I am moving, job hunting, and also need to have a car. Not sure of my budget until I get my new job, but need a car for job hunting. Considering Swapalease vs. buying a cheap car - 3k - until I can finance the car I want. Any advice?
I would buy a cheap car. Older Corollas, Altimas and Prizms come to mind. Have a good mechanic check them out before you buy.
Check month rental rates with small local places, or Rent-A- Wreck.
Is Zipcar (or anything similar) available? I would stay away from taking on somebody else’s lease, too many ways for that to go wrong.
Thank you, I forgot about zipcar etc. and definitely have reservations about lease takeovers.
I’d probably have more reservations on a $3k car than a swapped lease; depending on the remaining lease deal.
You might luck out and have someone who got a 15k mile/year lease and have 17k on the odometer and a year and a half left on the lease. Or you could have someone that’s got a 12k/year lease with 34k miles on it and a year and a half left on the lease.
Of course you could go job hunting, find a nice house close to work and you wouldn’t need a car after you’ve moved, so the lease would work out for you.
BUY, never lease, if you look carefully you should be able to find reliable transportation for 3k. it might take some time but it can be done. And trust me what you consider normal wear and tear on a car and what a leasing company considers normal wear and tear are vastly different. I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t gotten dinged with excessive wear and tear on a lease. And my sister ended up just buying the van from her last lease, after all big brother was stupid when he told her not too, because it was cheaper than turning the car in.
Leasing is seldom a good idea (from a automotive point of view) except for some business uses. I Have yet to see a lease being a good idea for the average driver.