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Originally posted by Steve Carlton
...Obviously, leasing isn't for those who want to keep a car over 100,000 miles. Thinking it's for those who "...gotta have the latest and greatest in my driveway" or "cannot afford to buy it" is naive, although true I'm sure for some.
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As noted, I hadn't considered those who own a small business and take advantage of the tax savings. Unfortunately, that doesn't apply to me, thus my bias.
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Some of us may choose to drive a car that's always under warranty (and maybe always under a maintenence plan), with the latest safety technology, that's less likely to break down and perhaps cost a ton to fix. Probably not the cheapest car ownership, but there's some value to offset the extra cost.
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My take on the warranty thing -- if a car has lasted through the warranty without major issues, then it is a safe bet the car will not have major issues once it is out of warranty. Granted, this is an assumption, but so far, this has held true in my case. The problem these days is that there are so many quality issues amongst car manufacturers across the board, that the likelyhood of having a trouble-free car is diminishing. And if I have an 'out-of warranty' car that starts acting up, I have the opportunity to sell the car and move on, as I have done in the past with my wife's Subaru SVX.
Keeping a car under warranty (like buying or leasing a new car every 3-5 years) is definately a value added item -- but as you note, there is a cost associated with this.
Here's another issue: unfortunately, I've rubbed the rear bumper of my Subie against a white wall a few years ago. Most of the big scratches I was able to buff out, but you can obviously see it. Had I leased my car, when I turned it in, I would have had to pay dearly for that blemish. When the time comes and I have to sell my high-mileage car, the scratches won't matter that much, since the value of the car will be quite low already. A buyer can use a scratch on a $50,000.00 Mercedes as leverage to lower the price, but I doubt a buyer has the same leverage on a $2000.00 Subaru!
My point in all this is simply: leasing, while an attractive alternative to owning a car, isn't as cheap a route as one may feel it is.
Then again, I'm an 'old-fashioned' kinda guy.
-Z.