SW17LS

I know plenty of people who buy new cars every 3 years. I suppose it depends on where you live and who you know.

Provided you keep the purchased new car longer than 5 years. I've done the math, 5 years is the magic number. If you don't plan on keeping it longer than that leasing is a break even or is cheaper.

Diesel350

If only 4% of the population pays cash for a brand new car then the percentage of people that buy a brand new car repeatedly every 3 yrs is probably less than 1%. Buying a new every 2-3 yrs is reserved for the extremely wealthy.

Disagree. Several calculations I've done show you lose money starting after the 3rd year. Of course there are many different factors that play into which year you start losing money but the earliest possible outcome of losing money is year 3.

SW17LS

LOL, okay. Somehow all these 2-3 year old cars get on dealer lots used somehow. Apparently there are a lot of "extremely wealthy" people out there.


My calculations clearly show that if you purchase the same model new vs leasing it new, at 3 years if you trade in the purchased car vs turning in the leased car, you save money by leasing. Please share your calculations, I've shared mine several times.

Diesel350

Yea they are called leases. Alot of those 2-3 yr old cars are also leases from businesses.

You are probably getting favorable numbers because you're more savvy than the average consumer when it comes to leasing. Not everyone can get the same deals your getting.

It's been awhile since I leased, I'll see if I can find them.

mmarshall

On most vehicles, the steep depreciation curve starts to flatten out after the 3rd year. But, on 4-year or longer leases, that's supposed to be taken into account when the manufacturer or the dealer figures lease-rates. I figured properly, that should lower the average monthly payments because the vehicle is depreciating less each year after the third year.

On a separate note, I see your screen name is Diesel350. I hope you weren't one of those who got stuck with that awful 5.7L (350 c.i.) V8 from GM from the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was one of the most poorly-engineered powerplants in modern automotive history....there were even class-action suits on it. (If you did get stuck with one, you have my sympathy)

SW17LS

Not all of them are leases, and not all of them are corporate leases. If you have a carfax account or look at the carafaxes displayed when the cars are listed for sale online you can see what was a lease and what was a corporate lease.

Just because I'm more competent than the lowest common denominator doesn't mean that you can make a blanket statement that X is cheaper than Y because people let themselves get screwed. People get screwed on the purchase too, it evens out.

If people don't take the time to educate themselves about this stuff before they do it, its their own fault.

You might be surprised to know that a lot of times 4 year leases are more expensive per month than 3 year leases. Depends on the car and the program.