Which (Chrysler group) car?

Maintenance/Repairs
21

If you lease for three years, at the end of the lease they’ll come pick up the car and you’ll have NOTHING. NADA. Not a single penny. They’ll have taken your money for three years and THEN they’ll TAKE YOUR CAR. Personally, I’d rather be mugged.

Oh, and if the car turns out to be a lemon, or you discover that you don;t like it…you’re STUCK WITH IT.

And if you bump a mailbox, get a minor dent, and decide it isn;t worth fixing…they’ll take it out of your hide in the end.

Leasing has no upside. You may as well rent when you really need a car and shovel money into a river when you don’t.

22

The title of this is “Which car?” I just wanted opinions on which car people might prefer as I only have personal experience with the Avenger.

For the next month and a half, money is an issue. After that, money won’t be such an issue. Unfortunately, I need to get a car in the next month.

23

We undertand it’s a ‘which car’ question, but you’re approaching it in a way that got a LOT of reaction.

And money is always and issue. Always.

I was at your exact spot, going to grad school with a good job on the horizon. I held onto my college car through the first year and a half of my full time job, that gave me flexibility when the time came to buy. Do you know if you can even get a lease in your currenct financial situation?

24

There are a couple other options. One is to buy an older car for just the summer for your internship. This is a bit more difficult to do since you have to screen cars to find one that you will take to a mechanic for a prepurchase inspection. A second option is a long term rental (short term lease?) That will tide you over until you gt back to campus. This could be a few thousand dollars, but it will be lot less than a 3 year lease. Give the latter some consideration, hingstma.

25

A lot of rental companies are selling Calipers, so check listings for Enterprise - Avis - or Hertz.

26

Since you need the utility of hauling around bikes, etc., maybe the Jeep would be your best bet. They’re not the most refined vehicles, and mileage will be somewhat poor compared to a car, but they’re rugged and durable and have some street cred. For that matter, how about leasing a pickup? The new RAMs are pretty car-like in their ride and handling. Expect less than wonderful mileage with a truck though. If you’re going to be working for an oil company, you’ll probably find the parking lot full of them. It will fit right in.

27

“Leasing has no upside…”
+1

Mountainbike has perrfectly summarized my feelings about leasing.
I strongly suggest that the OP re-read what mountainbike stated, about 6 posts previous to this one.

28

The Caliber my son owns has been flawless although as I stated, the car is not my cup of tea. At 60k miles it has needed nothing and has not suffered one rattle or squeak. He also lives in the UT mountains and has made the trip to OK through mountains with no problems at all.

I’m in total agreement with mountainbike and VDCdriver about leasing. The downside is too big and on top of the downside that was mentioned you also have to figure in the full cost of leasing a car weighed against the miles you drive.
Drive too many miles over the limit and you will get nailed for a per mile charge over that limit.
Drive too few miles and then you’re dividing those few miles driven by the total cost of leasing and that can turn out to be obscenely high.

Something to think about in regards to mountainbike’s comment about damage. College parking lot…

29

Here is a suggestion: There is a company called “Rent a Wreck” that rents used cars. You can go on line to find out if there is an agency near you. This might be an inexpensive way to have transportation for the summer. Some years back, my wife rented a Ford van from Rent a Wreck to transport high school students to a church work camp about 500 miles away from our home. The rates were much more reasonable than any other rental agency and she had no problems with the van. However, after hearing about the tales keeping the teenagers in line, I was glad that I had to stay home and work.

30

@the same mountainbike

I used to think the way Mountainbike does, and while leaseing IS not right for everyone it makes perfect sence for A LOT of people.

