To each his/her own, but I would say do neither. Leasing has advantages for cash flow when the purchase is made with a company, but for an individual, I say buy and drive the car that you can afford to pay cash for.

I could have borrowed to buy a s2k when they first came out, but didn't. I wanted it bad and that was motivation for me. I saved/invested and 3 yrs later I bought a used one. Negotiated well and sold it 3 yrs later for a loss of only about 6K (it's worth noting that $2600 of that loss was PST - had I lived in Alberta it would have been a loss of only 3400) So if I had to divide that up into payments, it's $166/month for my actual situation, and less than $100/month if I'd lived out here!

There's a very good chance that a monthly payment when I first wanted the s2k would have prevented me from having the money and work flexibility to start my company... and that would have drastically changed my financial picture today.

One thing I've noticed is that when you save up the money to but stuff, you're far more careful with purchases. Not to say that there's no luxuries, but you're more focused on the actual price. When you finance or lease the only concern is making the payment fit - car dealers know this and exploit it.

If I were you, I'd keep the p5 and save your pennies. If you feel you need something different then I'd still recommend finance over lease. Sell the existing vehicle(s) privately - dealers will screw you on trade-ins - that's how they make money.

Oh, and those prices on seem very high for an 03/04 too... I just bought a gutless, but mint 325i for about 2/3 as much.

Good luck with whatever you decide, but the important thing is this - move to alberta and save the PST

 

aha wade, you sound like a commercial for the alberta government. Nice pants btw However I understand what ever one is saying. At this point though, I either take out a loan at 7% with nasty monthly payments. Or I buy new and lease or finance at 3.9. The 45K seems to be about the price in Regina, or AB, People need certain amts of money out of their cars. So do I. Maybe I should be looking at something else, like a honda.

I also feel I can not get ahead with having a higher end car. No matter what I buy it will depreciate, I understand all this. But once the car is paid for you never seem to have any leverage with upgrading. The s2000 is probably only 25K now. nice 50 percent depreciation. I will be keeping the honda for sure as I love it.

 

If you can expense it - lease it!

 

I need a business to expense it..

here is the deal on the table... 06 325i M sport package. 36 month lease. with my car on trade 443.77 tax in per month.

27K residual at the end.

Now I need a business and matrix as my sexytary and we are good to go.

 

If you use your vehicle for business, you can claim expenses if you own it or lease it.

 

Tim,

How would someone go about doing this?

 

It's fairly involved, I'm just saying that your deductibility is not dependant on whether you own or lease.

If you use your car for work, your accountant should have told you about this.

 

I suppose making what I make it might be wise to actually have an accountant do my taxes

 

An good accoutant can help you with tax Planning (like the advice that Tim just provided)...you don't need help filing a return unless it is complicated. Making a lot of money doesn't necessarily make it complicated. There are some people out there that make millions and still use programs like Quick Tax to do their own returns.

 

Well that is the outlook I've always had. I don't see how I could really have any serious deductions.