livestrongONe

Hi
I use to be a BMW owner and now a proud MB owner and found the only way poeple can afford a new BMW is leasing which is fine , but I noticed in here everyone is doing mod`s on there cars and changing it up and adding new pulls and power chips and lowering there cars. So I know in a lease you can not make any changes ,where as the normal loan you do what you want. I also noticed the poeple on the BMW forums who lease like to brag alot of what they got option wise and what they paided,but is the car really theirs because they restricted by so many variables(milage,upfront money,can not do mod`s ,pay higher insurance Gap and then mileaged exceeded they still have to pay in. I reallyyyy do not understand the leasing side of cars but I always do traditonal loan. What are the advantages besides a cheaper monthly payment and more options can be added and less years.

Sauceboy01

Well, I always lease cars! I also on the other hand Modify them extensively. When it comes time to take back the car, so far i've been able to sell it with the mods, without having to worry about turning the car in and mileage issues. So far all 5 of my leased cars i've been able to sell before the lease expired.

Now, if there was a case where I could not sell the car, then i would remove all the mods and return the car back to stock. No problems! If i am over my mileage, i know a guy locally who can do a little magic!! and here's the kicker, he's been working for a lot of S.Cali Mercedes dealers doing that magic on their used cars.

DiamondK

WTF. I guess I'll never consider buying a used car from a SoCal dealer.

Sauceboy01

Yes, if you think they dont fudge the miles.. THEY SURE DO!!

allen_7

Interesting, care to PM or email me the source?

advans

I always buy, i guess in order for leasing and buying to be the same, u take 2 three year leases compared to a 6 year own car...the price diff then is about the same, meaning the price u paid for the 2 leases to the price of the paid car. Leasing side, every 3 years u get a new car, buying side, the cars urs.... I always buy the car and sell it back every 5-6 years, but the best time to sell ur car is approx 4-5 years =]

CE750

Leased my Volvo, cash for the MB (it's a keeper).

06C230

I prefer to own my vehicles so I don't lease them.

nlpamg

and Danny, that probably explains why I see so many low mileage MB's in so. cal...

jan ken po

Bought. Mileage restrictions are hideously unreasonable to lease.

mbny

well you need to take mileage and expected timephrame of having the car in mind. i don't like having a car more than 3 years and i do average mileage so i lease. i use my vehicle as a business expense and write-off 90% of my payments which is nice, but you can still do that with a loan as well. to me, if i wanted a keeper (which my next vehicle will be) i'll buy. when you figure all the numbers in the end, leasing and buying come out almost the same in the amount lost in a 3 year period. and you only pay taxes on your total amount of lease payments rather than the whole value of the car which saves you about half the taxes. you can lease the car, and give it back just having paid the depreciation on the vehicle with a lower payment, or buy the car, have a much higher payment, then get smacked in the end when you sell the car or even worse, trade it in to a dealer. soon i'll be in my fathers office full time which is only 2 miles from my house which is why i wanna buy my next car (sparkling graphite 330i) on a 3 year loan, then when it's paid off, finance a porsche and keep her tucked in the garage for occassional use. with working so close to home, the mileage would be so low that i'd probably keep my daily driver for at least 5 or 6 years. it's all in your preference. i hate trying to sell a car or trading a car in, especially as frequently as every 3 years. on my BMW 330Ci, i figured all the numbers out at the end of my lease and realized that i had lost an additional $1,200 on leasing it as opposed to buying it and selling it privately. probably would've broken even had i traded it to a dealer or maybe lost more than what a lease would have cost me. it's all what you prefer. there's good reasoning behind each decision based on what you really wanna do with the car. i support either way

mbny

as for modding, i modded my 330Ci with Rogue Engineering pulleys, GruppeM intake, Eibach springs, Billstein shocks, UUC clutch stop, and aftermarket stereo system, Pioneer DVD player, navigation and LCD monitors. took it all out at lease end and sold it online, typically for about half of what i paid for it except for suprisingly my Pioneer navigation which I don't know why, but someone on ebay bid up to $1,100 on it which i got a deal on it brand new for $1,200. go figure. the only thing i'd stay away from on leased cars is spoilers or bodykits.

Sauceboy01

Bottom line, it all boils down to the person and their lifestyles as well as prefferances.

NY C32

Yeah, I don't think I'll be buying a car in SoCal any time soon either. If its true, thats a real shame and I hope your buddy gets busted!

