buy a similar car that is 3 years old. You will have almost $10k in cash and probably will need minimal, if any, financing. Same as this answer from Pete: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/63079/40014 Does this plan seem like a reasonable way to proceed, or a big mistake? ""Reasonable"" is what you must decide. As the first paragraph states, you are paying a large expense to operate the vehicle. Whether you lease or buy, you are still paying this expense, especially from the depreciation on a new vehicle. It does not seem reasonable to pay for this luxury if the cost is significant to you. That said, it will probably not be a 'big mistake' that will destroy your finances, just not the best way to set yourself up for long-term success." "Uh, you want to lease a car through a dealer? That is the worst possible way to obtain a car. Dealers love leases because it allows them to sell a car for an unnegotiated price and to hide additional fees. It's the most profitable kind of sale for them. The best option would be to buy a used car off of Craigslist or eBay, then sell it again the same way when you leave. If you sell the car for what you paid, then you get the car for a year for free. If you are determined to go through with the expensive, risky and annoying plan of leasing a car, then you should use a leasing agent. I recommend reading some car buying guides before going out into the wilderness with the tigers and bears. Comment on Leasing Tricks Don't get tricked by the ""interest rate"" game. The whole interest thing is just a distraction to trick you into think you are getting some kind of reasonable deal. The leasing company makes most of their money from fees. For example, if you get into an accident it is a big payday for them. The average person thinks they will never get into an accident, but the reality is that most people get into an accident sooner or later. They also collect big penalties for ""maintenance failures"". Forget to change the oil? BOOM! money. Forget to comply with manufacture recall? BOOM! more money. Forget to do the annual service? BOOM! more money. Scratch the car? BOOM! more money. The original car mats are missing? BOOM! you just paid $400 for a set of mats that cost the leasing company $25 bucks. The leasing company is counting on the fact that 99% of people will not maintain the car correctly or will damage it in some way. They also usually have all kinds of other bogus fees, so-called ""walk-away fees"", ""disposition fees"", ""initiation fees"". Whatever they think they can get away with. The whole system is calculated to screw you." $1160 per month, lets say you only have one kid.  Oh, wait, taxes are taken out.  You really only have about $1,000 to work with.  Cheapest rent in my area is about 400 a month, and then you're living in the ghetto.  Seriously, a really not great place to raise a kid but I'm being generous here to prove a point.    What's this?  Walmart is not within walking distance of the ghetto?  Damn, you need a car.  Lets say you have about $100 a month in car payments for a pretty cheap car that just goes from A to B.  Liability only insurance (being generous since if you're making payments you probably need more than liability only) also for another $40 a month.  So we're already at 540.  But since you need to drive to work, we need gas, too.    Let's say you live between 5-10 miles from work.  That means you drive about 20 miles a day, at least.  Your car only gets about 20 miles to the gallon, probably less with city driving, and gas is about $4 a gallon, so $4 per day times 20 days a month (we'll assume you only work $5 a day) and there's another $80.  $620 dollars so far.   Assuming you actually cook at your house instead of eating out.  $75 dollars is average for two people for food for a week, so that's $300 a month (4 weeks.)  $920 so far.  $80 left.  Let's average your utility bill out.  Lets say you don't even have AC, as you can go without it and just be incredibly uncomfortable in a temperate climate.  Just normal electricity and heat in the winter, we'll GENEROUSLY make that a $50 a month bill to average out for the entire year.  $30 left.  In one full year, you've saved up $360!  You're rich!  No, wait...that kid you have probably needs school supplies.  They're growing, too, so they probably need clothes.  For that matter, you also need new clothes.  Even used clothes from Goodwill can be costly over a year.  I really hope your car doesn't break down because that can set you back at LEAST $200 most times.  Also, better hope you don't get sick, because you don't have insurance and a doctors visit or emergency room visit could EASILY break that budget.  No preventative care, either, so your risk of getting sick is substantially hire to begin with than the insured.  I also have not included ANY luxury utility bills, let alone any kind of phone at all or especially internet.    Also, all of this assumes that you work full time, which at WalMart most employees do NOT because Walmart wants to avoid being forced to give benefits to employees.  