I personaly am leasing the car. The plan was to put $10,000 do a 4 year plan and buy it after. ( better writeoff for the business )

The salesperson told me I won't be buying the car back, because by the time 4 years is up, I'll want to upgrade to the new one. Well, this has kept me from doing the suspenssion mods I wanted, and getting the rims I wanted. I also realized after driving the car for just over 6 months now I would rather have some of the options I didn't get.


guess leasing worked out better for me

Most of the time if you have a business it would be better to lease like what you said for writeoffs!

Putting $10K down on a car lease is a Capital Reduction after Driveoff's are paid. Driveoff's constitute the first month payment, bank contract charges and license fees. It is NOT an effective way to use your extra cash. Capital Reductions are nothing more than pre-paying the bank. Utilitizing an MSD (Multiple Security Deposit) lease program, available from MBCC, would have been a much more effective way to reduce the Money Factor costs and still take advantage of writeoffs availed in leasing. ...RAB

hmm...

Thanks Rob, I'll look into that next time.

But the only reason I did put money down is because I LOVE the car and was planning on buying it after.

Understood! "Lease-to-Own" is quite legitimate and a very good way to help control your depreciation losses. I'm doing it myself. It's just that pre-paying is not your most cost effective method. ...RAB

Say Rob: If you dont't own a business, isn't buying the best way to go? I don't buy things until I can afford to pay. Is this a disadvantage?

Consider this. I own a company and I want you to buy my stock. I'll sell you each share for $100 and I guarantee that in 5 years I'll buy each one back for $50. Would you invest in my company? I would hope not! So, why would you pay cash for a depreciating asset such as an automobile? It's one of the worst investments you can make, Mercedes Benz or not.

Smart money uses the concept of leasing to control losses. The vast majority of our clients lease (70+%) and many are able to write a check for the entire transaction.

There are several other benefits that make leasing attractive but I'll have to explain them at a later time. I've got to make some money so I can keep posting on MBW. ...RAB

I simply bought the car outright, I will trade in 4 years but since I cannot write off the expense and getting a good reurn on my money is a little difficult right now is was a reasonable idea. A few minutes with EXCEL confirmed this.

BTW a car is never an investment - just a fun way to spend some of my hard earned cash.

I bought my 320 straight out of the shop. But after reading this article, it seems that I had made a mistake or something ><


i guess i should consider leasing on my next car, MB or not

I like to do a lot of custom work, and although it is a terrible investment financially speaking, it sure is fun. That's why I don't lease. It's a pain in the *** to take all that stuff off and return the car to stock. I bought the CLK paid in full.

i purchased mine - i intend on keeping it for a while. I had no incentive to lease as the rates were not too good.

I saves my hard earned shekels and buy. No shekels; no buy....Simple.