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• (edited )
Are car leases a scam?

I’m looking at leasing a car, and it sounds like a good deal. However there can be a big bill at the end and you’re throwing your money away instead of having an asset at the end of the lease. It seems a little bit like a jew trap to me. Has anyone here leased a car before? What are your experiences?

edit thanks for all the replies

I’m looking at leasing a car, and it sounds like a good deal. However there can be a big bill at the end and you’re throwing your money away instead of having an asset at the end of the lease. It seems a little bit like a jew trap to me. Has anyone here leased a car before? What are your experiences? edit thanks for all the replies

(post is archived)

[–] [deleted] • 7 pts

To me car leases seem like they are for people who are comfortable being in perpetual debt. You will own nothing and be happy.

[–] • 2 pts

I own multiple cars outright, some heavily modified for performance.

I also lease multiple cars.

Guess which ones I choose to buy and why, and which ones I choose to lease and why.

Leasing is just renting. It's as simple as that. Everyone makes it more complicated.

[–] • 1 pt

Lease is just a tool that you can choose to use or not based on your own conditions.

[–] • 0 pt

Lease is just a rental. Nothing more, nothing less.

[–] • 0 pt

How am I supposed to guess which ones you chose to lease? Uh, I don't suppose you can modify the leased ones, so I guess those would be the stock ones.

[–] • 0 pt

Those which depreciate rapidly - lease.

Those which maintain value - buy.

More than one car in the garage has appreciated in value since purchase, and one in particular has doubled.

[–] • 1 pt

You don’t ever really own anything as long as government exists. If you don’t pay taxes they will garnish your wages and levy your assets, you will own nothing and be happy. The same as it’s always been.

[–] • 0 pt

“Good thing” about debt is you don’t pay taxes on it. You don’t pay a sales tax for a car you leased.

[–] • 0 pt

Stay poor and never make money so you can avoid taxes!

[–] • 0 pt

I will Live in a box with a window unit

[–] • 5 pts

Depends, it’s a finely calculated thing that should end up close to even. I’ve had good deals and less good deals depending on the final value of the car at end of lease, mileage inclusion, a d extra mile charges. Used to be for American cars it was a good deal because their value dropped like a rock. The lease was cheaper. Had a vw lease once for $180 a month, at the end I turned it in and it had saved me money versus a purchase and reselling it. Just look at all the numbers and see how it compares.

[–] • 4 pts

Sometimes they offer free money factor ( zero interest) so you can lease it for 3 years, then buy it at 2/3 the price with a 5 year loan. Lower payments and free interest…. That can work out too.

[–] • 0 pt

How would you be paying interest on a lease in the first place?

[–] • 3 pts

It depends on the terms of the deal, and how quickly a new car would depreciate. Most of the time new cars drop in value fast, but we're in a weird market. Bought a car right before the covid mania started, and last year the dealer was offering to buy it back from me for the same price I paid for it. It's impossible to predict the future, so you've got to figure out what risk you can live with.

[–] • 2 pts

Car leases generally aren't worthwhile for consumers. They have some valid use cases for businesses due to the tax differences between depreciating capex vs deducting opex, and also for businesses who don't want the overhead of maintaining shared vehicles (if the company minivan is leased, it'll go back to the dealer before it accumulates enough age and miles to suffer serious mechanical problems, but if it's owned you can be assured that the half dozen employees in HR who use it to restock the office fridge or pickup office supplies will equally neglect it).

[–] • 1 pt (edited )

First off, a car is not an asset unless its a really nice special edition 911 or something that will appreciate in value - its a liability.

With that said, my last 3 leases have turned out to have a better resale than the payoff at the end of the 3 years - I'm loyal to my dealer/salesmanager, so he's actually purchased the cars from the bank at the end of my leases , and given me the equity towards my next cars.

For example, in 2015, my 2012 car was worth about 7500 more than my payoff (the residual) and my salesmanager gave me 5000 toward my next car as a downpayment - then in 2015 I got 3000, and in 2020 I got 750 - all from a lease that I didn't even own. This is the least known hack in the car business.

Take the money factor, multiply it by 2400 - thats your interest rate. Usually the rates are only a negligible amount over buying - and instead of paying 100% of the car over 5-8 years, you can pay say 40% over 3 years, and then have the option to pay the remaining 60% over 5-8 years at a low rate - essentially stretching the payments out.... and then after 3 years you can say "do I like this car or is it a piece of shit?" "Is it worth more or less than my payoff?"

Now certain companies suck for leasing. Like volkswagen auto group. Others are better, like BMW and Subaru

also protip - put as little drive off as you can on a lease. Lets say you put 5k down and get t boned as you drive it off the lot. Say good bye to that 5k

[–] • 1 pt

How exactly do leases sound like a good deal? They're essentially financing but without you owning a car afterward.

[–] • 1 pt

Complete and total scam bro, I wouldn't even buy with credit

I mean why pay $50,000 for something worth $30,000 and falling? And then with fleecing you dont even keep the car that you've overpaid for

[–] • 1 pt

I think the main scam of the lease is on a different level. Theyve killed off cheap econo cars by making cheap leases, they dont care about reliability beyond 5 or 6 years, new govt standards roll out faster as so many people perpetually lease, theres less pride in ownership as people down own them, repairs stay expensive as cars are newer and more complex.

Leases can save some people money, but on a whole are a tool to perpetual debt for most.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

car leases make lots of sense in the right situations. I'm not as aware as some friends who are in the industry, but i do know that at the end of a lease, you have the option to buy or sell the lease and can potentially come out way ahead.

[–] • 0 pt

I can only tell you my procedure. I buy a new car with cash. I keep it ten years, or close to ten years. I then trade it in for next to nothing and buy another new car.

I buy new because I don't want to find that the used car I bought has major problems I didn't know about. The new car warranty is good for five years. If there's something inherently wrong with the drive train, the dealer fixes it for free for that period. When I buy new, I'm pretty well assured of at least three years of touble-free driving, and it's usually five years since I don't drive that many miles.

Could I be further ahead buying second-hand or leasing? I don't think so, not when you factor in the aggrivation of problems and the cost of fixing them. People who lease forget that they are responsible for the car. If anything happens to it, they have to pay to fix it. In the end, leasing is more expensive than buying new ... IF you keep the car for ten years.

[–] • 0 pt

No. Negro! You go spend that money you don't have fa a flash ca ta get do hoes!

Give da bank there du man!

And Leo on din it til you di so you'd never have no money like a white man.

Do t save until you can pay. That's for the white man!

Dont actually ever have a positive net worth! Yo crazy! Days or the white man!

Yo go negro! Buy dat car you can't afford to get dose hoes!

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