My dad's latest car recommendation: lease a new Impreza

"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel) 04/06/2019 at 16:50 • Filed to: None

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How ‘ bout no?

Old sporty cars? Sure why not. New boring cars? Go for it. 3-5 year old sporty cars? That will cost you too much to insure (22 year old male with a clean record). I just want to buy myself (with my own money) something new-ish to replace the Mini this summer without giving up the sportiness of the Mini but all my ideas get shot down.

LOREM IPSUM > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 16:58

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Figure out wh at you’re interested in, get an insurance quote. Get another quote for something you’d be “all owed” as well, preferably one of the sporty ones. Compare the numbers and if it makes sense, present your case. If it is actually too expensive,  maybe they're right. Paying for insurance sucks.

CB > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 17:00

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FiST.

E90M3 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 17:02

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I don’t know about the insurance part. When I got my M3 at 24 it was like $200 more a year than my 1997 Explorer sport. 

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 17:05

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Insurance is weird. My 2013 Accord Coupe was more to insure than my Volvo S60 R-Design.

When I was just getting quotes again, I learned that a 2015 Toyota Avalon was about $75 a month MORE than the Volvo. A 2014 F150 Tremor was like $95 LESS.

Be sure to check and do quotes BEFORE choosing a car. You will really be surprised. 

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 17:06

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Leasing doesn’t strike me as the best use of money for a 22 year old, although I coinc identally work with a 23 year old who is leasing a 2016 Impreza hatch, so what do I know.

LOREM IPSUM > E90M3 04/06/2019 at 17:07

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They very well may think:

Old and sporty = slow

New and sporty = more pow er than they feel you should have on tap.

E90M3 > LOREM IPSUM 04/06/2019 at 17:12

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True, but this was 2014 and the M3 is a 2011. I think it might have had something to do with the fact that my parents had Geico and they thought I had been a customer for something like 6 years already.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > LOREM IPSUM 04/06/2019 at 17:12

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Its not really a being allowed thing, my parents aren’t financially involved in it now that I’m off on my own. I have a sporty car right now, the only reason I’m replacing it is because the transmission starting to fail is the latest in a long line of age related issues with it that have popped up in the last 9 months . The Impreza is a fine car but I do 10+ autocrosses and 5 ice events a year and I would be miserable trying to fill that role with something like it. I don’t have the space for a second car so my daily driver has to be capable of filling that role.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 04/06/2019 at 17:15

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Leasing is a really cheap way to get into a new car. An Impreza can be leased for as low as $50 down and $250 a month. It was cheaper for my mom to lease her 2017 Outback than it was for us to continue owning her 2010 Legacy.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > CB 04/06/2019 at 17:18

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My dad has already stated he thinks that would be stupid expensive to insure. I honestly think it would be cheaper than a new base model Mini Cooper with how much lower parts and replacement costs are.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 17:19

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Fair enough, just different worlds I suppose. When I was 22, I was in college and the worked maybe 5 or 6 months a year, certainly couldn’t afford to finance any vehicle.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 04/06/2019 at 17:22

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I’m going to give my dad a list of ideas and make him have the insurance guy provide quotes for each of them. Get quotes for a wide range of my ideas and his suggestions, 06 Cooper S, BRZ, FiST, FoST, F56 Cooper S, ND Miata, new Impreza, etc. 

LOREM IPSUM > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 17:22

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Ah, sorry for the misunderstanding. If this is your baby, so to speak, and you feel like you can swing it then follow your bliss. Just be prepared for the itodaso’s if you run short and  need a parental loan. 

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > LOREM IPSUM 04/06/2019 at 17:29

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Anything newer is going to cost me more than my Cooper already costs. I just want to maintain the fun that I currently have without rubber bits going bad due to age (I spent $2k last year dealing with leaks, and it needs $1.5k in work as it sits to deal with a bunch of worn suspension bits and mounts) or having to watch it rust.

