Buy vs. lease

Leasing is paying what value the car drops plus interest while you have it (if I remember correctly). If you lease I honestly wouldn't stay with GM cars since their resale values drop like a rock. If you intend to buy then go with whatever you want. I don't think you'd have to take it to the dealership to do the oil change, that may vary with the leasing companies though. GM does have something though where you can lease it then buy it when the lease is done, this I can sort of see the point to if it depreciates faster then they thought and you end up getting a better price and vice versa. I guess it comes down to if you're going to keep it when the lease/payments would be up.

Don't know anything about lease versus buy but our local Pontiac dealer does oil changes and lube jobs for around $20, don't know of any places around me that do it for less.

I may need to buy or lease a new car as our Buick Regal is giving us some headache lately. The car is 1994 although it runs okay as far as I know, a few things needed to be taken care of.

We drive less than 20000km a year and I don't do any modifications to the car - just drive it :) I hate surprises even though I know mechanical parts do break! From a financial point for buying vs. leasing:

it takes about 8 years or so to break even buying vs. leasing. Assuming the buy back option for leasing. Am I on-track? In my case, the Buick is just over 10 years and it's about time to replace, so I'm getting 2 years of free-ride! However, for the money I put into the car after the warranty expired, I don't think it was any cheaper.

So what do you think? Am I better off leasing? If I lease, do I have to take the car back to dealer for any services including oil-change? I wouldn't be doing it myself but maybe somewhere cheaper but still keep the receipts just in case. Anything I should be aware of with leasing?

Thanks for your information,

Simon

Unless you have a taxation situation where you can wright off the lease as an expense, instead of depreciating a vehicle by the standard schedule, you are virtually never better off leasing.

When you lease a car, unless you have a "long" lease (includes all service and repairs) YOU are responsible for all service and repair costs - and when you return the car at the end of the lease, you are responsible for any expenses to get the car into 'average" shape.

The "long" lease is virtually extinct today.

If you lease a car, and grow to hate it, you are married to it for the length of the lease, unless you want to pay the almost criminal fee to break the lease. If you own it, you can sell it for whatever you can get for it at any time you please.

The dealers LOVE leases, because they make a LOT more money.