Leasing Vs. Buying
 

A while ago, I think I read a thread about buying vs. leasing a car. If so please post the link. I can't seem to find it. I'm thinking about purchasing another car. I'm going to keep my current car which is a 1994 Honada Accoard. Even though it's old it's still in excellent shape. I only have 134,000 miles. I've heard that they go for alot longer. I'm interested in the Mercedes C230. I'm thinking about leasing. I'm confused on what to do.

Keep in mind you have to watch your miles with a lease. The good thing is that you don't really end upside down in a lease vehicle since you wont owe a balance at the end of the lease term.

If you decide to purchase your leased vehicle, after the lease term is up - are you still penalized for those extra miles you might have accrued?

I'm in the early term of my lease and can already see that I'm going to be OVER...but it's a nice car so I have no qualms with purchasing it later.

Thanks guys, I'm so glad that someone posted. OK, Please explain this to me. Ok, say I want to lease a car that's $30,000. Say, I have to pay like $400.00 a month. I pay this same $400.00 a month for 3 years and at the end I can either chose to buy the car out or turn it in and get another car? I won't have to pay for maintaince or anything because the car will be under warranty right? I read somewhere that you can ask them to write in extra miles before you sign the lease? Am I understanding this correctly?

No, you just start paying principal & interest (i asked my friend @ carmax, he used to sell cars at honda).

Just cater the situation to you. If you pay on a car that you know you wanna keep for a long time, buy it. If you pay on a car and you know you flip cars every so often, lease. If you know you drive a lot, BUY! :)

And if you decide to buy (ladies in particular), always check kbb.com (kelly blue book) and check the retail value. And never get desperate for a car you go for the 1st offer. Always take time to think before the purchase. And try to finance through your credit union so that when you go to the lot, you and the salesman wont spend a lot of time negotiating price - you already have a set amount.