[Steve Carlton]

You really have to go on a case by case basis and somewhat apples to apples. The value of a new car is greater than the value of a $7k used car- not apples to apples. If you want to drive as cheaply as possible, that's a different equation with different cars to consider.

Leases can be great if you don't want to have a particular car more than 2-4 years. You'll usually be under warranty the whole time and probably not replace any tires or brakes. Many cars have maintenance included, often to cover the whole lease term. Sometimes maintenance in a lease is subsidized. You have a guaranteed way out of the car by turning it in, historically not worth the payoff a lot of times. What's being taken away is to access the equity at the end of a lease, as most lenders are blocking that now.

Sometimes leases have incentives that purchases don't, but not often. A lot of times they have lower finance rates, if you compare the lease factor (times 2,400) to an APR. APRs are down to the low 2%s now in the open market. Sometimes lease rates are close to a 0% equivalent (not lately, though).

A useful rule of thumb for a good lease payment is if it's around 1% per month of the MSRP of the car, with maybe $1,000-1,500 out of pocket for a 10-12k mile/year lease. If you find a lease that's, for example, $400/mo on a $50,000 car, that's in the thumbs up territory. $700/mo for the same car, that's getting into the crazy side of the matrix. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and pure electrics (BEVs) tend to wind up in the hot end of the matrix. If you take $10,000 worth of electric incentives and enjoy them over 2-3 years in a lease, the payment is going way down.

Although the mechanicals in a new car will usually last a long time, the electronics don't do so well. I'm not a fan of being out of warranty, but labor rates are $200-250/hr in CA, lower in other states I'm sure.