I purchased my first vehicle when I was 24, so, many, many years ago. It was a 1983 Nissan Pulsar that was held together with duct tape and hope. It mysteriously died one day 2 ish years after I bought it and never started again, but it got me back and forth to Niagara College for 2 years. It was an interesting vehicle.

I bought my first new vehicle after that. It was a 1998 Hyundai Elantra. It wasn’t loaded, it was bare bones. Manual locks, windows, no AC, manual transmission, but it was a huge step up from the Nissan.

I then moved onto my first lease and one of my favourite cars that I’ve owned. That was a 2003 Grand AM GT. I leased it for 3 years and then I bought it out. I was, as I recall, way over the allowed mileage. So, basically, with a 3 year lease and then a 5 year loan, I paid for it over 8 years which made it affordable. I wasn’t making a lot of money back then.

That was the only time I leased a vehicle. All others I’ve financed. I tend to replace a vehicle after about 100,000 kilometers. I just did with my 2021 Dodge Ram 1500. It was a great truck and will serve its next owner well I’m sure, but I would have to start putting money into it and didn’t really want to.

A friend of mine asked why I don’t lease if I am used to having a payment and it was a good question. I’m thinking, and could be entirely wrong that I might get a better rate via leasing than purchasing. I don’t live in the middle of nowhere any longer, so I’m not putting on a ton of mileage any longer, but, I’m not sure I’d want to get restricted to 12000 km a year. I know there are leases with more kilometers allowed, I’m guessing you just pay more.

I don’t know what I’ll do when my current truck reaches 100,000 km, perhaps I will look into a lease. I guess I fear having to return it in “excellent” condition, the dogs make a bloody mess in my vehicles. For now, I am not too worried about it. Let me know in comments if you have any thoughts about buying vs leasing. Thanks.