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[Ebb]

That statement is really making me think that I should just sell my car, bank the money, and get a low mi. lease.

Instead of leasing, keep an eye out for used options. 2005 seemed to be a good year (on the most part) for me. If you can find something semi-low miles and affordable, go with that. If you can swing a cash buy, you won't have any payment. also, if you lease, you have to meet minimum insurance requirements (if you don't drive much why pay for unnecessary coverage?) I only leased the last time to see if I liked Volvos and because it was a cheaper monthly payment than any of the cars I was looking for at the time.

You could possibly try an auction car. Purchase for under $1000, budget $1000-$2ooo for potential repairs, no payments for years (hopefully). If auctions aren't your thing, try to find a vehicle with damage history (or reconstructed), you can get a nice price (as long as you aren't concerned with re-sale value) and if it lasts 5-10 years all the better.

 

[_Del_]

If you're the type of person who gets a new car every 3 or so years (and there are a lot of them), then leasing can be more attractive than a purchase. It is possible, but extremely rare, to have positive equity at the end of a lease.

But yes, that is burning money compared to buying a car, financing little of it, and driving it until the wheels come off. I heavily prefer option B. But there are a lot of people who enjoy flipping their cad every couple years, and those people are burning extra money if they are rolling negative equity into a new car loan as opposed to turning in a lease.

If rt wants a new car every few years, takes good care of his vehicles, and sets his lease depreciation (mileage) at the right number on the right car (holds resale value better than expected), he might be perfectly suited to a lease. Could even have equity. But that "equity" is really just a forced savings account he paid into by overpaying for the lease each month. He can also "buy" the lease outright or pay it down substantially with the money from selling/trading his car which can save money, also.

 

[cromag27]

If you're the type of person who gets a new car every 3 or so years (and there are a lot of them), then leasing can be more attractive than a purchase. It is possible, but extremely rare, to have positive equity at the end of a lease.

But yes, that is burning money compared to buying a car, financing little of it, and driving it until the wheels come off. I heavily prefer option B. But there are a lot of people who enjoy flipping their cad every couple years, and those people are burning extra money if they are rolling negative equity into a new car loan as opposed to turning in a lease.

If rt wants a new car every few years, takes good care of his vehicles, and sets his lease depreciation (mileage) at the right number on the right car (holds resale value better than expected), he might be perfectly suited to a lease. Could even have equity. But that "equity" is really just a forced savings account he paid into by overpaying for the lease each month. He can also "buy" the lease outright or pay it down substantially with the money from selling/trading his car which can save money, also.

and which vehicles tend to have a higher chance of having equity at the end of a lease? toyota. those dealerships are hungry to get some of those back. especially the tacoma.

 

[cromag27]

Instead of leasing, keep an eye out for used options. 2005 seemed to be a good year (on the most part) for me. If you can find something semi-low miles and affordable, go with that. If you can swing a cash buy, you won't have any payment. also, if you lease, you have to meet minimum insurance requirements (if you don't drive much why pay for unnecessary coverage?) I only leased the last time to see if I liked Volvos and because it was a cheaper monthly payment than any of the cars I was looking for at the time.

You could possibly try an auction car. Purchase for under $1000, budget $1000-$2ooo for potential repairs, no payments for years (hopefully). If auctions aren't your thing, try to find a vehicle with damage history (or reconstructed), you can get a nice price (as long as you aren't concerned with re-sale value) and if it lasts 5-10 years all the better.

i would never buy a car at an auction. a lot of those are repos and they’re trashed. i used to be a repo man so i’ve seen them firsthand. even the more expensive cars had issues. generally speaking, you have to be about three months behind on your payments to get a repo order sent out. who gets that far behind on their payments? usually irresponsible people. who doesn’t take car of their vehicles? usually irresponsible people.

i would also never buy a salvaged/rebuilt titled vehicle until you talk to your insurance company. you want to make sure they will insure it, and with the coverages you want.

 

[_Del_]

Lessors are generally on top of anticipated depriciation trends. There are occasionally models where resale value outstrips anticipation. You just have to outperform the anticipation.
I wouldn't lease anything that is domestic with over-production and large rebates, for example. You're setting yourself up to get creamed. But on imports, they generally aren't heavily rebated and overimported.
Where Toyota's value from a leasing perspective comes from is that it has a generally accepted lower depreciation compared to many other makes, so the lease will cost you less from the get go.

I should add, there are lessors who will create a lease on a used vehicle as well, which saves you an enormous sum on a lease (the biggest depreciation is the step from "new" to "used". That hit was already taken by someone else). So if you're looking at leases, find someone who knows what they are talking about and explore options on a one or two yr old car. You might be surprised.

 

[_Del_]

Only go the salvage route if you're willing to pump unexpected money into it and plan to keep it until it falls apart. It doesn't have resale value.

Frankly, unless I knew exactly what happened and what has been done over that car's lifetime, I would never consider a salvage title. Difficult to ensure, likelihood of higher than avg maintenance, and with some types of frame damage, you are looking at a safety risk as well.

