finance or lease?

Georgia Dees: Almost all of the time, it is better to finance. *Maybe* lease, if you want a car MORE than you can afford, and at the end of the lease, you'll have been promoted at work, and can finance the buy-out amount.

Michelle Sohre: Leasing a vehicle is the most expensive way to acquire a vehicle. The added drawback is that you are stuck with the vehicle for the term of the lease. If you buy, you can always sell if you have to. Look at this site: www.swapalease.com. There are lots of people trying to get out of leases.

Lino Cawthorne: Leasing requires superior credit and is a ripoff. Paying cash for a modest car is best.

Jen Maday: Leasing works for some people and not for others. If you normally trade your cars every 3-4 years, drive no more than about 12,000 miles a year, take good care of your cars, have good credit, and want to minimize your monthly payments, then leasing might work for you. At the end, you return the car and begin anoth! er lease or loan on a new car. It's obviously more expensive than buying a car and driving it until the wheels fall off.

Shane Getler: Its a well documented fact that in the long run leasing is more expensive than financing a car. Leasing sometimes has lower monthly payments, but when you factor in the value of actually owning the car at the end of the contract financing the vehicle wins every time. However, buying a car 3-5 years old is far better because you completely avoid the most costly years of depreciation. Also if a make/model has any major mechanical problems those are usually discovered and well known within 3-5 years, so a bit of researching before your purchase can help you avoid major problems....Show more

Ron Keliipio: Finance means you borrow money to pay for the car - bank loan or similar. At the end of the term you will own the car. The problem here is you are limited to what you can borrow by how much you earn.Leasing is a "pay to use". The le! asing company owns the car, you pay to use it. At the end of t! he term you can pay out thhe residual value of the car and own it outright, or simply walk away. This scheme allows you to buy a new(er) car because you are only borrowing for part of the cost, with the rest being paid out (or not) at the end of the term. Leasing can also include servicing, and there may be tax breaks if you are allowed to pay the lease fees from your before-tax earnings (meaning you have less taxable income therefore pay less tax). It depends on your tax laws. If you are leasing as a company owner you can also claim deductions on the vehicle itself for your expenses....Show more

Marco Stolarz: Financing is MUCH better. With leasing, you never own the car and you are limited to a certain amount of mileage. When you finance a car it is technically your car, except the bank is basically "lending" the vehicle to you until the loan is paid off. Once the loan is paid off then the car is 100% yours. Leasing is a waste of money and time. Just have a good dow! n payment on hand and finance the car instead.

Demetrius Coaster: Unless you are financially very well off or can lease for a business and write the cost off as a business expense, leasing is ALWAYS the most expensive way to go. Don't fall for the low down payment, low monthly payment scams on leasing. They make it look like a good deal up front but the back end charges will kill you financially. If you cannot afford traditional financing then don't even THINK about leasing.