QandAs: Autos

Should I Buy or Lease a Car?

Answer:
Whether you buy or lease your next car is a

matter of personal preference. Leasing offers substantially lower monthly payments, allowing you to afford a more expensive car.

Since most leases are two or three years in length, your car will always be under warranty and you can get into a new model more often. If these benefits are important to you, leasing may be the answer.

With buying, you are paying for the entire car, not just the portion you use, so your payments are higher. However, you own the car and can keep it as long as you like. Once the loan is paid off, you will be payment-free. Buying appeals to consumers who are chiefly concerned with minimizing their long-term expenses and who tend to keep their cars longer.

Drivers that put a lot of miles on a car may want to consider buying rather than leasing. Most leases are set to 12,000 miles per year. Anything above that is usually negotiated into the lease payment. The problem comes when you go to turn your vehicle in and your over the alloted mileage. Depending on your lease agreement and the amount of overage miles you could owe a substantial amount of money. It may be more sensible to purchase a vehicle rather than lease.

Check out our Buy Vs. Lease Calculator and the Car Lease Payment Calculator .