Is leasing a truck a better than buying a truck?

Due to high maintenance costs and reliability issues is leasing better when you want to own a truck?

Chevy Silverado Crew Cab 1500 $289 a month lease

Dodge Ram Big Horn - $310 a month lease

Ford F-150 - $299 a month lease

I don't think so… To me leasing is a waste of money.

If you are leasing (renting) it you don't own it.

There have been thousands of studies conducted comparing the cost of leasing to buying and pretty much all of them conclude that leasing is more expensive - and that's when you compare leasing to purchasing a brand new vehicle.

Its FAR more expensive to lease than to buy a lightly used vehicle 2-5 years old.

Leasing is a ploy by car companies to separate stupid people from their money. The leases are carefully created to ensure the monthly payments are lower than the payments for purchasing with a loan. This attracts stupid people who ask "how much per month?" instead of "how much?" and the end result is a higher profit margin for the car manufacturer and dealer on leased vehicles.

The lease rates you quoted are most likely for base model vehicles with extremely low mileage limits. If you want a truck with reasonable features and enough allowed miles to actually drive it on a daily basis you could pay significantly more.

Leasing only makes sense (and only sometimes) if you are buying something you can't otherwise afford and you don't keep your vehicle for a long time.

I would never consider a vehicle that has high maintenance costs and reliability issues. There are plenty of similar products on the market for you to choose from.

Leasing is not better in 99%+ of cases. You are not in the 1%.

No. And 90% of the anonymous posters asking about leasing do not qualify. Bless your heart. You think those ads are for you.

As far as I can see leasing has only one good point. When you are building your business plan, and can't figure out how to amortize costs for items that you might have to purchase, just plug the lease cost into your per-month figures. You'll be able to see how much money that vehicle or machine will cost in immediate comparison to how much money it's making you. Also, because the lease cost is higher than an amortized purchase, you'll be less likely to get caught up by the errors of your unfounded dreams.

It is occasionally proper to lease a vehicle for a particular contract that you need to accomplish. For example, you have just bid on a contract to put in a sewer system, and at the end of the job you will no longer need the Big Sewage Truck, so if you get the contract, you lease the truck. The lease cost is built into your bid, so you won't accidentally win the bid by underestimating your cost, and when the job is done you won't have the problem of "What do we do with this useless truck?"

Leasing usually only makes sense if the vehicle will be used for work and you can write-off the lease as a business expense.

For the rest of us, leasing is essentially a long term rental. At the end of the lease, you return the vehicle and you have nothing to show for it. At least with financing, once the vehicle is paid off, it is yours. Sure, you paid more for it monthly and depreciation took out a sizeable chunk of the original purchase price but at least you have an asset to show for all those payments…

When you lease you don't get the title. Pay cash up front and you get the title in three or four days. I know the dealership won't accept cash but they do accept a Bank Cashiers Check. The dealership also will not accept a credit card for payment in full.

Unless you are leasing for a business purpose… Nobody should lease a vehicle from a cost perspective. I know plenty of people who prefer new vehicles and can afford to do so, but its definitely less cost effective.

NO. Leasing is by far the most expensive way to drive a new vehicle and the only reason to lease is if it is for legitimate business purposes so that the cost can be written off on taxes as a business expense.

Be aware that those low lease rates are only available to well-qualified customers with good credit and a large down-payment and have many hidden dangers including low mileage allowances; high early termination penalties; and throughout the term of the lease you will be ''under water'', meaning that the value of the vehicle will be less than you owe so if you want or need to get out of the lease it will cost thousands. And more often than not the low monthly payment s only for the first 6-12 months and after that it can as much as double.

And, if you get to the end of the lease and the vehicle has high mileage, hasn't been maintained according to the manufacturers recommendations and it hasn't been kept in cosmetically excellent condition, it can cost thousands more in ''back end'' fees unless you buy the vehicle - which you will have exactly zero equity in and will be paying a premium for.

The bottom line is that if you can't afford the payments of a traditional car loan you can't afford to lease either. If you ignore this advice be sure to read and understand all the fine print in the contract so you know exactly what you are getting into.