"If you lease for three years, at the end of the lease they’ll come pick up the car and you’ll have NOTHING. NADA. Not a single penny. They’ll have taken your money for three years and THEN they’ll TAKE YOUR CAR. Personally, I’d rather be mugged. Oh, and if the car turns out to be a lemon, or you discover that you don;t like it…you’re STUCK WITH IT. "

While it is true that you have nothing at the end of the lease, the plus side is you only paid for the part of the car you used, IE if you had taken out a 6 year loan (which most people do) you would owe more then the car is worth 9 out of 10 times in 3 years… SO YOUR STILL STUCK on a purchase if you dont like it EVEN MORE SO then in a lease, because at least you have an out at three years. ALSO if you start the lease with negitive equity, it is gone after 3 years rather then paying off the negative equity for 6 (which a lot of people do). When you lease you only pay for the value of the car you use, so if the car has a 60% residual value you are only paying for the 40% you are useing, where if you buy a car you are paying but not using 100% of it. Lastly the lease rates are usually lower then the APR on the same car, so you will pay less on a lease car then on a purchase.

“And if you bump a mailbox, get a minor dent, and decide it isn;t worth fixing…they’ll take it out of your hide in the end.”

Yes and no, I know as a fact that Honda has $1500 worth of forgivness built into every lease, so as long as each dent is less then $500 and $1500 total damage on the car you get to walk. You can turn it in with bald tires and still be OK… I dont think all leases are this way, but I know some are as I sell Hondas every day

“Leasing has no upside. You may as well rent when you really need a car and shovel money into a river when you don’t.”

Again this is not true, Leasing has HUGE upside to the right people. I dont suspect that is most people on this forum, and I dont think I am going to change anyones mine. You cant make a blanket statment that leaseing is bad, becasue it is just not true. SO if the OP says he is only interested in leaseing then, that is what he is going to do. In his case LEASEING makes sence, as his needs in a car will certainly change in the next 3 years, he needs the lowest payment possible and he does not drive much. That is a lease person ALL DAY LONG…

31

Seeing as how the OP’s father worked for Chrysler for 25 years and insists on nothing but, I wonder why the OP has not hashed out the options with dad.

32

Gsrag, you make your points with excellence. And I’m aware that car loans are “front loaded”, wherein after three years very little has actually been paid on the principle of a typical 5-year loan. However there is at least some equity, and once the loan is paid one still has the car and your payments drop to zero.

However, if one buys a car, once it’s paid for one still has the car…in most cases for a good number of years. People who lease have to enter into another lease (or a loan to purchase) to continue having a car. In essence, they make payments forever…never having a car of their own. If they do a loan to purchase, they start with zero equity…and the loan is front loaded from there.

One who buys a car has some equity after three years and zero car payments after 5 years (assuming typical lease and loan terms). One who leases a car has zero equity after three years and (if one continues with leases) zero equity forever…and car payments forever.

And don’t forget the lemon issue. If you buy, you can always trade or sell. If you lease and get a lemon, you’re screwed.

In 2005 I bought new a Corolla. Turned out, it was a mistake. It was killing my bad back. While I had to take a slight loss, I was able to trade it after only 2 months for a car that worked out for me. If I’d have been leasing I would have been screwed.

I honestly do not believe that leasing ever works in the long run for the individual. In my opinion an individual concerned about the monthly cost is better to buy a vehicle of a lesser value than to lease.

Businesses are a different issue. For a business the accounting is different. A purchase is a depreciable capital asset, a lease is an operating expense. Only an accountant looking at the specific business can determine the best approach.

33

Leasing is GREAT for new car dealers…Until the economy went south…MOST new cars were leased.

And for a while there was a good tax incentive for businesses to lease…but that tax incentive went away over 10 years ago.

There is no upside to leasing…Financially it’s the WORSE possible thing you can do.

34

The biggest problem I see is that, since you state you’re working for an oil company, does that mean you’ll be heading out into the fields most days? If so, I’d look for something with more ground clearance, as I’ve heard those fields can get pretty rough and muddy. Maybe a Dakota would do the trick.
If you’re forced to do a lot of driving for the company, even for a short time, you could go over the mileage limit on your lease, and thus owe money at the end of it.