Oppo help me convince my dad to make a smart choice..or prove me wrong, either one

"Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras" (jegoingout)
02/09/2016 at 19:19 • Filed to: None

So my family is a 2 vehicle family (3 if you count mine but that’s irrelevant here). Anyway the XB is paid off and my dad wants to pay off the SX4 by summer with the tax refund. Moving on, that XB is on its last legs and the day it needs anything outside of an oil change my dad’s going to get rid of it.

Now here is where you all come in. Yay team work!

My dad is 55, has a slight but progressing case of Parkinsons. It’s not horrible enough to make him stop driving but it’s bad enough that he’s ruled out any manual. It also has my mother freaking out and such. His daily commute is literally 8 miles to and from the train station. He probably drives....say 9k miles a year total. I told him a lease would be perfect because he wouldn’t exceed the mileage, could get a new car, and wouldn’t be stuck in a 4/5 year fiance plan. He shot that down with ‘No. Leases don’t make sense and I don’t want to pay the taxes on the car if I’m not really buying it.”

Halp me convince him otherwise or please rip me apart in my wrongess.

DISCUSSION (26)

jkm7680 > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:23

This is MY OPINION. PLEASE DO NOT CHALLENGE IT.

There’s two types of people who lease cars.

1. People who just lease cars because they want a new one every few years, or have cooperate leases or something

2. People who lease BMWs and Mercedes cars because they can’t afford to buy one

Just get him to buy a used car and keep it. Rather than throwing a ton of money at a lease.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > jkm7680
02/09/2016 at 19:25

*throws challenge flag* j/k

Valid points. He’s played with that idea of a used car as well, but everything he’s looked at is going to put him into some 4+ year fiance plan which he is against as well. I think honestly he should just walk ._.

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:28

I’m going to echo jkm and say leases make no sense and are bad ideas.

Steve in Manhattan > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:29

Would he buy the car at the end of the lease?

Zip-McBump > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:30

This is tough because it’s his money and his life, and just like everyone else, he may have issues facing up to his limitations.

You won’t like this answer, but unless it will ruin the family, just let pops do what he wants. You’ll feel better about it years down the road when he’s gone (hopefully not for a long time).

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Steve in Manhattan
02/09/2016 at 19:30

That is the unknown. A big reason why both my parents don’t want to be in some long term(ish) hole is due to his health as well. Worse comes to worse, there’s a car in the driveway that’s not paid off but also not being driven.

Steve in Manhattan > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:40

I’d say lease it then ... 2 or 3 years, then you can see how he’s doing. Also, you can have a dealer do a side-by-side - he’s what it costs to buy in total, here’s what it costs to lease in total.

What car is he thinking about?

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Steve in Manhattan
02/09/2016 at 19:41

Anything thats comfortable, has cruise control, and gets good gas mileage. The top one on the list is an Accord to my knowledge

Steve in Manhattan > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:44

If you turn the car in, you want it to hold its value. I’d look at Camry, Accord, Subaru in that class. And whatever Hyundai makes that competes in that segment. He might also check out a (shudder) Corolla - it’s a lot bigger can than it used to be.

CompactLuxuryFan > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:45

Sounds like a perfect candidate for a dirt cheap EV (Spark EV, anyone?) lease. Dunno where you live, though.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Steve in Manhattan
02/09/2016 at 19:45

Thanks for the suggestions!

bob and john > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:49

why not lease a plug in hybrid (or a full on electric car?)

your ‘lease payments are more then off-set by the fuel savings. and actually, looking into gov tax breaks, you might even come out ahead./

shop-teacher > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 19:50

I’m not sure on this one, the “progressing” part is an X-factor. If there is a chance he won’t be able to drive anymore within’ the term of the lease, then he’d still be stuck in a lease. If you own the car, you can just sell it, but getting out of a lease is much trickier.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > shop-teacher
02/09/2016 at 19:57

True. The issue also is that a lease could be 2.5-3 years, my parents couldn’t finance a car for less than 4/5 years

E92M3 > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 20:14

If he’s financing an SX4, a lease is probably a bad financial decision for him. You’re basically renting a car during it’s most expensive period (aka highest depreciation period). Which is okay if you have the money to burn, want a NEW car every 3 years AND don’t drive more than 12k miles a year. I think buying an off lease vehicle with factory warranty remaining makes the most financial sense.

shop-teacher > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 20:20

To my mind the smartest thing for them is to buy something used. A three year old mid-sized sedan (that isn’t a Camry or Accord) is basically half price from new. Payments could be a lot lower or bigger but for less time. That’d be the least amount of risk for them.

Khalbali > shop-teacher
02/09/2016 at 21:09

Not necessarily, VW/Audi leases are whack but as far as I know most other brands are pretty straightforward, you have a payoff just like you would if you were financing and you can trade or sell it exactly the same.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/09/2016 at 22:37

Leasing makes no sense IMO. You could lease a car or actually buy a used car for that same price. So you would actually own the car, not borrowing it for a few years.

Liam Farrell > bob and john
02/10/2016 at 02:56

The fuel mileage and savings wouldn't be a enough to offset the expense of buying or leasing an electric car. If he only drives 16 miles a day it is pretty useless

Rico > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/10/2016 at 08:22

I'm warning you now Accords do not lease well.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Rico
02/10/2016 at 09:34

Whys that

Rico > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/10/2016 at 09:48

I really am not sure but when I was shopping leases Accords was easily more expensive per month for a longer period then a 328i. Civics however can be had for under $200 a month. That being said, this was 2 years ago so his results might vary. If he can’t swing an Accord maybe a Mazda6 could work?

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Rico
02/10/2016 at 09:51

Ah. The honda dealer by us is offering Accords for $200 a month w/$2000 down. He likes the Mazda but we haven’t checked out any offers yet

Rico > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/10/2016 at 09:53

You know what, I take back what I said. I just realized that 2 years ago (2013) was the first model year of the new Accord which is why lease prices were inflated then. Carry on!

MonkeePuzzle > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
02/10/2016 at 16:11

an EP3 is exactly the car my dad bought when he was ~55. Loved it.

I have no valid data to add to your other points

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > MonkeePuzzle
02/10/2016 at 19:12

Im buying the EP3 and I will hide my keys from him