Q: Buying a lease vs. renting a car

I’m cheap. I buy them, but I buy them used and I don’t pay much and I drive them for 10, 20 or 30 years. But, that’s just me. The problem with leasing a car is this: if you lease a car you are paying for a car for the rest of your life (or until you buy a car) by monthly payments. I buy used cars and I’ve been driving cars for 48 years, and granted I’m a mechanic. In the entire 48 years, on my own personal cars, I’ve spent less than 6500 dollars for them all when totaled together.

If you are leasing cars over a 48-year period, you’ve probably spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on that. Now, if you have a business and you can write the lease off, like doctors and lawyers in their Jaguars and BMWs and Mercedes, then go right ahead. It’s a free tax right-off for a business expense. But, you are going to be ripped if you lease a car, because you are paying all your life for a car. You should get a good used car or a new car that is going to last you for a long time and so that your investment goes towards your property.