I've been avoiding getting a car for quite a long time. While I've missed the Prius for many reasons along with its great fuel economy, I've been content to walk everywhere (especially to work) and take the trolley as necessary for anything downtown related. This has also helped me to save a monthly payment as well as insurance costs and fuel every so often.
Where this has occasionally been a hiccup is when I've needed to get to the airport super-early (before the trolly) or if I'm coming back in to SAN late (after the busses go). In those cases I've had to either rent a car or take a taxi, neither of which are cheap. Also, not having a vehicle means that I'm stuck and not able to get to places like church, or when family is in town and wants to tour. And if I need certain groceries or to get to USD quickly for something, I've had to rent a Zipcar and pay per hour.
After crunching the numbers, between the Avis rentals and Zipcar reservations, I've been spending almost as much as a car payment per month in rentals. Doesn't seem very efficient. While my career path forward is still fluid with the completion of my PhD, I decided I was comfortable investigating a car (either loan or lease) to get me through and help me realize better usage and money. I won't get the points any longer for car rentals, but I'm comfortable with that to gain the access.
Thankfully...I found a deal/car that made sense (lease) and after some haggling, had an offer on a new 2013 Mazda3....Zoom!
Have you ever leased a car before? What are your experiences?
Where this has occasionally been a hiccup is when I've needed to get to the airport super-early (before the trolly) or if I'm coming back in to SAN late (after the busses go). In those cases I've had to either rent a car or take a taxi, neither of which are cheap. Also, not having a vehicle means that I'm stuck and not able to get to places like church, or when family is in town and wants to tour. And if I need certain groceries or to get to USD quickly for something, I've had to rent a Zipcar and pay per hour.
After crunching the numbers, between the Avis rentals and Zipcar reservations, I've been spending almost as much as a car payment per month in rentals. Doesn't seem very efficient. While my career path forward is still fluid with the completion of my PhD, I decided I was comfortable investigating a car (either loan or lease) to get me through and help me realize better usage and money. I won't get the points any longer for car rentals, but I'm comfortable with that to gain the access.
Thankfully...I found a deal/car that made sense (lease) and after some haggling, had an offer on a new 2013 Mazda3....Zoom!
Have you ever leased a car before? What are your experiences?
Shiny! I never got this on text or facebook.
ReplyDeleteI like the neon green license plate in this picture... wish that was a real option.