buying vs. leasing

[its raining]

i'm planning on either buying or leasing an 02 si. but im stuck on whether i should buy or lease. could u guys help me out? what did u guys do? and can u give me the pros and cons of either one. this dealership said i can get a lease on the si for 188 a month, i dont think it includes tt&l tho. the price they are giving for the si is 16,800 i believe without tt&l. please help! should i buy or lease? maybe if i lease for 4 years, i can buy it out right at the end and it will turn out the same as buying it from the beginning without having the high monthly payments? if you guys dont mind, what are your monthly payments. i'm 18 and broke! lol. please help thanks. :confused:

[02TafWhtSi]

Its best, in my own experiences - and I've had some BAD ones - to finance a car. Period. 95% of the time Leases get you into trouble and you'll end up paying more than you ever really wanted to by the time its all over. With financing, the car is basically YOURS from the time you drive it off the lot. I understand technically the bank still owns it but at least you are making payments toward ACTUALLY OWNING the car instead of basically BORROWING it with a lease. I know you said you don't have alot of $ to be paying a month and thus a lease looks really good right now but unless you ABSOLUTELY can not afford a finance payment then you're really left with no other choice if you want to drive the car. I know this looks confusing so I'll summarize:

Leasing - ONLY good if you can't afford a large monthly payment but still REALLY want the car. You really can only change "bolt-on" items which you'll eventually have to put back and if you want to get into another car early its almost impossible.

Financing - If you think you can afford it then FINANCE. This choice gives you the most options like if you want to sell the car early or if really want to modify alot on the car.

Hope this helps - I've had experiences with both and I will be perfectly honest: I WILL NEVER lease another car in my life. PM me if you want any more info :)

[hacim]

I got my Si for 17,700 and after title and all it came to 19,200. My payments are 399 a month and thats not bad for almost 20k dollar car. I also put 0 down.

[IceD out N CALI]

you should probably buy it. leasing will get the payments down a lot though. If you change your mind often about cars than leasing might be a better option (just make sure its 3 years or less):)

[natesi]

Originally posted by IceD out N CALI
you should probably buy it. leasing will get the payments down a lot though. If you change your mind often about cars than leasing might be a better option (just make sure its 3 years or less):)

Leasing is for people who only keep cars for 2-3 years. It makes more sense, financialy, for them.

BUT, if you're making a lease/finance decision because you are tight on money, I would finance. Yea, the payments are more... but how much money will you ever save if you're constantly moving from lease to lease every few years? NONE. What if you buy a car and pay if off?? Then you have lots of money left over at the end of the month!!!

Buy a Honda and drive it for 10 years if you're trying to save money--that's why I'm doing. If you don't care about saving money then lease it. It will cost more NOW to finance, but WAY LESS in the long run, if you make the car last.