 

[Bonsai Tree]

At only 5k miles a year I might want to do the math and see if I would spend less without a car, using Uber or Lyft.

 

[rt]

At only 5k miles a year I might want to do the math and see if I would spend less without a car, using Uber or Lyft.

I’m an American. This is America. I’ll take my car, thank you.

 

[cromag27]

At only 5k miles a year I might want to do the math and see if I would spend less without a car, using Uber or Lyft.

after repairs and maintenance, you could go ridesharing only. but is that convenient for you?

 

[cromag27]

Only go the salvage route if you're willing to pump unexpected money into it and plan to keep it until it falls apart. It doesn't have resale value.

Frankly, unless I knew exactly what happened and what has been done over that car's lifetime, I would never consider a salvage title. Difficult to ensure, likelihood of higher than avg maintenance, and with some types of frame damage, you are looking at a safety risk as well.

from an insurance standpoints, there are more risks involved than people realize. what was the damage? was it repaired? what it repaired by a reputable company? was it repaired back to the state’s safety standards? was any fraud involved? all of those reasons can be grounds for denial of insurance. so check with them first!!!

most people don’t know that we run dozens of reports on you, additional drivers on your policy and your vehicle/s. the vehicle reports run very deep.

on a side note, car fax is a joke. don’t fall for it.

 

[GiveAFlyingPuck]

At only 5k miles a year I might want to do the math and see if I would spend less without a car, using Uber or Lyft.

I’m an American. This is America. I’ll take my car, thank you.

Just the thought of doing a home project and having to make a couple of runs back and forth to Home Depot/Lowe's makes me know I won't give up my car until I have to.

 

[Sinurgy]

on a side note, car fax is a joke. don’t fall for it.

How is car fax a joke?

 

[MIGs Dog]

How is car fax a joke?

I'm not answering for CroMag, but I bought a 1-yr old pickup that had a clean carfax. Later I discovered it had been in an accident. I think the truck was owned by a business and they "fixed" it themselves instead of getting insurance involved. The trucks OK, but the lesson in this case is that not all accidents get reported.

 

[Ebb]

i would never buy a car at an auction. a lot of those are repos and they’re trashed. i used to be a repo man so i’ve seen them firsthand. even the more expensive cars had issues.

There are also places that auction off donated or other insurance-related cars (you kind of have to have a decent contact list for mech/body repairs). Again, you won't make money out of it but you can get an okay car for a semi-reasonable price. Yes, auction cars tend to be rough, but if you budget out money ahead of time (if you aren't in a hurry to get a car), you should be able to do okay (again, I'm talking about buying a car without intending to re-sell it to make up some of the money). I've had the Buick for almost a year now, and after the initial money (it had more wrong than I anticipated, but that was my fault for not doing additional research), it's run well (knock-on-wood). I'll never get anywhere near what I had to put into it, but if it lasts another year or three, it'll be worth it not to have a car payment for that long (on it).

Of course, I'm a multiple car person so the situation is different than relying on one reliable mode of transportation. Eventually, I'll settle on 3 cars: the main (used for longer distances, fun, or other missions), a day-to-day (to go to back and forth to work and run short errands in--currently the Buick), and a truck (for dirty work). Sure, insurance on 3 vehicles is a bit more expensive (although I get reductions for multiple cars and other accounts with my insurance company), but I just get the minimum coverage on the secondary and tertiary vehicles (if something major happens--I can replace the vehicle).

A few other possibilities worth exploring:

• Rental car companies will usually sell cars they are looking at moving out of their fleet; not much selection (pretty basic cars), but some can be had for a decent price (they'll likely have high mileage)
• Larger dealerships usually sell their shop-cars/loaners after a couple of years. They tend to have reasonable prices and lower mileage.

 

[rt]

Kia Cadenza was redesigned in 2017. The top trim level is loaded beyond belief. I don’t think it’s missing anything I’ve even heard of. Haha. I’m thinking when the 2020 comes out in the fall, it would be a good time to pounce on a 2017 Cadenza Limited with like 15-25k mi. and get it for a steal ($20-25k).

Still a chance I end up waiting until winter and buying my Father in Law’s 2017 Genesis G80 RWD. Depending on how the dollars work out.

Top line Buick LaCrosses seems to have pretty good prices once they’re 2-3 years old, too. I think their having been discontinued in 2019 will add to this further.

In any event, I’m looking at a 2017 after the 2020 models come out. I’m looking for something that updated tech just before, rather than just after 2017. So that probably rules out Volvo’s.

 

[cromag27]

How is car fax a joke?

