Should you get an auto loan or lease a car?

Answer 1

I think you should get an auto loan instead of leasing a car. You can get an auto loan easily at a lower interest rate and you would get a new car which would be your own . Where as in leasing a car you would get a used car and there are many other problems in leasing a car.

AnswerThere are many benefits to a traditional auto loan. An auto loan is easier to understand and easier to shop for than an auto lease. The complexity of leasing makes it easier for dealers to take you for a ride.

Another advantage of an auto loan over leasing is that you end up with a valuable asset that belongs to you ? the vehicle. After you have made all the payments on a traditional auto loan, you own the vehicle. In contrast, after you complete payments on an auto lease, you have to return the vehicle, lease it for an additional term, or find the money to purchase it. A traditionally financed auto loan is a fiscally more conservative approach than a lease. With the loan, you are investing in an asset; with a lease, you are not.

Also, with a traditionally financed auto loan, you can set the level of body damage and liability insurance you want. A leasing company might require you to take a coverage limit or deductible level that costs more than what you would otherwise want.

A big advantage of car leasing for some consumers is that you can generally arrange a lease that allows you to pay less per month for a given vehicle than you would pay with traditional financing for the same vehicle.

Another advantage of a car lease over a loan is that you don't have to sell the car at the end of the lease. You can simply turn it in to the leasing company. If you know that you will want a new car after, say, three years, you can lease for that period knowing that you can easily get rid of the car at the end of the lease. You don?t have to worry what the car will be worth. In contrast, with a purchase, you have to trade in the car or sell it at whatever the market will bear.

In some states, car leasing might seem to have an additional advantage: you pay taxes only on your payments, not on the full purchase price of the vehicle. That is true in the District (not in Maryland or Virginia). But this apparent advantage is generally roughly offset by the fact that the tax rate on lease payments is higher than the tax rate on a purchase. In the District, for instance, you pay a 10 percent rate on car lease payments and a six percent rate on the purchase price of an automobile.