Comments on: Car Repair or Replacement Action Plan http://www.frugalfruitlands.net/2008/04/29/car-repair-or-replacement-action-plan/ Living Less Large in Central MA Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:48:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Chad http://www.frugalfruitlands.net/2008/04/29/car-repair-or-replacement-action-plan/comment-page-1/#comment-426 Chad Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:51:31 +0000 http://www.electric-monk.net/lise/2008/04/29/car-repair-or-replacement-action-plan/#comment-426 Yes leasing gets you less maintenance in theory. In practice, a good used car should have had regular maintenance all along and only need regular maintenance until the _eventual_ long term maintenance starts occurring, many many years down the road. One of the things I checked when I got my car was the carfax report which proved to me that the one previous owner had done regularly scheduled maintenance. Since I bought it, I've only done regularly scheduled maintenance, and the mechanic last time complimented me for how good a shape the vehicle was in. I expect it to be at _least_ three years before I need to do anything else, and in the meantime, if someone gets into an accident with me, I'm not stuck in a pinch with the leasing company who will slap me for not keeping the vehicle in impeccable shape. Leasing is probably good if you want to make lease payments forever (most people get a new lease when the old one runs up), but to actually stop making payments and save that money, you have to risk owning a car and taking good care of it, which should in theory cost less in the long run. As for owning v. renting, this is a whole different kettle of fish. Cars are rarely known to appreciate in value (unless you collect antiques), and that makes the equations completely different. Plus, it is much easier to do the math on car loans, and avoid buying too much car, or on paying more for a car than its worth because of an overinflated market. Gah. Suffice to say that yes, there are questions to ask and investigate, but don't let one set of results in a slightly similar scenario lead you to assumptions in another. Still, I'm sure you'll find answers. When you do, let me know what you discover... Yes leasing gets you less maintenance in theory. In practice, a good used car should have had regular maintenance all along and only need regular maintenance until the _eventual_ long term maintenance starts occurring, many many years down the road. One of the things I checked when I got my car was the carfax report which proved to me that the one previous owner had done regularly scheduled maintenance. Since I bought it, I’ve only done regularly scheduled maintenance, and the mechanic last time complimented me for how good a shape the vehicle was in. I expect it to be at _least_ three years before I need to do anything else, and in the meantime, if someone gets into an accident with me, I’m not stuck in a pinch with the leasing company who will slap me for not keeping the vehicle in impeccable shape.

Leasing is probably good if you want to make lease payments forever (most people get a new lease when the old one runs up), but to actually stop making payments and save that money, you have to risk owning a car and taking good care of it, which should in theory cost less in the long run.

As for owning v. renting, this is a whole different kettle of fish. Cars are rarely known to appreciate in value (unless you collect antiques), and that makes the equations completely different. Plus, it is much easier to do the math on car loans, and avoid buying too much car, or on paying more for a car than its worth because of an overinflated market.

Gah. Suffice to say that yes, there are questions to ask and investigate, but don’t let one set of results in a slightly similar scenario lead you to assumptions in another. Still, I’m sure you’ll find answers. When you do, let me know what you discover…

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