the supply of used cars isn't what it used to be post-covid. Some people end up leasing a new car simply because their used car search was extremely slim pickings.
When in a conversation about keeping car expenses low, mentioning leasing seems like a bizarre thing to do.
My understanding is that a lease price is essentially the purchase price minus the expected value at the end of the lease (Plus a few dollars for profits). ie, A $50,000 car that's expected to be worth $30,000 after 3 years might have you pay $25,000 over the course of the 3 years, which would be about $695/mo.
But frequently, in reality, I would see such a car being leased for $750/month with $3,000 due at signing or some shit.
Every time I see lease offers, I do the math and they seem like an incredibly bad deal. Even if the lease expenses are a business tax deduction, I don't see how in the long term it ends up a better deal than buying new over the course of 10 years.
Didn't lease, but did buy new due to this factor. I was looking for a rather modest, cheap, reliable, used sedan. Prices were all well over $14/$15k (for a 2015-2017, and nearly the cost of new after that). At that point, it made sense to look at a new Kia/Hyundai in the lower price range and gain a decade's worth of warranty.
