My first lease was in 2006 - a 2006 Ram Quad Cab 4x4 Hemi - the sticker was around $36,000 as I recall. I put a total of $600.00 down, & my monthly payment was $162.00/mo. This was for 27 months. That's $4974.00. I probably could have bought the same truck new for $32,000 + tax - add on another $1920.00 for the tax, plus with other dealer doc fees & such, I'd be at $34,000. $34,000 financed at 5 years at 0% interest, would cost $567.00/month. Do the math. After 7 years, I'd be ready for another truck, & in Michigan, my 7 year old truck would be getting rusty most likely, & I might be able to sell it for $12,000. Then, I'd want another new one, but by 2013 that same truck new would be a $42,000 truck.
I was leasing at 10,000 mile/yr. as I don't drive it that much. Leasing worked beautifully for me - I drove a new truck every 2 years or so. I leased a 2006, 2008 & bought the 2008 off lease for a GREAT residual, then leased a 2012, 2014, 2016, & just a couple years ago bought a 2017 for a great price. The most I ever put down at lease inception was $600.00, & my highest payment was $272.00/mo. It all boils down to this: if you are going to drive anything, it is not going to be for free. If you buy a used beater, you are going to be paying someone to repair it, or you are going to be wrenching on it. Two years ago, I bought my wife a nice 2013 Edge while on a business trip in Vegas - it was mint & only had 63,000 miles on it. Paid $13,000 for it. Almost as soon as I got it home, it started "eating." Needed better tires for our winters here, then things started going wrong mechanically (probably because it is a Ford product - never again!), some things fairly major. Anyway, this turned out to be a bad deal for us! We are now looking at getting either a brand new Durango, or a lower mileage nice 2017+ used or certified one.
Leasing would be great for her if she does not drive many miles (under 10k a year), IF the lease deals are good! Personally, I would never pay over $275.00/mo. for any lease, & I would never put down more than around $600.00 at inception. Those were just my thresholds. Either way, none of us will never drive for free.
Those are all good points. Driving a car costs money. Sometimes it is pay me now or pay me later. If you get lucky you get to drive cheap while the next guy (or the previous guy) paid more than their share. I bought a lease return car for my daughter and it has been fantastic. The car was super inexpensive and it has had zero problems. The worst case is buying a new car that turns out to be a lemon. In that case it would be great to have a lease since you can just dump the lemon and move on. Leasing a car does increase the cost a bit but it gives you a "try before you buy" option. I wouldn't recommend leasing for most people but there are some people that it works for. Which is probably why it exists. If it didn't make sense for at least a few people then it wouldn't exist.
