How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Guys/Gals,



Not wishing to start a debate here as both 'work', depending on individual needs, but I'm still wondering how many of you lease vs. buy your Highlanders?



In the past I'd always bought my cars....put on very litte mileage and in general took good care of them. Had an Acura, 2 Toyota 4 Runners, and a Honda...overall no problems thankfully.



My first lease was the '07 BMW X3 that I just traded for the Highlander. I was a bit impulsive with it and since buying it at the time was a bit over budget, leasing made more sense. After the 3 years was up, we decided to buy....bad move considering how many service visits I had during the lease...thankfully my warranty still covered the car for one more year. Didn't want to deal with maintenance beyond the warranty, hence, it was recently traded. Too many worries.



Anyway, I leased the HL as I wanted to be sure it would be more reliable than the X3 and so that I wouldn't be 'locked in' so to speak...also got the deal I wanted with the trade. I LOVE it so far and feel like I could drive it happily for years to come. I'm not really someone who HAS to have a new car every three years.



I do like that in a lease, everything is covered on the car, but I guess that's what extended warranties are for. I also am not crazy about the idea of having to drop a couple of grand or more at the end of each lease to jump into a new lease...adds up. I know I can still buy at the end of my lease so I'm not too worried.



Just wanted to get an idea of what you chose to do....buy or lease?

Reply 1 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

I don't like the idea of leasing that much. It is more expensive compared to financing and I feel like that car doesn't belong to you even though you have the option to really own it at the end. My previous car was a 05 toyota solara. I am like you, don't put that many miles. After 5,5 years I only had 35k on it. Didn't have a single problem with the car. The most I paid for the service was something like $270 each for 15k and 30k mile service. Since I traded a toyota to get my HL they gave me free 2 year basic service for free. So I am not paying for service also. I don't think I will ever lease a car. Also considering breaking up the lease is another problem itself. But you can always sell a car you finance anytime you want to.

Reply 2 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsansal I don't like the idea of leasing that much. It is more expensive compared to financing and I feel like that car doesn't belong to you even though you have the option to really own it at the end. My previous car was a 05 toyota solara. I am like you, don't put that many miles. After 5,5 years I only had 35k on it. Didn't have a single problem with the car. The most I paid for the service was something like $270 each for 15k and 30k mile service. Since I traded a toyota to get my HL they gave me free 2 year basic service for free. So I am not paying for service also. I don't think I will ever lease a car. Also considering breaking up the lease is another problem itself. But you can always sell a car you finance anytime you want to.

True...was glad to get out of the X3 this way as the worry wasn't worth it (nor all the trips to the service dept).



I do think it would have been cheaper to have bought from the outset, but what's done is done. At least I know what the payoff will be once the 35mos are up on mine and we can think about it. I hope to have a carefree three years of driving it, and beyond if we choose.



Thanks for your feedback!

Reply 3 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Great topic. IMO, lease is great for high maintenance vehicle such as BMW, Audi, Volvo. You can pretty much tell by the market. Check around and you will notice those brands has much lower used car entrance point vs Japanese or American cars.



Most people wouldn't buy those cars off lease knowing how many issues they have (You can probably tell from your experience on the X3) unless they buy if ext. warranty.



One good think about leasing is you get to try out the car, if you like it, buy it at the end you should be in great position and don't need to worry about going over the miles. However, if you are not planning to buy, you have to keep an eye on the mileage. SUV usually hold a pretty good resale for Toyota. It is safe to assume the buying value will be reasonable.

Reply 4 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Quote:

Originally Posted by grandpapa Great topic. IMO, lease is great for high maintenance vehicle such as BMW, Audi, Volvo. You can pretty much tell by the market. Check around and you will notice those brands has much lower used car entrance point vs Japanese or American cars. Most people wouldn't buy those cars off lease knowing how many issues they have (You can probably tell from your experience on the X3) unless they buy if ext. warranty. One good think about leasing is you get to try out the car, if you like it, buy it at the end you should be in great position and don't need to worry about going over the miles. However, if you are not planning to buy, you have to keep an eye on the mileage. SUV usually hold a pretty good resale for Toyota. It is safe to assume the buying value will be reasonable.

