- The biggest advantage of leasing a new car may be financial. Leased vehicles are often protected under manufacturer's warranties, so damages and repairs will be paid for by the company, rather than coming out of your own pocket. After that period, you can bring the car in and exchange it for a new model with no additional payments or trade-in value issues. New cars are also more fuel-efficient and less prone to mechanical issues, so they will end up costing you less over the long run anyway.
- Another advantage of leasing a car is that people with less-than-perfect credit scores are still likely to be approved for a loan. Leasing is less of a risk for lenders because the payments are smaller and ownership of the vehicle belongs to the car dealer (which means it's easier to take the vehicle back if there is a default in payments). Leased cars may sometimes be deducted from taxes if they are used for business or commercial purposes.
- When leasing, it's possible to get a bigger, better car that you could not possibly afford if you were buying. Leased cars are better-equipped as well (often including alarms, DVD players and tinted windows), or you can always add extras without worrying about driving the price up too much.
- When it comes to disadvantages, leasing is often shunned because it involves paying for something you will never own. You're basically spending money on an ongoing car rental, which you can never default on paying. Leases are notoriously hard to get out of as well. Most companies require high fees and penalties in order to cancel.
- Leased cars come with a series of restrictions, one of which is the amount of miles you can drive in a year (usually 15,000). If you exceed that number, you'll have to pay extra fees of about 15 cents per mile. There are other fees for leased vehicles as well, such as higher insurance premiums.
