i love it. lease it drive the crap out of it, turn it in get another one. little or nothing out of pocket, under warranty for 3 yrs, and even better if your compny picks up part of the cost.

First you just might see leasing go away. Its part of the reason the industry collapsed. The re-sale value of the vehicles often times did not match the projected value, which meant the company took a loss. I suppose maybe Bill is telling us why that happened because he might not have been alone when it came to abusing the machines.

Now as far as whether its better or not all you really need to do is think it through fully by the numbers and leave the emotional side of the question out of it.

Buy yourself something new from the start, and maintain it to the max. In fact, DON'T trade in your present car. Even new cars break and/or require maintenance, so being a salesperson and on the road all of the time a back-up vehicle is a must. Besides, that way you reduce the annual miles on the new one and extend its life even more. Today's cars when correctly maintained can last fifteen to twenty years, and some 200-300 thousands miles with reasonable repair expectations. When you pay off the new car, open a savings account and continue making the payment, only to your automobile savings CD instead of to a bank. Be diligent, and always make that payment just like you have to for the initial bank-note. The only time you touch that money is if your car needs a repair, or when the day finally comes and its time to replace it. Don't be surprised when that day finally comes, that you find that you have enough cash in the bank to simply go buy what ever you would like to have.

In short, this routine will see you spending less than a third of the money for transportation every decade than you would for leasing, or for trading in and buying the new car every time you pay one off.

I put 300 kms a day on a car. Leasing just doesn't work for me.

we are leasing a 07 sonata. $500 down and $200/mo for 30 months. not a lot of money. our first lease and new car in a long time. new is nice. only put 18k miles on so far. we got a 30k miles total so we are way under. our residual is 12k. hah, no way a 07 sonata is worth that. i see 08's selling for 8k now. cooled seats is nice but working a/c is also nice. nothing like a new car.

Quote" our residual is 12k. hah, no way a 07 sonata is worth that. i see 08's selling for 8k now"

Precisely one of the reasons why you will probably see leasing go away. (Or else they will simply have to charge a lot more for the first lease to make up for the price gap)

yep that the same with my 08 impala, supposed to be worth 14k when the lease is up,yeh right! i can buy one better equipped at the auction for 8k. for me the upside is my company picks up 75% of the lease. plus the "drive it like you stole it." works for me.

I considered leasing when I heard the commercials on the radio for it. Phoned them up, told them I'd be doing 50k a year and the price was a joke. On top of that I'd be responsible for every stone chip. Now doing 50k a year I am going to get a good few stone chips so I'd basically have to pay for a respray plus excess mileage. It would be cheaper for me to employ Queen Elizabeth II as a chambermaid.

I knew a salesman who had nothing but Ford Crown Vics for years. He also put on 50,000-60,000 miles per year. Back then the odometers would turn back to zero after 100,000. He said the dealers would comment on the high mileage reading (showing 50,000-60,000 miles) when he traded them in after 3 years. And, he said that when he changed the oil he would change the filter and put the same oil back in. The oil would get thrown out on each 4th oil change. Said it was a trick he learned from an old airplane mechanic. He said "It must be okay because I've never once had an engine problem."

Can you imagine the poor person who bought his used car with the supposed 50,000 miles!