Although, if service was done at an authorized dealer, there are only so many miles that can be taken off (I would say rolled back, but you can only reprogram nowadays). I hope that legitimate dealers out there logging odometer readings and carfax reportings deter most of the jackasses out there from that "business" practice.

Tishers

Paid for in cash. No experience with MB financing or leasing.

MB-BOB

Opinions vary on this topic, which has been covered several times.

I don't rent (lease) cars... I buy them, because I generally make the commitment to keep them for the long haul (7-9 years). If you want to keep the car for the long haul, then it costs way too much to lease two cars to cover the same period.

Yes, I know alot of people lease cars, mod heavily, and then drive the crap out of them for three years, then reinstall the OEM parts, (roll-back odos apparently) and return the car with a sheepish smile on their faces.

The same folks say they would not buy a turned-over rental car from Hertz, but for some strange reason, it's OK to do the same stuff to a leased car, which is nothing more than a long term rental.

All good reasons not to buy a used car, (certified or otherwise) either. If you can put down a significant amount in cash on a new MB (say half), the loan for the remainder is no more than having a full loan for a Buick.

hybrid_girl

bought mine...

eddieo45

you can see the subtle subjectivity in the way "buyers" refer to "owning" their cars, while leasers often tout their tax advantages. it's really just two different methods of procuring your transportation, with pros and cons to each. When I just bought my 2002 C230 and put about $6000 down, I was aware that I could be leasing a brand new model for about the same dough. having lived long enough to know there's no "free lunch", I associate the lease option with the lease-end charges and lack of equity. by the same token, if someone "buys" a new car with a 4 or 5 year loan, then eventually trades the car in before paying it off, thereby rolling over unpaid balance into new loan, did he/she "own" that car anymore than a leaser? I don't believe so, but that's just my $0.02
there are so many choices to make, even if you are able to limit your car selection to one brand, as I did: new or used, 3 year old C or 4 year old E, etc.
some savvy/cynical consumers will say that a lease has more places a dealer can hide profit, but then some of them lease anyway, by negotiating a buy price, then maybe springing a trade into the deal, then talking about the lease option only as a payment option.
me, I've settled into a pattern of buying 3 year old former leased cars. I like to tell myself that I could have a brand new Kia or my 3 year old MB. Of course, friends think I'm nuts not to choose a 6 year old S-Class!

b3d_sage

I have "owned" every car that I've ever had, I was just brought up with that concept as my parents do the same thing. And by "own" I mean I wrote a check and noone else has any claim to the car. It's mine mine mine! I also keep cars for a long time, I'll probably keep this one around after I replace it (which will likely be a veeeery long time as I have just started college and have 3.5 more years of undergrad + grad school to pay for, not to mention not having a job for all of that time...)

MB-BOB

When you lease a car, you pay ALL of the sales taxes over the course of the lease... built within the lease payments. Since leases expire after 2-4 years, you find yourself paying taxes for subsequent vehicles, more or less every 2-4 years. This, and the fact that you cannot deduct lease expenses on your income taxes, does not demonstrate any tax advantages to leasing (or "buying" a car every year), either.

I've kept my C320 for 4 3/4 years now, and intend to keep it another 5 years, minimum. Which means I will pay sales tax only once every 9-10 years or so.

b3d_sage

and if you take care of it (as I'm sure you do) it will still look and drive great at the end of those 5 more years!


edit:
by the way, when I'm ready to replace mine it probably won't be worth enough to sell. I will likely end up keeping it in the garage, keeping it show-quality, probably doing lots of crazy mods to it.

SuperQ

paid cash for mine. i was tempted to put 35k down and get an 06 clk amg, but i don' want a car note, and i decided the c class will be my daily driver while i wait for the next 911 turbo to come out.

Ru4Rl

I ended up buying a pre-owned. It was only a year old and had low miles and price was good. Here's how I financed... I took a cash advance from one of these "No Interest for 18 months" offers I get from credit cards time to time. I set up my online checking to pay $1000 a month for next 18 months. So it's basically interest free loan.

I also felt that if I leased I'd be stuck with minium of 39 months with car. I never really thought that you can just sell a leased car before lease it up. I thought buying gave me that option to sell anytime.

I would definitely lease if I were getting an expensive model.

PS. Susan Orman was yelling at people the other night for leasing!

eddieo45

oh, to be smart and rich........!

b3d_sage

how about just putting $1000 a month (or as much as you can afford up to 18000) into a mutual fund (or, if you have $18000 right now just put it in a C/D) and then take it all out at the end and pay it off, then take anything extra and put it into a new mod / mods!