I’m a buy it, own it, drive the wheels off it, sell it with 100,000+ on the odometer kinda guy. I’ve never leased a vehicle, and my experience with leasing is limited to precisely one Toyota Corolla, circa 1996, which was my then-girlfriend’s, now-wife’s car. She was moving up from a Mercury Tracer wagon (the Mazda-in-disguise one, a great little car) and really wanted a Toyota. A brand-new Toyota was practically a prestige car, even if it was just a Corolla, and she wanted it in the champagne color like below.
Did she also get the optional, dealer-applied gold plating for the badges? You know she did.
Anyway, the Corolla was, predictably, a perfectly terrific car. The only drag was the lease of it all, as the available mileage was depleting faster than the time remaining in the lease. Oops. And so, a lot of trips were made in my significantly rattier 1992 Corolla (blue with a blue interior, thanks for asking).
And so, we’ve never leased since. I could absolutely lease a car now, since I work from home and even a low-mileage lease would probably be plenty for me, but still, I prefer to own. At least, I would prefer to own a car I can safely assume will be reliable and long-lived, and at least cheap to fix if it falls below expectations in that regard.
But if I lusted for, say, the latest hotted-up BMW? Any Mercedes? Heaven help me, an Alfa Romeo? Yeah, that’s gonna be a lease. But I’m not Thomas, with his voluminous knowledge of these things. Maybe some of those are rock solid.
Also on the lease-list: anything I think I might get sick of. C8 Corvette, I’m looking at you. Or would I get enough of my money back if I bought and sold? It would just be a Stingray, mind you. I’d have to do some research.
What cars would you lease, but not buy?
Top graphic image: BMW
Alfa Romeo Guilia, anything from Audi…anything German, actually.
I could maybe see leasing an EV back when they had great deals going, but now that the automakers have figured out they depreciate like crazy, the leases are outrageously expensive and don’t include enough miles to cover the driving I’d want to do either.
Basically there’s nothing I would want to lease. My state charges exorbitant registration on new vehicles, so constantly having to pay that on a <3-year-old vehicle would offset any benefits of leasing too. I’ve never kept a new vehicle for less than 5 years and I don’t intend to start.
I would lease a Mach-E in a second but I put way too many miles on a car.
An EV, but I drive too much and would blow through the mileage.
The last time I got a loan for a car was a small personal one for my Sentra SE-R. I paid for my FR-S with money I’d saved up. I haven’t leased anything since moving out of my apartment 12 years ago.
…is that weird?
Normal for Europe/UK I’ve heard. Alien to the US borrow to own culture.
Nope
Agree with the EV choice.
Leased a Mazda many years ago and spent the lease term babying it and watching the mileage. Dealer grumbled when I turned it in because it was an undesirable manual trans, but 3 years was about as long as I wanted that car.
Well, we just finished our first lease ever, a 2024 Mazda CX-90 PHEV. I’m REALLY glad we leased it, for a number of reasons:
That being said, I don’t plan on leasing again. I really didn’t like the lease termination experience. We got charged 4 new wheels for minor scuffs, and really had no recourse. It was still a good deal overall, but I never want the pressure of having to keep a car absolutely perfect for 3 years, especially with kids.
different brands have different damage allowances. My 2 leased hondas, 1Range Rover and 1 Subaru. All no problem – no charges.
None.
A. I don’t do new cars. Initial depreciation is a wonderful thing.
B. Leases imply short term ownership which is not my bag. If I’m going to commit thousands of dollars for something I want whatever it is to be in for the long haul.
With diesel prices the way they are, leasing an EV may actually save me money right now..
Maybe.
After a 50% price increase in a month here, I was thinking maybe I should borrow a gas truck for some out of town hauls.
Then I remembered how bad fuel consumption is for petrol, especially hauling.
I’m still paying a penalty, but not so bad.
I am going to fix my crippled Camry and put it back on insurance for basic transport.
A new EV would be top of my list.
Whatever someone else is making the payments on.
Any EV.
This. The battery tech is still developing, and I’d hate to be saddled with an older, less capable battery for the decade or more that I typically keep a vehicle.
Once solid state tech becomes mainstream, I might rethink this, but for now, lease would be the way to go for an EV (with perhaps an exception for Slate – no doubt there would be DIY battery upgrade options down the road).
or purchased a Charger EV and then have been fully upside down multiple times over.
I get access to a company lease benefit that makes cars significantly cheaper than buying. As someone that likes to change things up every few years, it is a great company benefit. Although I currently plan on buying out my current company lease at the end of it because A.) I love the car and B.) the buyout is a few thousands less than buying a used one on the open market.
Anything new and expensive.
Fiscal rules here in Belgium say your employer can lease a car for you and hold the lease amount from your wages before taxes. This would be extremely interesting before this:
So in reality, the manager drives in with his huge AUDI EV SUV and proclames we should all get a lease.
A new one.
Yes, this exactly.
Reconditionned off-lease cars can be had with low mileage, full waranty and less than half the price of a new one.
Everybody talks about depreciation of new cars, especially EV. But you can buy a near-new one with full waranty that will not have nearly as much depreciation.
I suppose it depends on the market, time of year in the midwest at least and whether some brand has a bunch of new recalls that affect off lease value.
I am not sure I understand what you mean by full warranty though. the number of years and miles for a warranty are kind of set, so the warranty would be depreciated by those two factors
I’m assuming the thought is most off-lease cars that end up at the dealership for sale get factory certified with an extended factory warranty. You get essentially the same warranty length in miles or years that buying it new would have gotten you.
Not every used car will have that “full warranty” by that thought process, but it’s easy enough to get for a small premium if it’s worth it to you.
Off lease cars here are exported or sold by dealers.
Dealers by law have to sell with a year of full coverage plus a year of partial coverage.
Then there are brands with longer factory waranty. Famous example was KIA, with seven year bumper to bumper waranty. Other brands have followed.
Now the law says these waranties are automatically transfered to new owner. And in a waranty case, it is up to the manufacturer to come up with proof of negligent maintenance if this is the cause. So no denial of warantie if you change your own oil.
Generally speaking for a new car buyer you don’t really ever want to ‘own’ any German car (you just want to have them around!), so that’s my answer.
What happened to people who leased a Suzuki right before they (*ahem*) pulled out? You’re six months into a 36 month Vitara lease and you’re freaking out! Or rather not because I think the Venn diagram of people who leased Suzukis in the US and people who even knew they were leaving had little if any overlap. Sadly.
Also, shout out to $0 due at signing leases.
If I was looking. Any higher end European. Hand it back cause the soon to be constant repairs would eat you alive otherwise
Nothing. I don’t lease. Leasing and lease contracts are the creation of Satan
Pardon the gross generalizations, anything German or BEV. I’ve been tempted by leasing before, but I just can’t give them money up front to rent a car.
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
A buddy of mine sold Audis (and then Subarus) he said he would never buy an Audi because they are so unreliable after the first few years of ownership. He ended up with an E-tron though, but I’m pretty sure it was a lease.
The E-tron reduces the number of potential issues significantly when it comes to Audis.
I was interested in a used A3 E-tron plug in hybrid his store had for sale but the electric range was less than 20 miles. It sold before I could check it out, that’s when he told me to steer clear.
Oh, sorry, I though you were referring to the full E-Tron BEV, not the plug in hybrid.
My friend currently has the BEV E-Tron, but he talked me out of the earlier plugin hybrid E-Tron.
Something like a bolt or leaf where the battery thermal manglement is so bad the lease doesn’t account for it enough