This post is really more of a rant about bouncing ideas off my dad and every one of them getting shot down.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 04/06/2019 at 17:38

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It doesn't make sense in college. I'm graduating in a month and already have a full time engineering job locked down which makes financing something newer an option for me.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 17:42

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Dang, my compliments on the having-life-together thing 

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 04/06/2019 at 17:44

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Thanks. I  got really lucky to have an internship I loved last summer that turned into a signed job offer in December. It has been really nice to not have to deal with the stress of job hunting through my final semester.

mincz > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 18:18

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What about the new Mazda3 ?

factoryhack > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 18:56

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Regardless of what car you pick, leasing is a new car is almost always a poor financial choice, especially for someone your age.

L easing is by far the most expensive way to “own” a car. Really what you are doing is financing a massive initial depreciation hit (the difference between what the car is worth new and what it is worth at the end of the lease term.) Plus, you are paying interest on this amount with nothing to show for it at the end.  

Its basically a long term rental.

WIthout getting into vehicle choice, in general terms, the sweet spot financially is to find something you like (with acceptable insurance cost) that is around 2 years old with say 30K miles.

You want to let s omeone else take the big initial depreciation hit and still get the fun and reliability of a nearly new car that still has some factory warranty.

OmerCarrothers333 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 04/06/2019 at 20:24

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Totally agree with this. When I was shopping for a hot-hatch, part of why I got my GTI was my monthly insurance bill went up $5. Whereas, the ST twins, a WRX, an EVO, or an Si would have cost me a considerable amount of money each month, due to all the neurotic-boy-racers racking up speeding tickets and accidents at an alarming rate. Especially in Southern California, which is where I was living when I got my GTI.

I don’t know where you live, but you should really talk to your insurance company to get ballpark figures for your monthly rate.

Carbon Fiber Sasquatch > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 20:27

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Insurance is funny, I used to work for an insurance agent. Rates are strongly influenced by the type of car simply by number percentage of that type involved claims.

Fun example: it’s often more expensive to insure a Civic than a Mustang, especially in your age range and the cheaper Mustang is more expensive than the loaded one. Higher models and desired cars often result in owners trying to keep their prized vehicle out of dangerous situations.

Your insurance is going to suck until 25 no matter what but my recommendation would actually be a 2019 or older Kia Soul with the turbo. 201 hp and I think you can even find one in a stick of you want. Middle aged women love Kia Souls which should hopefully keep your premiums lower

Oh, and you can totally call your insurance agent and have them plug the various cars you’ re into your plan and see what’s cheapest.

nj959 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 04/06/2019 at 20:44

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It’s all about who typically drives the cars, not the cars themselves. Accord coupes are frequently driven by young racer wannabes , and they crash all the time. Avalons are usually driven by old people who - you guessed it - crash all the time.

S60s, even R-Designs, are driven by college professors.

nj959 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 20:50

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I recently picked up an ‘09 5mt Accord sedan for <6.5k otd. It’s not as sporty as a mini but it’s really not bad and it’ll definitely be reliable.

If you’re really trying to lease though than anything fun and cheap will be pricey to insure, it’s just the name of the game. Financing a CPO car that won’t depreciate too much (think Civic SI or something along those lines) could also be a decent option if you’re only going to have the car for a couple years. I haven’t run the numbers myself but I’m 100% certain it’d be cheaper than leasing a brand new car.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > nj959 04/06/2019 at 21:07

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I don't personally like the idea of leasing. I want my car to be mine, not some 3 year rental.

nj959 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/06/2019 at 21:31

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What’s your budget?

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/07/2019 at 08:10

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It sounds like you’re the perfect target demographic for an Impreza. An Impreza WRX.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/10/2019 at 13:57

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Not to zombie this, but I was busy this weekend and didn’t get to reply. While the particular car leased could probably use some consideration, you might not dismiss the idea outright.

Go back 10 years ago and we were in a somewhat similar position with my sister, and leasing a new car ended up being a good answer. She was away at college out of town, and her 2001 Camero convertible was becoming an increasingly tenuous proposition to keep going. Had she been local to me, staying ahead on at least some of the issues might have prolonged its viability for her, but keeping that thing going from 250 miles away with limited amounts of time and access to it was not going to work for much longer. Spending money on an aging, questionably built 10 year old F-body with 120ishk on it worth not more than 5 or 6k even in perfect shape (and probably 3 k as it was) made no sense, so the option of investing in it via a shop local to her was quickly ruled out.

