Luxury Car Buying: Lease or Buy?

After a home, buying a luxury car may be one of the biggest purchases you’ll ever make, so you want to be sure you’ve chosen correctly. The luxury car buying decision isn’t simply about which brand or model, but also how to finance the purchase. Any good dealer will have specialists who will help their customers create a payment plan before driving off the lot, but before the dealership, you have to decide whether you want to buy or lease. Not all dealerships offer a leasing program, but if you find one that does, you need to weigh the benefits between the two.

Leasing appeals to many people because it frees them from the future responsibility of reselling their car. They think about depreciation, inevitable repairs, and choose to lease instead, since those vehicles will always belong to car dealers. Luxury car buying can be more complicated than that. It’s one thing to lease a $20 thousand sedan; those cars will wear out and be worth very little by the time most leases expire. Many luxury cars, though, are rare and can thus be an investment, even appreciating as the years pass.

That said, since payments on leases never add up to the full cost of a vehicle, these programs are definitely like luxury car buying on a budget. Most loans and finance programs allow buyers to pay off the car as they’re able, but lease payments are less than those for auto loans, and they tend to be easier to obtain. For some people, leasing may be the only way they can afford a luxury brand. Buying used can be another less expensive alternative to a new luxury car, but leases remain popular for a reason. While they’re not for everyone, and they won’t allow you to own your vehicle as an investment, leases cost much less, and they let you get a new model every few years as soon they expire.