Agree 100% with you...leasing is PERFECT for the higher end cars that are known to cost a lot to maintain. Admittedly, it was dumb to have bought the X3...learned this the hard way of course



I did want to try out the Highlander, especially after my experience with the X3. While I had great experiences with the previous Toyotas I've owned, there was still some uncertainty. Anyway, so far so good, and having options at the end of the lease does help I guess.



Thanks

Reply 5 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

I always purchase in full, in cash. I prefer to own outright and avoid the extra cost of financing.

Reply 6 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust I always purchase in full, in cash. I prefer to own outright and avoid the extra cost of financing.

That's awesome

Reply 7 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust I always purchase in full, in cash. I prefer to own outright and avoid the extra cost of financing.

Unless it is 0% financing like Toyota had last year after they had a ton of cars waiting to be sold after all those rumors.

Reply 8 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

My wife's Highlander is the third vehicle I've leased. I've never kept a car longer than 3 years so I really enjoy the freedom of walking away from a vehicle after 3 years and never having to worry about being upside down on a loan. I would purchase a vehicle, as long as special financing rates were available, but that was not the case when I got the Highlander.

Reply 9 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeyo My wife's Highlander is the third vehicle I've leased. I've never kept a car longer than 3 years so I really enjoy the freedom of walking away from a vehicle after 3 years and never having to worry about being upside down on a loan. I would purchase a vehicle, as long as special financing rates were available, but that was not the case when I got the Highlander.

I suppose it also depends on how much $$$ you have to put down on a lease.



My husband is a year into his 3 year lease on a VW CC...it's been fantastic and he is always getting complimented on it. Best part is that we not only got away with nothing down on it, but the dealer gave us a check to pay off the end of the lease he had on a Volvo S60 at the time

Reply 10 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

0% financing or cash..



I wouldn't lease a vehicle because I like to keep my vehicles for as long as I want and I don't want to worry about KM's and limits. Also, I like to own things

Reply 11 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

I would not lease a vehicle under any circumstances. Too many limitations and no modifications ruin it for me!

Reply 12 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vsansal Unless it is 0% financing like Toyota had last year after they had a ton of cars waiting to be sold after all those rumors.

I'll still take cash for the simplicity of the deal, plus immediate ownership.

Reply 13 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Just went through this same exercise with an Acura MDX. Instead of leasing I bought the Highlander. Leasing only makes sense for high residual vehicles. More than likely the money factor (interest rate on leases) is going to be higher than auto loan rate.



Here is the big risk. Auto loan rates are the lowest I can remember. Even on a used car, you can go to a credit union and get under 4%. If you lease the car, what are the loan rates going to be in 3-4 years. More likely much higher than today.



So not only are you going to pay a higher interest rate during the lease but will probably get hit with an even higher rate if you want to buy the vehicle.



If you want a new vehicle every 3 years a lease can still make sense. If you want to make a long term commitment to the car, then go ahead and buy it outright and take advantage of these very low interest rates.

Reply 14 : How Many of You Lease vs. Buy Yours?

Quote:

Originally Posted by boodawg71 Just went through this same exercise with an Acura MDX. Instead of leasing I bought the Highlander. Leasing only makes sense for high residual vehicles. More than likely the money factor (interest rate on leases) is going to be higher than auto loan rate. Here is the big risk. Auto loan rates are the lowest I can remember. Even on a used car, you can go to a credit union and get under 4%. If you lease the car, what are the loan rates going to be in 3-4 years. More likely much higher than today. So not only are you going to pay a higher interest rate during the lease but will probably get hit with an even higher rate if you want to buy the vehicle. If you want a new vehicle every 3 years a lease can still make sense. If you want to make a long term commitment to the car, then go ahead and buy it outright and take advantage of these very low interest rates.

Good advice