This year I bought my very first car, a used Nissan Sentra. A little less then a month later, I went back to the dealership and traded it in for a lease. Here are my reasons for doing that and my pros and cons to buying a car vs leasing a car.
Buying a Used Car
Pros:
NO MONTHLY PAYMENTS
The best thing about buying a car is that you don't have to make monthly payments. This is perfect for people who have saved money to buy a car but don't have a stable income to make car payments.
YOU OWN THE CAR
Unlike leasing a car, when you buy a car it's yours, so you don't have to worry about turning your car in to the dealership a couple of years later.
Cons:
RELIABILITY
Unless you buy your car brand new from the dealership, you don't really know what to expect from a used car. I call used cars, "Little boxes of surprises" because you don't know what issue you will encounter. In my life, I have seen my family go through countless car troubles. One of them when they bought a used PT Cruiser from a used car agency. When we bought it, we were told that the car had no problems and that it was a "good car". In less than a month, the car began to have a lot of issues. We tried to repair the car and ended up paying more for the car in total than what it was worth. That was the moment my parents decided to lease a car.
NO LEMON LAW
A very important con is the fact that Lemon Law in the State of Florida only applies to new vehicles. Hence, when you purchase a used vehicle you are literally buying it "as is". Ideally, you should have it checked by a mechanic before buying it, but as many of us know we lack the time to do this with our busy student schedules. Additionally, even when you have the car checked by a mechanic prior to purchase, that is not a guarantee the car will not have major issues shortly thereafter.
Leasing a Car
Pro:
RELIABILITY
So the number one pro to leasing a car is by far, reliability. When you lease a car, it is brand new and has no issues. And if for some reason it does have an issue, you have protection under the leasing plan you select. This was my number one reason for trading my used car in for a lease and the reason my parents did as well.
Cons:
YOU DON'T OWN THE CAR
Once your lease is up, you have to turn in your car. You have the option to buy the car at the end of a lease or lease another new car.
MONTHLY PAYMENT
When you lease a car you need to be prepared to pay your monthly payments. As a student you, need to make sure you are able to work. That means that when exams roll around you need to suck it up and balance work and studies because you can not afford to miss a day.
LIMITED ALLOWED MILAGE
When you lease a car, there is a limit to how many miles you can drive; typically, it is no more than 12,000 miles a year.
In conclusion, based on my personal experience and that of my family's, I feel that the pros to leasing a car outweigh the cons. However, there are some people that may not see it that way. For those that need to drive considerable distances, clearly, a lease would be a poor choice. On the other hand, for those students like myself that need a reliable car to get to and from school and for day to day local commute, a lease is the ideal.
