Comment Re:Sweet, sweet karma (Score 1) 257
Average sales price of a new car in 2013 was $31,762. Apparently a lot of people have that kind of money to buy a car.
Cars are manufactured today with some very good reliability. Instead of a 3 year lease, where you are also putting money up-front, one buys the car with a car loan. The cost of ownership is much lower than the lease cost. Most car loans are around 7% or less. Instead of 3 years, the car can be kept for 10. My car, for example, is a 2000 model. It is fuel economic, has A/C and has not cost me more than $1000 per year in maintenance (batteries, oil changes, tires, and repairs). Furthermore, my insurance is way way lower than what it would be if I had to add that fee to protect the lease vehicle.
Further to the above, we often are able to rent a new vehicle for the weekend from any of the big 3 car rental agencies at under $50.00 per weekend. We take this rental vehicle to enjoy the new car ride, and to drive some long distances. We have had one week deals for as low as $16.00 per day on a 10day rental.
So why lease? I am waiting for the all electric car to be fully debugged and that means 2 years after market introduction. Still, I will weekend lease a car for the reasons described previously