We would agree with the critics, that at the end of 4 years, if you purchase a vehicle you have an asset.  What these critics conveniently forget to tell you, is that you have paid several thousand extra dollars in order to own this asset. Read more…

We agree that it is more expensive to lease if you drive a lot of miles because you will have to pay extra for the additional miles.  However, we argue that it is also more expensive to own a vehicle if you drive additional miles. Read more…

Lease contracts specify that you must return the vehicle at lease-end with no more than “normal” wear and tear.  Most new contracts do a pretty good job of spelling out exactly what “normal” means.  This is the part of the leasing contract that is most responsible for “Leasing Phobia” with many first-time leasers, and causes many people to decide not to lease.  These people have an unfounded fear that when they return the vehicle, the leasing company will examine the vehicle with a fine toothed comb and penalize them thousands of dollars for minor dings and scrapes. Read more…

We would agree that it is expensive to get out of a lease early.  In a perfect world you want to match your lease term with how long you are going to keep the vehicle.  But we realize that reality doesn’t always work this way and you may need to get out of a lease early.  However, we don’t agree that this is a reason to avoid leasing because it is also expensive to purchase a vehicle and sell it after a few years. Read more…

We would agree that it is more expensive to lease than it is to purchase a vehicle and keep it for a long time.  However, you may be surprised at how small the difference in costs actually is.  And when we take the Net Present Value, you may be shocked at how small the difference is. Read more…