mooty

i used to pay cash. but with today's rate, it's a lot cheaper to finance.
some say dont buy unless you have cash to pay for it. while you may have the cash, it doesn't mean you should pay for it. do something else with the cash.

leasing has it's benefit too. and i am not talking about tax writeoff.
usually if a car has prob, it occurs early in life. lease it for 3 years. if you still like the car and it has no big problems, cut a ck at end of lease and keep the car. if it's a headache, dump it at dealers. if you were to cut a chk at end of lease vs financing over 5 years the net saving with financing over leasing is very minimal. and leasing buys you options at end of lease terms.

but if leasing or financing b/c that's the only way one can afford the car, then that's a BAD idea.

Q

can you explain how this works ?

Yomi

I agree with mooty on this. Don't buy unless you could buy it outright, but that doesn't mean you should buy it outright. Financing may be a better deal depending on finance rates and your investment options, or may just be a smarter total financial thing for you (e.g. keeping more liquid assets). Or it may be possible cash really is the best option. If you insist on getting a new car every year or two, then leasing starts making a lot more sense. If you can write off the car as a business expense then leasing is a lot more attractive financially than it is for the rest of us.