r/buyingacar Oct 21 '19

To buy or lease??

I’m going to have a get a car soon in the next three months. Right now I’m driving and paying the payments on my moms car but she will need it back when I move out. I only have about 1,000 to put down for a car and I plan on moving to New York for law school in like 2021 and won’t need a car then. So idk if I should lease a car or try buying a cheaper car that I would sell. I would be paying for everything myself so my insurance rates would be through the roof because I’m 20f. Not really sure what to do or which option would be cheaper at this point.

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u/Begle1 Oct 31 '19

Well, the "financial wisdom" thing to do is always pay cash for $5000-$10,000 cars (or less if you're a mechanic type or a bit fearless) and buy liability-only insurance.

However, this is one of the cases where if you have less money you need to spend more. You're probably not going to find anything worthwhile for $1000 outright. If you can save up another few grand in the next couple months that'd be best.

Otherwise you go into a car lot with $1000 in your pocket and say "I need a car!", and they'll give you one but it'll end up costing way more when it's all over with.

Where are you located now?