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StoopitTrader t1_ja61l6a wrote

Reply to comment by Jeom049 in Is this a Good Car Lease deal? Toyota Corolla LE 2023 by Jeom049

A new car is generally not recommended but if you buy cars for the long term (keep them 10-15 years) I don't see it buying new as always the worst choice. The goal of most on this sub is financial freedom. Making payments forever, car after car, always paying interest doesn't fit with this plan. It's all numbers. If you bought new, financed even for 5 years (I'd recommend less) and then kept the car for 15 years you'd get back that front end depreciation as you owned the car without payments for a number of years. And being a corolla, likely without problems until you hit year 10 or so. It's all a balance. As I've said a few times now, have a plan is really what's most important. Where do you want to be in 3 years with cars, with income, with everything? Does this fit? This is the question you need to answer.

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Jeom049 OP t1_ja620c4 wrote

To be honest, I feel like I'm worrying to much, I don't think I would care much about 2-4 k loss in a car a few years from now

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StoopitTrader t1_ja7hloh wrote

What I often see is people who think their time window is 3 years like you are thinking here, it turns out to be 4 or even 5, or longer. It happened to me with a house we bought. We figured it was temporary and we'd upgrade, we stayed 12 years. You are imagining the worst case but not thinking of the best case. You should think of BOTH. Plan for the worst, but hope for the best. You don't mention the current income or potential future income in this scenario. All of this matters in personal finance. And again, fear should not drive a decision, planning should.

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