When it’s time to consider vehicle ownership, people hardly ever think about leasing a car instead of buying one. Even more folks possibly don’t even know what leasing a vehicle means. What’s the difference between leasing, buying, and renting a vehicle? There are pros and cons to all of them, but we want to focus on the positives of leasing a vehicle.
We’ll cover everything from the financial benefits of leasing to the pleasures of getting to drive a new car every couple of years when you lease. We’ll also talk about how leases allow you to skip the headaches of buying and selling your car.
You don’t have to think about getting money back from a sale when you lease, whereas buying a car requires you to think about the money you will get in return when you finally sell it and buy another one.
#1 – Leased Cars Are New
Some people are okay with fixing their car over and over again. Vehicles are nostalgic items, after all. Many people associate their car with memories of weddings, graduations, and other celebrations. You feel like a part of you is leaving your life when you sell your car after many years.
If you’re one of these people, leasing is not going to be an option for you. That’s because when you lease a vehicle, you turn it back into the car dealership after a period of time, usually two years, and lease another one. This is incredible for car owners who are interested in getting their hands on the newest vehicles in the industry.
Beautiful interiors, great handling, and fresh paint certainly make the driving experience feel fresh when you’re on the road with a new car. Because buying a new car is so expensive, leasing allows you to take in that new car smell on a routine basis without giving away every dime in your bank account.
There are also the safety advantages of driving a new car constantly. Car manufacturers are constantly updating the safety features in their vehicles to provide drivers with the best experience possible.
Lane assist, blind-side cameras, and other smart technology has taken hold of the car industry, and when you lease a vehicle semi-annually, you get to have the peace of mind that you are in the safest possible vehicle on the market. A couple of years may not sound like much, but car companies try to improve safety in their cars every single year.
#2 – You Get to Keep the Car Longer Than a Rental
Leasing a car and renting one probably sounds similar to most people. You don’t own either vehicle, but there are some very distinct advantages to leasing over renting. As we talked about above, leased cars are usually new off the dealership parking lot. Rental cars are almost always used because they are only driven by the renter for a short period of time.
Leases are for a block of time. You usually pick one, two, or three-year lease periods. A rental car is typically a vehicle that you drive for a much shorter period of time, sometimes only a few days. People rent vehicles when they are going on vacation. They rent them if they need to drive something for a week or two while the car they own is in the shop getting worked on.
Sometimes you might underestimate how long you need a car when you rent one. This creates a situation where you are renting again after the initial period and spending more money than you originally thought you would both on the rental itself and on third-party rental car insurance.
When you lease a car, you know you get to keep it for at least a year. The price of the lease is explained at the beginning of the leasing period. You won’t have to worry about finances with a lease for at least a year or longer after you take it out.
This doesn’t create a scenario where you have to make a quick decision about spending more money to keep the car longer. This is in contrast to what happens when you suddenly need your rental car longer than expected.
#3 – You Avoid the Hassle of Buying and Selling
Buying a new car is one of the most difficult purchases you make in life. Not only is buying a car very expensive, but after you sink that much money into a vehicle, you also feel inclined to keep it for many years. Sometimes you have no choice but to keep a car you have bought because it costs so much money.
This makes it hard to decide what features are most important to you, what brand you trust the most, etc. The same difficulty has to be made when it comes time to sell that same car. You don’t know whether you can let go of it because of the personal connection. You aren’t getting much value for it because you kept it for too long.
When you lease a vehicle, you don’t have to think about any of these things. If you end up not really liking the car, it’s no big deal. You’ll just return the car to the dealership in a year or two. You don’t form an emotional bond with the vehicle in that time period, and if you do, you can buy a leased car after the leasing period has expired.
You don’t need to think about whether you can get decent value back for a leased car because you aren’t selling it when you return it to the dealership. This can be a negative thing too, though. Many people are able to get a good return on their purchased car if they sell it when it’s still fairly new.
For financial reasons, think about whether you will be spending more money on a car by leasing it. If you are going to just re-up the lease every time it expires, it will be much smarter to just purchase the car after the lease is up.
Leasing a car is an option that not many people think about when they go shopping for a vehicle. If you are into getting a new car every few years, and you like having updated safety features, leasing is definitely an option for you. It’s also much more financially stable than buying and selling your car every five years or so.
Shawn Laib writes and researches for the auto insurance site, BuyAutoInsurance.com. He wants to help people decide whether buying, leasing, or renting a car is the best option for them.
