When buying a vehicle you should never look at monthly payments, that is how they get you. You have to look at the overall cost which includes interest. But to many salesmen start out their greetings with how much are you willing to spend each month and customers blindly go with it. But if a person is interested in a lease (renting) then I guess they don't care about losing money in the deal, unless the lease can be written off for taxes. I would rather pay $26,000 for a vehicle without loan interest, an not think about low monthly payments. It is foolish to pass up on a Zero percent interest deal. If I can't afford the payments on a deal like this then I don't need a new car.

why pay $26k for a new car when you instantly lose value upon driving it off the lot? just save up your $800/mo for a year and pay cash on a 3 year old car

so many possibilities i guess. i can tell you that i go through a car about every year or two, so it's a rare occasion that i actually make any money on one. for car fanatics like myself, renting would work just fine.

speaking of renting, have you ever read the book "rich dad, poor dad"? interesting thoughts in it regarding renting a home versus owning. i suppose the same could be said about leasing vs "owning" (financing) a used car. for those of us who prefer to keep our car payments low, renting may be a better alternative to going used and paying for various repairs. that said, i still don't think paying money down to lower a lease payment makes sense. better to wait until end of year clearance offers and the like...

True, buying a used vehicle is the best deal.

Renting is never a good idea unless you can write it off. At least with a car you bought, you can sell it and some return on your money, with a least you get nothing back.

Renting a home is even worse in my opinion. Home values go up with time which makes it a great investment, unless it was built on a sink hole.

for the record, i "own" my house and my car... that is, they are being financed.

i agree that renting a home is worse, being that homes tend to appreciate in value, unlike cars. unless you purchase a rare collectable car, you will eventually lose all the money you put into your car. all of it, one way or another. it will never "pay you back". that's why i think grabbing a good lease offer like the one in this thread is a smart move if he doesn't want a used car.

i say go for it!

Some people say to rent depreciating assets and buy appreciating assets. I can see that to a point but just can't see with regards to auto leasing if you can't write it off.