Imago said:

Just wait until they hit a pothole.....

Graycap23 said:

That´s a good question. It depends on the type of car, how old it is, risk of getting it stolen according to statistics, etc.
Sometimes, there are huge differences between, say, a regular BMW 3 model and the BMW 3M version, etc.

Currently driving a '90 Jetta and I bought it last year for a very cheap price. I spend about $80 a month for insurance (for bare minimum coverage to be legal to drive in Minne), about $80-100 a month on gas and maintenance has probably averaged $70 a month for the last year, but I don't anticipate much in the coming year. It's in pretty great shape for as old as it is and only has 97,000 miles on it. My license tabs are paid annually but it averages out to less than $3 a month.

sextonseven said:

Same. And I don't imagine I ever will.

CarrieMpls said:

$3/month.....can't beat that.

I'm only spending about 160 a month on gas. That's about 300 miles a week. Still a lot of money, though, but I have a Corolla.

I drive up to the pump now and the person before me has spent $80 filling their tanks, and it probably only lasts a few days.

I always buy a 2-3 yr old car that is certified used with a full warranty. My car only has 61,350 for a 1999 and we have excellent public transportation here as well.

NDRU said:

I'm back in the work world but I refuse 2 drive my car 2 work. I drive my truck and that bad boy can drink some gas. It ticks me off dropping $75 - 80.00 for a tank of gas.

We have lots of folks using Scooters here, I live near a shop that sales them. BUT I hate the way folks in cars drive up on them to scare the driver or make them fall and that makes me angry!!!

In my car I drive about 50-100 miles a week more in the summer when I do my road trips to visit folks and Orgers!!!

Graycap23 said:

I drove my dad's GMC truck for a while, and I could practically see the gas gauge go down as I watched!

I literally don't think I could afford to commute to work with a bigger car.

Drive to work, work to drive!

NDRU said:

My buddy drive a Range Rover.....get gets about 9/10 miles 2 the gallon. He knows the feeling.

CalhounSq said:

It'd only be $350 - except that I drive 24,000 miles a year. I have to have the extra mileage written into the lease up front. (It'd cost me way more on the other end.)

My dad was in the car business. He always told me, "No matter whether you're paying the bank or not, you always have a car payment. If you drive new, you're paying the bank. If you drive used, you're paying the mechanic."

With all the miles I drive, it's important to me to have something reliable and comfortable. I like my car - and I can afford the payments, so...

Genesia said:

Your dad was right 2 some degree. These days, some cars really are BUILT 2 last.

Genesia said:

So you're a good person to ask - why do you lease instead of buy?

CalhounSq said:

One of my buddies leases a 2 new BMW 7 series every 14 months because he always want 2 NEW car at his disposal.

My most recent car is cheap to run.

But my last vehicle was

$490/m payment
$136/m insurance
$180/m parking
$100/m gas

$906

How the hell did I manage paying that and rent??

Graycap23 said:

What's that you were saying about folks getting caught up w/ status?? Umm, he crazy

Graycap23 said:

My friend does, too, but he is a realtor, and writes off part for his work. One way to justify your need to be stylish!

CalhounSq said:

Because a car is a bad investment. (Collectible cars notwithstanding.)

Think of a car as a parcel of stock. Would you ever buy a stock that you knew was going to decrease in value? Of course not. And yet, people tie up a whole lot of money in buying a car - something they know is going to lose value.

When you lease, you don't own the car. You're only paying for the part of the car you use. In a lot of cases, the payments are lower than what they'd be if you bought. And when your lease is up (usually within three years), you just turn the car back in and get another one.

The one thing I will say about a lease is that you should never, ever, ever opt for a lease term of longer than three years. If the car goes bad or if your transportation needs change, there is virtually no way to get out of it.

Genesia said:

so when you turn in the car & get a new one, do you put more money down, or does the down payment carry over to the next one?

NDRU said:

I never put money down. I think they call that a "capital cost reduction." Basically, what you're doing with that is buying down your payments up front. Try not to do it because, no - it doesn't carry over to the next lease. It's considered part of your payment.

Most finance companies will require a security deposit - at least for the first time you work with them. It'll depend on your credit, I imagine. I've never had to put down more than one month's payment as a security deposit.

I have leased my last four cars through the same finance company and have excellent credit (with them and otherwise) - so they don't even charge me a security deposit anymore.

Genesia said:

Thanks for the info I read an article recently on the 10 best things you can do to save $. One of them was to own your vehicle instead of paying a note each month, which always made sense to me. Leasing always seemed like something folks w/ $ do, it's interesting to hear the options though. I wonder if, since the monthly payment on a lease is less, it all comes out to be about the same if you end up buying the car in the end or buying it initially?

Granted I have a dumpy old car, not a nice new one, but it only cost $1000, and has not required any maintenance other than an alternator and general tune up in 4 years.

So purchasing one is not always such a bad investment!

NDRU said:

The family mechanic always checks out a used car before any one of us buys it. None of us have bought a lemon in the last ten years I think.

CalhounSq said:

There are a lot of factors that influence that, actually. One thing you really want to consider is whether the car you are looking at is one that will hold its value. With a lease, you're paying for the depreciation - so it benefits you to get a brand of car that tends to hold its value. The higher the lease company expects the residual value of the car to be, the lower your monthly payments will tend to be.

For example, Honda products tend to hold their value very well. (My last four leased vehicles have been an Acura CL, a Honda Accord, and two Acura TSXs - all Honda products.)

Another thing to think about is the time of year you'll be getting a new vehicle. You will generally find fewer incentives on price and financing at the start of a new model year. The best time to get a vehicle is in the winter. Business isn't as brisk in February (no pun intended), so there tend to be more incentives.

I got my current vehicle in February during a promotion. The money factor on the lease ended up such that I have about a 3% interest rate. Obviously, that also has a huge impact on the monthly payment.

Genesia said:

Again, thanks for the info. Good stuff to think about, I'm hoping to do the car thing this winter

Shoot, that's cheap...

Monthly car payments - 300
Insurance - 270 (Yes 270. No accidents or claims or tickets on my record either, but I'm a young man, so fuck me)
Parking - (20 dollars PER DAY that I work, average 400 a month)
Gas - 250
License and Registration - 10 or so

And I would argue that maintenance exceeds a grand a year. My winter tires this year alone were 1500 bucks.

So I'd say, yeah, between 1100 - 1200 a month for me.
[Edited 4/14/08 18:42pm]

savoirfaire said:

$270 a month in insurance?? A few years ago, I would just say ha-ha, that's in Canadian dollars, but Canadian and U.S. currency are worth the same now.

sextonseven said:

Like I said, I'm a young man, which instantly makes my insurance ridiculous. If I had a claim, it'd be unaffordable.

savoirfaire said:

I was young once. My insurance rates were never that high. Not even close.