For many drivers, buying a car outright is the only means of purchasing a car they’ve ever heard of, but car leasing is becoming increasingly popular. Here we look at buying a car vs leasing a car.
LEASING
It’s Cheaper
Leasing is probably the cheapest way to drive a new car. The monthly payments you will be expected to pay on a new leased car will be significantly lower than the finance repayments on a purchased new vehicle. As with a finance agreement, you will have to pay a monthly figure to the lease company for a set amount of time. Unlike a finance agreement, however, you won’t be stuck with the (by then) out dated model by the end of the agreement, but will instead be free to choose another one. You will be able to purchase an additional maintenance package from most leasing companies, taking away the worry of paying for annual servicing and other necessary works to your vehicle. Leasing companies, such as Vantage Leasing, specialise in particular cars and often have money saving deals to help you drive away with the car you always wanted. This isn’t often the case when you buy a car, unless you buy brand new.
You don’t have to worry about selling the car
Because you don’t own the car at the end of the agreement, there’s no onus on you to sell it; you don’t have to worry about trying to find a buyer or stumping up a deposit for something new, you simply need to hand the car back to the leasing company and decide whether you’d like to lease another, newer model, or go back to the drawing board and consider a different option of purchasing.
OWNING A CAR
It’s yours forever (but is that a good thing?)
When you buy a car, you own it; it is your car, and it is yours to do with as you please. You can modify your car if you want, you can damage it as much as you want, and you can drive as far as you want in it without worrying about your mileage (leasing companies do impose mileage restrictions to protect their investments). As the owner of your car, u will be able to keep your car for as long as you want, and won’t have to worry about finding something else at the end of a two year period. The trouble with owning a car for a long period of time, though, is that cars depreciate in value quickly and things are more likely to go wrong with it, meaning you could end up paying a lot more for your car in the long run that if you had leased one. With a leased car, you can choose a new model every couple of years, and although you have to consider your mileage and take reasonably better care of it than you perhaps would if the car was yours to do with as you pleased, you don’t have to worry about the up-keep of your car or selling it.
If you aren’t interested in getting rid of your car every three years, then owning your own car might be the best thing for you, but you do have to consider the fact that cars tend to fall apart over time. Keeping a car for a very long time isn’t always a good idea, especially as cars become rarer, less energy efficient, and more expensive.