I'm not answering for CroMag, but I bought a 1-yr old pickup that had a clean carfax. Later I discovered it had been in an accident. I think the truck was owned by a business and they "fixed" it themselves instead of getting insurance involved. The trucks OK, but the lesson in this case is that not all accidents get reported.

carfax is highly restricted based on many variables, including state, type of accident/maintenance, which company does the repair/maintenance.

if you read their disclosures, it specifically says it will provide accidents “reported to carfax”. not all are. in fact, in several states carfax doesn’t even have access to a lot of data. not all service centers will report data that could be picked up by carfax. they’ve been sued in the past for misleading customers.

they give consumers a false sense of security and dealerships love using them for this reason. so if you’re buying a used vehicle, buy from an individual, get service records and take the vehicle to a mechanic for an inspection.

 

[Ebb]

In any event, I’m looking at a 2017 after the 2020 models come out. I’m looking for something that updated tech just before, rather than just after 2017. So that probably rules out Volvo’s.

Actually, with the body-style change (what affected my 2017 Volvo S60's lease value), you might be able to get a 2016 or 2017 Volvo S60 for a decent price. If my buyout was about $3-4k less (to put it closer to the actual value of the car), I would have seriously considered purchasing it. In terms of updated tech, what are you looking (or not looking) for?

 

[rt]

Actually, with the body-style change (what affected my 2017 Volvo S60's lease value), you might be able to get a 2016 or 2017 Volvo S60 for a decent price. If my buyout was about $3-4k less (to put it closer to the actual value of the car), I would have seriously considered purchasing it. In terms of updated tech, what are you looking (or not looking) for?

The 2016 Volvo tech scares me for a couple of reasons. It’s really, really old. I think the previous update (prior to 2019) was in 2011. I worry about 1) straight up obsolescence and 2) re-sale. It’s analog controls on a tiny screen and an ancient looking interface. Is that thing going to blink out on me? Is anyone going to want it in four or five years?

The 2016 Volvo infotainment center is probably worse than most cars half it’s price.

I really like the 2016 S60. I’m not some big techie. But I don’t think it’s aging well and that worries me.

 

[Sinurgy]

Kia Cadenza was redesigned in 2017. The top trim level is loaded beyond belief. I don’t think it’s missing anything I’ve even heard of. Haha. I’m thinking when the 2020 comes out in the fall, it would be a good time to pounce on a 2017 Cadenza Limited with like 15-25k mi. and get it for a steal ($20-25k).

Still a chance I end up waiting until winter and buying my Father in Law’s 2017 Genesis G80 RWD. Depending on how the dollars work out.

Top line Buick LaCrosses seems to have pretty good prices once they’re 2-3 years old, too. I think their having been discontinued in 2019 will add to this further.

In any event, I’m looking at a 2017 after the 2020 models come out. I’m looking for something that updated tech just before, rather than just after 2017. So that probably rules out Volvo’s.

I'd be wary of any first year car, they almost always have issues that need to get worked out and that's irregardless of brand. Conversely if you truly want to put your best foot forward reliability wise you'll buy the last year before a redesign, it's boring but that's typically the most solid model year across all makes. That said Kia has some of the best standard warranties in the business so at only 3 years old and presumably normal mileage it should still be under factory warranty so there's a solid chance the kinks have already been addressed at this point by the warranty.

 

[Sinurgy]

carfax is highly restricted based on many variables, including state, type of accident/maintenance, which company does the repair/maintenance.

if you read their disclosures, it specifically says it will provide accidents “reported to carfax”. not all are. in fact, in several states carfax doesn’t even have access to a lot of data. not all service centers will report data that could be picked up by carfax. they’ve been sued in the past for misleading customers.

they give consumers a false sense of security and dealerships love using them for this reason. so if you’re buying a used vehicle, buy from an individual, get service records and take the vehicle to a mechanic for an inspection.

To be fair I'm not sure that makes them a joke, just limited in what they can do.

 

[cromag27]

To be fair I'm not sure that makes them a joke, just limited in what they can do.

yeah sure

 

[cobra427]

A car is a depreciating asset anyway you slice it. I buy a 1-2 year old car with low miles, let the first owner take the depreciation. I drive it for about 4 years, sell it and repeat. So, 20k miles to 100k miles, avoid the expense of the new car and avoid the maintenance of an old car.

 

[rt]

My rough plan is to buy a 2-3 year old car that has gone from around $45kay new to around $20-25kay used and has 20-25k mi on it. I'll drive it roughly 6k mi/yr for roughly 5yrs. I'll then look to sell it with roughly 50-55k mi. when it's around 7-8yrs old.

Based on what I'm seeing for sale online, I think I can get a top trim level LaCrosse or Cadenza that fits the description. Based on what I'm seeing online I might still be able to get 12-15kay for it at that time.

2016 w/15k mi. for 23k
1G4GF5G38GF174900 | 2016 Buick LaCrosse Premium for sale in Phoenix, AZ

2012 w/ 61k mi. for 16k
1G4GD5G3XCF218623 | 2012 Buick LaCrosse Premium for sale in Cottonwood, AZ
Now I need to think about whether that's actually a good plan or not. Haha.

 

[GiveAFlyingPuck]

Which one(s) of you are trying out?

 

[Sinurgy]

yeah sure

Well if you supposedly know of a better service why not mention it?