Need a new car? What do you do?  I faced the dilemma of needing a new car earlier this month. My old car served us well for many years but now we needed to fix it or get a new one. My old care was stalling when we stopped, so I brought it to our mechanic and we found the car had an oil leak, a transmission problem, and various other problems. We had to decide if it was worth it to pour more money into this car or use the money to put down on a car. We had a few things to consider. Do we look at used car lots, buy a car or lease one? 

I didn’t want to buy a used car. In the past, I had bad experiences with used cars, so I didn’t want to buy a used one.  When you buy a used car, most times you are just trading your car’s problems for someone else’s. The car needed to be reliable and safe. I knew I didn’t want a used car. 

My next question was whether to lease or buy. To answer this question, I had to weigh the pros and cons of each and decide what I can afford. First, when you buy a new car, your payments will be higher than that of a lease.  My insurance will be high both whether I lease or buy so I didn’t need to worry about that right now. Either way, I will have to pay for full coverage. When you buy a car, you can drive as many miles as you want. There is no mileage penalty. When your payments are over, you own the car. It is yours, not so when you lease a car. You can make any upgrades you want. When you lease a car, you can’t change anything. What you see if what you get. When you buy a car, any wear and tear on the car are yours. No one will charge you for these scratches, dents, and stains. 

Thinking of leasing a car? Sure the payments are lower, but when your lease is up, you don’t have a car. The car is not yours; it belongs to the dealership. You could lease a new car every 3 years. Drive a new car every 3 years.  Your car is under warranty for the entire length of your lease, so the dealership will cover anything that goes wrong with the car. You must pay for the maintenance of the car, the oil changes, brakes, and tires. So what do we do? Buy a car or lease one?

I wound up leasing a car as it was 200 dollars less a month to lease than to buy. I paid extra for scratch protection on the car. It is a sealant that goes on the outside and inside of the car. It could cover most scratches and stains. My plan is to drive a new car every 2 to 3 years. So far the car is amazing and since I had full coverage for my old car, my insurance didn’t go up all that much. Before buying or leasing a car, weigh the pros and cons of each and make the best-educated decision you can.