Do you REALLY want to continue to sit on your high horse and tell me that people can make it raising a family on minimum wage? "Any one of your three options is viable and has its advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I would go for the used option, but I am can-do kind of person. If you don't like micro-managing a car, you may prefer leasing. A new car is sort of the middle of the road option. Leasing will be most expensive and most liability. If you have an accident, the leasing arrangements are designed to extract money from you... heavily. Even a minor accident can require you to pay for expensive repairs, usually much more expensive than if you had your own car fixed. So, not only will you pay more per month, but your accident liability will be a lot higher. With your own car, you will need to sell it (or bring it back to the UK) obviously. A used car will be the cheapest option. A non-descript used car from the local area can also make you ""blend in"" and be less like to be targeted by a criminal as an outsider. As long as you stay away from dealers and buy the car from a private person of good reputation, you have an odds-on chance of getting a decent car. Make sure you check out the person and make sure they are ""real"". Some dealers, called ""curbstoners"", try to pretend to be original owners. You can always spot such frauds because the title will be new. Make sure the same owner has had the car for at least 3-4 years and that it says that on the title. Also, try to buy from somebody who is financially well off--they have less reason to try to screw you. Students, people under 30 and working class are bad people to buy from. Married professionals over age 35 are the right kind of person to buy from." "Now, to buy in full (and essentially have zero savings), buy in part (£10000 deposit, followed by a loan of £4000) or PCP/HP more of the value? So, you are assessing if the car is worth having with either none or only 4,000 in savings. This is the most critical information you have provided.   My outright opinion is to always buy a mildly used car as I hate the idea of loans and interest. With the amount of money that you currently possess, I believe the ""Buy-in-part"" option is best as it reduces your interest liability; but, I don't believe you should do it currently. 4,000 is a rather small cash fund for if something were to go boom in the night.   As for your question of interest: This is completely dependent on the amount you are able to pay per period and the total interest you are willing to spend, rows four and seven respectively. This is your money, and no one can tell you what's best to do with it than yourself. Keep looking for good leasing deals or if you think you can survive financial strife with 4,000 then follow your heart. ""Depreciation"" fluctuates to the buyer, so never assume what the car may lose in the next 2-3 years. Hope it all goes well my friend." Presumably you need a car to get to work, so let's start with the assumption that you need to buy something to replace the car you just lost. The biggest difficulty to overcome in buying a car is the concept of the monthly payment. Dealers will play games with all of the numbers to massage a monthly payment that the buyer can swallow, but this usually doesn't end up giving the customer the best deal. The 18 month term is not normal for a lease, typically you'll see 24 or 36 months. You are focusing on another goal of paying your student loans by then which would free up much more money for other wants (like a car) but at what cost? The big difficulty of personal finance is the mental mind game of delaying gratification for greater long-term benefit. You are focusing on paying your student loans now so that you can be free of that debt and have more flexibility for the future. Good. You're tempted to spend another $5400 (assuming no down-payment or other surprise fees) to drive a car for 18 months. That doesn't sound any wiser than $5,000 for an unreliable used car that gave you more problems than you bargained for. Presumably you got some percentage of that money back from the insurance company when the car was totaled, but even if not, the real lesson should be finding a car that you can afford up-front, but also one that you can still use when the loan is paid off (like your education--that investment will keep giving even when the loans are a distant memory). My advice would be to look for a car that has about 30k miles on it and pay for it as quickly as possible, then drive it at least for 70-120k more miles before replacing it. You may wish for a newer car, especially in 3 or 4 more years when it starts to show its age, but you'll also thank yourself when you can buy a newer better car with cash and break out of the monthly payment game that dealers try to push on you. You might even enjoy negotiating with car salesmen when you see through their manipulations and simply work for the best cash price you can get. It depends how detailed you want to get in your calculation, but fundamentally, 1K < 25K.   On a very basic level, divide the cost (less what you sell it for) by the time you'll have the car for.  If you junk it, $1K/12 month = $83/month to buy tires to have a car for a year. If you sell it for $1K, then it become $0/month.  (Plus other maintenance, etc..., obviously). If you pay 25K and keep the new car for ten years and sell it for nothing, it becomes roughly $208/month (plus maintenance). If you want to get more accurate, there are a lot of variables you can take into account--time cost of money, financing, maintenance costs of different vehicle types, etc...