What should I get with 32~k?

[Mattk]

Why lease when you can buy? Leasing is not a good long-term option.

[mit5005]

yeah i guess leasing is better when u dont have the money for a big down payment, which i will. ok forget i asked lol

[RC45]

Originally Posted by Mattk Why lease when you can buy? Leasing is not a good long-term option.

Why buy when you don't need to?

If you buy new - you take the hit on depreciation

If you lease you are only paying for the poriton of the car you use.

In other words... if you only use $15,000 of the $40,000 car why not only pay $15,000 and give the car back at the end of the 2 year term?

[mit5005]

It probably depends on how much that particular car depreciates.

Lets say you bought the car and sold it 2 years later, what would it be worth then, like 25k? So either way you lose 15k over those 2 years.

[RC45]

Originally Posted by mit5005 It probably depends on how much that particular car depreciates. Lets say you bought the car and sold it 2 years later, what would it be worth then, like 25k? So either way you lose 15k over those 2 years.

http://www.leaseguide.com/lease03.htm

Buy vs lease example As an example, if you lease a $20,000 car that will have, say, an estimated resale value of $13,000 after 24 months, you pay for the $7000 difference (this is called depreciation), plus finance charges, plus fees. When you buy, you pay the entire $20,000, plus finance charges, plus fees. This is fundamentally why leasing offers significantly lower monthly payments than buying

[mit5005]

So they are pretty much the same thing, except insurance is usually higher on leases and you can't drive over a certain amount of miles.

[RC45]

Originally Posted by mit5005 So they are pretty much the same thing, except insurance is usually higher on leases and you can't drive over a certain amount of miles.

No they are not the same thing - did you read the link I posted?

You need to make the educated decision

[mit5005]

Well it probably doesnt make a difference, but in my case I am goin to have a 15-16k down payment.

And from what I understood from that link, if you lease you pay the 7k difference, and if you buy you pay 7k difference if you decide to sell the car after the same time period.

I'll want the car for a longer than 3 years probably. Yeah you pay lower payments if you lease, but then you also have no car once you return it. So I'll pretty much be in the same ballpark.

[ViperASR]

yea, it is basically how long you plan on keeping the car. We leased one of our cars, but my dad bought it after the lease ran up, so idk how that works but whatever.

[RC45]

Originally Posted by ViperASR yea, it is basically how long you plan on keeping the car. We leased one of our cars, but my dad bought it after the lease ran up, so idk how that works but whatever. Oh and for the milage, we got close to the milage limit on a 3 year lease in the 2nd year, so we disconnected the speedometer (very legal), we put a piece of paper over the speedo with how fast the car is going in a certain gear at a certain RPM, it worked rather well, and it made a good conversation piece whenever someone got into the car.

It is a Felony for anyone to knowingly tamper with, adjust, alter, set back, disconnect, or fail to connect an odometer of a motor vehicle, so as to reflect a lower mileage than the motorvehicle has actually been driven, or to supply any written odometer statement knowing such statement to be false or based on mileage figures reflected by an odometer that has been tampered with oraltered. When the above law is violated, title fraud and grand theft, both felonies, are also added to the list of arrest charges against the violator. The three Felonies each carry a fine as much as $5,000.00 and/or five years in a state prison or both such fine or imprisonment.

Richard C. Morse directs the Office of Odometer Fraud Investigations at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Each year, there are more than 450,000 cases of odometer fraud in the United States. The cost to American consumers is well over $1 billion. While any vehicle sold on the used car market can be subject to odometer tampering, this problem is most common among late-model vehicles that have accumulated high mileage in a short time. These include many vehicles that have come off lease or were part of business fleets. NHTSA investigates odometer fraud for criminal prosecution by the U.S. Justice Department. The agency also provides funding and support to state enforcement agencies conducting odometer fraud investigations. And it helps consumers who suspect they’ve been victims of odometer fraud. NHTSA can assist victims recover their losses through private civil actions.

There is nothing legal about tampering with your cars speedo.

[Mattk]

so we disconnected the speedometer (very legal)

:shock: I don't think that's legal in Australia, either.

we put a piece of paper over the speedo with how fast the car is going in a certain gear at a certain RPM, it worked rather well

What if you weren't accelerating? Like going down a steep hill? A bit unsafe.

[RC45]

Originally Posted by Mattk What if you weren't accelerating? Like going down a steep hill? A bit unsafe.

the speed will always be the same at the same rpm in the same gear..

[ViperASR]

Any by us I was of course referring to a friend....

[TopGearNL]

Leasing could be an option, but only if you benefit of it...

[mit5005]

Ok guys, I'm making some progress.

It's between 3 different cars now.
-06 IS350 which I might be able to get for 30k or even less with low miles.
-06 330i which i could probably get for 30-33k used with low miles.
-04-05 330i which could cost me as low as 25k for one with around 20k miles.

The only one I havent driven is the 06 330i which I would expect to be better than the older one.

I've had a lots of interest for my car too, so I might get more than I expected.