Buy or lease?
Whether to buy or lease a car is a very personal decision.
Don’t let your father, who is still driving the Ford Fairmont that he purchased new, talk you out of a lease just because he wouldn’t do it (for obvious reasons). And don’t let you sister, who shops for a new car every time she gets angry at her husband, tell you a lease is better. Neither one of these car loans is better nor worse than the other, they are simply different kinds of loans.
Decide how long you will want to keep your car. Are you about to finally buy the dream car that you’ve wanted for several years but could never afford or be approved for until now? If so, then you probably won’t want to give it up in a few years. You will want a loan for this long term keeper of a car. Your payments will be a bit higher with a loan, but in four to six years, the car will be yours, sans payments.
If you don’t like the idea of maintaining a car after it has gotten old, or you just like the idea of driving a new car all the time, then a car lease is for you. With a lease you trade your car in every three years for a new one – and a new lease. Your payments will be lower with a lease, but you will always have a car payment – and a new car.