Affording a Car

I don’t think that there are a whole lot of absolutes in life. Death and taxes are definately a few of them. However, it seems that modern day American culture has dictated that owning your vehicle instead of leasing it is another one of these absolutes. Very rarely do people ever say ‘Leasing a car instead of buying a car is a good deal’. In fact, it’s usually very much the opposite. Instead of stating that leasing a car is good and buying a car is bad, let’s look a little bit deeper at... Read Full Story

By Brendan Moore 05.04.2007 Vehicle leasing is continuing to rise steadily in the U.S. as a means of consumer auto finance despite the misgivings of some of the large auto finance providers. Leasing now accounts for a little under 23% of all new-vehicle deliveries, up from approximately 16% just four years ago. Of course, leasing penetration is still nowhere close to the all-time high of over 30% reached in 1999. Vehicle lessors suffered huge losses in the years subsequent to 1999 as a... Read Full Story

Maybe You Should Lease Your Next Car November 20, 2006 In a previous life, I worked for quite a few years as a senior manager at a couple of large auto finance companies. At one of the companies, we offered both open-end (commercial) and closed-end (consumer) leases on cars and trucks, and at the other, we offered consumer vehicle loans and consumer vehicle leases, with the portfolio split pretty evenly between the two finance products. We weren’t as large as the biggest auto finance... Read Full Story

Everyone loves the idea of a shiny new car – the smell of the interior, the gleaming engine, and the state-of-the-art sound system. But is it better to own that new car, or lease it? It really comes down to two issues, says Jim Rogers, chair of Rogers Group Financial in Vancouver. “How long are you going to own the car before replacing it?” he says. “And will you be able to expense the car through the nature of your work?” Basically, if you’re going to keep the car for five years or longer... Read Full Story

This is our group blog, which is unique because any Zimbio member can post an entry to it. Some members blog about recent news and trends related to the portal topic, others recount relevant personal stories. You can also comment on and rate existing blog entries, to voice your opinion and to help the community identify which members and entries on the portal are must-reads. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this portal? Well, then put on your journalist's cap... Read Full Story