She still had a couple more years before she was going to be making real money, so the replacement options were going to be along the lines either something of similar value to the Camero with no payment and/or something of similar value plus some amount that would not exceed a payment of a couple of hundred dollars a month (with my parents as a cosigner and safety net if something happened to her ability to pay) that she could swing as a student and later a new grad looking for the first real job in over the foreseeable next couple of years. That meant looking at used cars costing not more than 10k, and ideally in the 5-7k range (and with her strong preference of being a manual and the requirement of not being a turd or completely boring to drive. We trained her well when it comes to taste in cars). The more my dad and I shopped used cars, the more it started to feel like that option was going to end up trading one set of issues for a different set of issues sooner or later.

For grins, we played with the numbers of leasing something like a new Honda Civic, and it turned out to make a lot of sense. On a car with a reasonable entry price, and decent money factor and lease offer and a strong resale value, it turned out a new car that she could put 12k/year on (plenty for her usage) for right around +/- $200/month . She got a new, mid level civic sedan with a manual transmission (1 of only 2 manual transmission new 2010 civics on dealer lots in the state at that particular moment). It wasn’t the manual mustang she had her heart set on, but it was still a car she liked, that wasn’t completely uninteresting to drive, that she could afford, and that had very minimal running costs via great gas mileage and nothing beyond occasional basic maintenance. It was the car she needed at the time. The key to making the transaction work was negotiating a good lease deal. The camero was traded in, as the $21 00 trade offer the Honda dealer made wasn’t too much higher than we would’ve gotten selling it, and I didn’t have to mess with selling a car that couldn’t pass an emissions test in the one part of the state that required it to do so)

While none of us were fans of the not owning it concept, when we broke down the cost of lease it really meant she was buying the use of a brand new car for 3 years and 36k for around $7k with the option to buy it for a not unreasonable amount of money at the end, or the option to walk away and do something else completely.

She actually ended up buying the car at the end of the lease and keeping for a few more years (and some big time commuting mileage) until she traded it in for the new mustang she had always wanted a few years ago. She had just bought a house, and wasn’t quite in the position to buy a new car to go with it at the moment. The buyback on lease (which was something we certainly negotiated on upfront) was basically what suggest retail value of an equivalent used civic was at the time. A similar car could’ve been certainly bought for a thousand or two less after some shopping or negotiation, but she decided there was some value in a car that was a completely known entity that had been meticulously maintained. No person other than me touched a bolt on that car from the time it left the factory until it was traded in with 99k on it.

In the position of needing a good, reliable car for a reasonable budget when starting out, it may not hurt to consider leasing a reasonably priced new car. It may not be the car that makes your heart go pitter-patter the most right now, but it may be an affordable way into something good that will serve you for the next couple of years. You’ll be in a very different financial situation a few years out of school than now, and your priorities of what you want to spend money on may be very different than what you think they will be now.

This is not to say that your Dad’s idea is the magic solution for you, but I wouldn’t dismiss the idea of leasing a reasonably priced new car out of hand.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/10/2019 at 15:11

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I will agree that leasing can be a good options in certain situations. Leasing my mother’s Outback has worked out well outside of the fact that it turns out my mom actually drives about 20k a year.

The leasing isn’t really what I object to with the Impreza idea, my issue is the idea of having a new Impreza itself . It’s a perfectly fine car which I would actually recommend based on my experience with my sister’s 2012 Hatchback, I do like it . My problem is that it is a descendant of one of my childhood hero cars. I grew up watching the WRC Imprezas in the early 2000s and I have had a special place for the 2004/2005 Impreza WRX STI ever since I saw the ads in 2003 (it made the same 300HP as the WRC car which to 6 year old me made it a WRC car you could drive every day ) . The latest generations of Impreza can’t even begin to fill those shoes. The Impreza is my pick for the best car in the “Toyota Corolla or similar” category but with the name of one of my childhood heroe s on the back I would be doomed to hate it.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 04/10/2019 at 15:35

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Agreed.  In that category, I would have a hard time picking an Impreza over something like a 180hp Civic sport with a manual.