I posted this on a Dodge forum but wanted to get opinions from my friendly MyFico viewers as well...
Hi everyone. Let me start by saying I've learned so much more on this board about the Dart and car buying in general than any of those other Dart boards (pun intended).
I've never bought or leased a car before and being 22, this will be my first car purchase. The other two cars I've owned have been given to me by family. I've been doing TONS of research on car buying/leasing and deciding which would be the best direction for me to take. I know almost everyone prefers to buy their car over leasing and I understand why, but what are your thoughts on leasing for 3 years with the intention of buying at the end of the lease?
The reason I'm looking at this as an option is because my mom bought a 2011 Ford Fiesta in 2011. It was the first model year and she has been having some problems with the transmission. I'm thinking I could lease and if I have problems with it at the end of the term I'm not stuck with it.
I understand that the residual value at the end of the lease will probably be a little more than what the car is worth so when I finance the remaining amount I will be paying a little more. I justify this as buying a "used" car for a little higher than I could at the dealership but I will have comfort in knowing how the car was driven and maintained.
What are the opinions around here on doing something like this? It will probably be a couple more months before I'm in the position to buy mine so that's plenty of time to do some more research. Thank you all in advance.
PS: I apologize for any mistakes. This post was Swyped from my Android phone.
EQ FICO - 718 - 01/10/2012 EX FICO - 732 - 04/28/2012 (AMEX)
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