ESh

Same situation here. I always pay cash and keep them for a long time.

glamglam

What’s a long time? How many years do you keep the car for?

UltraLux22

So then you bought them outright, is that what you are saying?

ESh

I buy slightly used cars in showroom condition and keep them for 10-15 years.

glamglam

That’s a big chunk of money to give $50,000 cash for a piece of metal. That money is gone once it’s given out all for a car.

DavidZ

By leasing, you're paying much more than I am. Yes, $50,000 is a lot of money. But it's much less than you're paying over time.

ESh

Yes, you pay 50000 and you’re done.
Over the years you will pay much more (loan, lease).

UltraLux22

Buying isn't always cheaper than leasing and leasing isn't ALWAYS going to be cheaper than buying. Maybe for YOU because you paid for a car outright. Most people can't do that. I have had Single pay leases and regular term leases that I paid considerably less than $50, if that, in rent/interest for the entire term. In that same time a few oil changes and maybe a set of tires and you've already paid more overall than I have because my maintenance was included... In fact you paid more! So your blanket statement might wanna be tweaked a bit.

So then you did make at least 1 car payment, right?

Probably the only time we are in agreement! 😉

Nope! Not even close. That is an antiquated school of thought.

UltraLux22

Not always and I could cite plenty of reasons against plunking down $50k for a car at once. But that works for you. Great! It's like saying that I paid all cash for my home and you did it over 30 years. Who do you think is going to pay more overall? Yes the statement might technically be true but come on, how many people can do that?

Remember making this statement? I could say I don't understand why anyone would plunk down $50k at once for a car. There is always going to be valid arguments for both leasing and buying, or in your case, outright buying.

DavidZ

It's a zero sum game. If you made a profit vs buying, then the leasing company lost money. In fact, it's a less-than-zero sum game. If you made a profit, then the leasing company had a loss exceeding their overhead cost! I doubt that happened, but if you think so, I won't try to disabuse you of your delusion.

Yes, it's a very antiquated school of thought. It's called arithmetic.

ESh

Simple. Because over 5 years you will pay at least 6000 more for the same car.

TechNut

As long as this thread is so far off topic already, I will just add some thoughts I have on the new topic...

While I generally agree with paying cash up front, for us it is more because my wife and I hate having debt over our heads. The reality today with the low interest rates is that we may come out ahead by wisely investing that 50K. If interest rates were higher, the ability to locate an investment vehicle that exceeds the loan servicing costs would be more difficult. Now finding a "safe" investment that exceeds the finance costs over a five year loan is certainly a gamble - even today.

mikemu30

The S&P 500 has returned an avg annual return of over 15% last five years. If your finance costs exceed that, you have really signed up for a horrible deal. I never lease but I'll gladly use the banks money at 1% or 2% or so and leave my assets in equities earning well more than that.

UltraLux22

If you are going to waste my time reading your response , at least have the courtesy of staying on topic rather than providing an answer that has no relevance to the topic. I have no idea how you rationalized a zero sum game scenario out of my post? It’s about disproving your arrogant blanket statement that buying is always better than leasing. So thanks for the economics theory lesson but I’ve got to get back to basking in my delusion!

And….

Since we are on the topic of handing out free unsolicited lessons, I would further encourage you to try again with a relevant, actual answer but, and here’s the lesson, Don’t feed the trolls! Doing so takes away time that could be better spent doing arithmetic and soaking in some more delusion!

!

DavidZ

WTF are you talking about? My post couldn't have been more on topic.

Apparently my post went right over your head. The zero sum game is between you and the leasing company. If you win, they lose. If they win, you lose. You insist you are winning at the leasing game. If that's true, by definition, the leasing company is losing money. I think you're kidding yourself.