To take your business to the next level, you must get a commercial vehicle to aid you. Depending on your financial status, leasing the commercial vehicle might be a desired option. Here we will be discussing the pros and cons of leasing a car and see if it is right for your business. There are many immediate payoffs to leasing a car, but in the long-run you might realize that it isn’t a right fit for you. You will soon find there is actually more downsides to leasing than benefits to leasing. If you are able to afford the luxury of switching out your car every two-three years, then go for it and lease your next car. But if this is not a reality yet, maybe you should take the following into consideration.
The immediate pros and benefits of leasing a car is having a lower monthly payment. You might not be able to afford a brand-new car for your business, but leasing is an opportunity to drive in style on a budget. Most people also gravitate towards leasing because you can have a new car every three years. You will be able to switch it up without getting bored or upgrade when needed.
The cons of leasing a vehicle, commercial or not, is behind what they advertise to pull you to lease a car, there is always hidden details and costs in the contract for a new lease car. Dealers pull you in with a lower cost but in order to get it you must have a very high credit score. You can still lease with a bad credit score, but it will end up with a higher monthly payment, so might as well just buy the commercial vehicle. Rather than putting the monthly payments towards one day owning the car, you are paying monthly to just drive it. If you can afford paying from $100-150 more, you can one day own a car rather than always paying monthly for essentially nothing.
Option number 2 would be to lease-to-buy the desired commercial vehicle. While you wait for financial status to improve, you can have the first 3 years with a lower monthly payment and then complete the payments to own the car. The money you put towards the first three years would not go to waste, and if you decide not to buy it you can return it. This is a great option if you want to try a car that you would like to someday own.
Another big con is depending on how much you drive and commute to your workspace, there is also a limit on that for a leased car. Depending on the car and dealer this varies, but if you go over the amount of mileage given you are charged extra. The total mileage is calculated as the number of years leased multiplied by the annual miles allowed. The extra cost is between 15-30 cents per mile, accumulating up to five dollars a day. This adds an additional step of consideration when deciding on whether to buy or to lease.
When you buy, you have unlimited mileage and freedom to drive wherever you want, but with a lease you must calculate and take inconsideration every trip you take. In addition to being limiting the mileage, there is also a limit to where you can travel with your leased car. You cannot have a road trip to another country without leaser’s permission (if they give you one at all). Even though you can change up your car every three years, you cannot customize the car you are driving because the lease agreement states that you must return the car exactly how you got it from the dealer. That means no tinting, no cool rims, fancy wheels, color enhancements, or audio modification. If the leased car is returned looking differently or have any damage, there also be another extra charge to bring it back to original form. That is a completely different story when you buy a car.
In the end depending on your status and preference the decision is yours. We know how important choosing a commercial vehicle is for your business is and this step is no small one. We hope this article helped weigh your decision.