[Z-man]

I too believe that leasing is NOT a smart deal.

It's like renting vs. owning a home -- I'd rather pay a mortgage, cause in the end, I own the property!

But I drive my cars for years before I switch -- my current daily driver is a 1995 Subaru Legacy with 150,000 miles on the clock. Still running strong -- hoping to see 200,000 without a major problem! Bottom line: my car has been paid for since 1998 -- it owes me nothing! I keep up with routine maintenance and I haven't had a major breakdown or repair bill, knock on wood...

If you talk of residual values and overall costs, keeping a car 10+ years makes more finanical sense than leasing and switching cars every 2-3 years. If you switch your cars every couple of years, then leasing may make sense to you on paper, but again, if you look at the cost in the long run, keeping a car for a longer period of time is still the best financial bet.

Tax deductions? You're getting pennies to the dollar. Not something I would consider an 'investment.' Besides, you can get better tax deductions if take out a home equity loan to buy a car anyway.

Typically, leasing is a concept that appeals to two types of people, IMHO:
1. Those who switch cars frequently ("I've gotta have the latest and greatest in my driveway")
2. Those who wish to drive a car out of their price range, and cannot afford to buy it, so they lease instead. ("I've gotta keep up with the Jones even if I make less money than they do")

As far as buying a car for investment purposes -- don't bother. When you buy a new car, you loose 5 - 10 percent of it's value once you drive it off the dealer's lot! If you buy a used car, you don't take that great a hit in depreciation, but if it is a collector car, you will need to pay top dollar for it. Predicting what new or used cars will become collector items in the future is a near impossible thing to do. Invest in stocks or real estate - it is more stable.

Just my $0.42,
-Z-man.