May 8, 2010

Your car is one of the most expensive purchases you will ever make. Probably the only thing you will buy that costs more than your car is your house. You wouldnt just accept the first mortgage you came across, and likewise you shouldnt just accept the first vehicle financing option that comes your way. You will have a lot of options in how to finance your car.
You can buy the car outright. If you would like to opt for this, you will need to borrow the cash in the form of a bank loan.

This should generally be medium term, over period of about two to five years. It is generally not advised that you secure borrowing over your home but this may be necessary in order to get the loan or in order to get a better rate. Shop around for the best rate, from banks, other lenders and also on the internet. Rates will vary widely so it is a good idea to shop around as much as possible.

Leasing

If buying the car outright in this manner is not an option, you may wish to consider leasing the car. Leasing will never make you the owner of the car. You pay a monthly fee, every month for the period of the lease, and at the end of this period, you give back the car and walk away. Leases have a number of advantages over buying the vehicle. The payments are generally lower as you are not paying for the entire value, just for the price of leasing it.

You also dont have to worry about selling the car when the leasing period is over, as the dealer owns it. Leases may also include a buying option at the end of the period, which will allow you to buy the car if you want to. The one thing to be careful about when leasing is that there may be heavy penalties for early termination.

Some Advantages

The other popular type of vehicle financing is dealership financing. With this option, the car dealer arranges the car financing. They will sometimes offer very attractive rates as they want to encourage people to buy the cars, however, sometimes their rates are extremely bad and you will want to be familiar with whats available from alternative sources before opting for dealership financing. Some advantages of dealership financing will include convenience, multiple options, and special offers on selected models.

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October 31, 2009

There is nothing quite like the feeling of buying a brand new car. Most people have a few clunkers, and maybe a lemon or two as their first few cars, while they save up for a decent down payment for their dream car. Nowadays however, with every major car company allowing people to lease a vehicle rather than buying it, saving up for a down payment is not as necessary as it used to be.

Leasing dropped into the car scene a few years ago and has been viewed as a life saver to many would be car owners. When you think about it, what person wouldnt choose to pay $175 or $250 a month for a car instead of $350 or $500? Leasing prices are much lower than monthly payments, no matter how big your down payment is! Some companies offer leasing packages that almost sound too good to be true. However, they usually are too good to be true!

If you are looking to buy a new car but you are dragging your feet about paying a high monthly payment, the leasing option is probably starting to look really good to you. If you do your research however, you will ultimately find that buying your car is almost always the smartest thing to do. I would say that the only exception to this is if you have moved somewhere for a short period of time for your job, or for schooling and you need a car. In these cases, leasing would be a smart thing to do, as long as you are not planning any long road trips.

When you enter into a leasing agreement, you are basically borrowing a car from a company, with the understanding that if anything should happen to the car, you are 100% liable, and you will have to pay any damages. When you buy a car, the same applies, but when you own your car, you dont have to give it back after putting your money into it! You also get the added benefit of trading it in for another new car when the time comes.

When you lease your car, the lease agreement is usually for four to five years, after which you will have the option to give it back (once the car company has made absolutely sure it is coming back with no scratches or dents!) or to pay the remaining thousands cash down so you can own the car. Although the monthly payment for leasing a car is lower, it is still cheaper and better in the long run to purchase the car and pay a higher monthly payment.

If you own your car, you make the rules, you decide if a dent or scratch really does need fixing and if it does, you can decide where you want to get it fixed. You can also drive as far as you like in a year, and not worry about paying for your mileage. Leasing agreements usually give you 20,000 kilometers or miles per year an you will pay a lot extra to be able to drive more in a year.

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