Here's Why I Bought My New Car After Years of Leasing

Are you better off buying your next car or is leasing the way to go? Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all answer, and there are some advantages and drawbacks of each option.

In fact, buying and leasing can make sense for the same person at different times of their life. I'm a perfect example of this. I leased my previous few cars, with the most recent lease running from 2016 to 2019, and decided to finally buy a car in 2019, which I still own and drive today. And I have no regrets about either situation, as they were the right moves for me at the time.

With that in mind, here's why I decided to buy a new car after years of leasing, and some general guidelines to keep in mind to help you make the best decision for yourself and your family.

Why leasing was right for me

The short answer was that up until a few years ago, my life was rapidly evolving. I simply didn't know what my vehicular needs would be beyond the next couple of years.

For starters, in late 2013, I was recently married with no children and was a few years into my career and financially stable. The car I had been driving since college was starting to give me more problems, so I decided to get the car I had always wanted -- a brand new Chevrolet Camaro SS. However, I didn't know if or when my wife and I would start having children, nor did I know if I'd enjoy actually owning and driving the car everyday as much as I thought I would. So, leasing a car seemed like the better option.

It turned out to be a good call. I loved my Camaro, but in late 2015, my oldest child was born. To put it mildly, a Camaro's back seat isn't the biggest, nor is it the easiest to access. Even so, I struggled getting the baby seat in and out of the back of that Camaro (which had excellent crash test ratings) for about six months.

Then, my lease was up. My wife had an SUV at the time, so I decided to lease a 2016 Nissan Maxima. It was a great car, and Nissan sedans tend to hold their value well, but just like three years prior, I had no idea what my needs would be beyond a few years. We knew we wanted more children, so there was a possibility that a sedan wouldn't meet our needs for long.

Stability gave me a reason to buy

Fast forward to 2019. The lease on my Maxima was about to expire. We had our second child the year prior and decided that our family was complete. And my wife had recently downsized to a compact SUV. Plus, we decided that when we no longer had babies, we wanted to start traveling often, as we had done prior to becoming parents.

So, with a stable family situation and the desire to be able to drive more than 12,000 miles per year, it finally made good sense to buy a vehicle. Because my wife now had a smaller car and I wanted to be able to get my kids, two dogs, and all of our stuff wherever we wanted to go, I settled on a 2018 Ford Expedition that was new but was a leftover from the previous model year.

What's the best move for you?

As I know firsthand, there is no perfect answer. But there are a few things that you should consider:

Stability: This is one of the most overlooked considerations when deciding whether to lease or buy. Ask yourself the question, "Will my vehicular needs be the same three years from now?" If you say no, or can't answer yes with a fair amount of certainty, leasing might be worth considering.

Mileage: The standard lease allows you to drive 12,000 miles per year. You can choose to pay extra for a 15,000-mile limit in many cases, or even more, but there is a limit in all cases. If you want the freedom to drive as much as you want, leasing is probably not for you.

Preferences: Some people just like driving around in a new car. If it truly makes you happy to have a newer model, that's something to consider. I personally don't really need a brand new car, but I love the peace of mind of having a vehicle under warranty. In fact, right now is the first time I don't have an active warranty on a car in over a decade.

Budget: If your goal is to try to keep your monthly expenses low, leasing generally results in the smaller monthly payment, all other factors being equal. Of course, there is the downside that when your lease is up, you have zero equity in your vehicle, and when you are done paying a car loan, you are free to sell it for the current market value (or trade it in towards another car).

The bottom line is that you should consider all of the pros and cons of each option, as well as your personal preference and changing life situations, before deciding if leasing or buying is right for you.