Its looking like I have to lease a car in the very near future.
>Buying is not an option for me. But buying is all I know about.
>Anyone care to give me a crash course in car leasing?
1) Keep up front cash as close to zero as possible, the advantages of a lease have to do with cost-of-money over time and up front money reduces this benefit.
2) Know how many miles per year you drive, make sure you get that many miles allowance in your lease. If you drive over 18,000mi/yr, a lease probably does not make sense.
3) I lease one car so that I can keep a new luxury car at all times for business appearances. I own one car as well, which will be driven until it falls apart (The last one I finally got tired of and sold at
11 years and 180kmi still in great shape, the one before that at
165kmi). The car I own is always simpler in design, a base model Toyota or VW. Keeping a luxury car as it ages can be very expensive.
4) Keep your lease duration shorter than the warrantee, having to pay for maintenance on a leased car is no fun. I lease mine 3yrs.
Scott