Im expecting my 3rd what car/van to get?

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Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

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amother

Thu, Nov 24 2022, 8:18 pm

What makes most sense financially these days? Lease or buy?

stardream

Thu, Nov 24 2022, 8:49 pm

Too many variables.

What is your budget? Can you easily afford leasing for a while?
How old are your kids? Do you think you will outgrow a car/suv and want a van soon enough anyway? What cars do you currently have and do they have enough room for a 3rd kid?
What do you like/want?
How long do you want this next vehicle to last? Do you need it for a while or are you planning on getting a different one in a few years?

amother

Thu, Nov 24 2022, 9:06 pm

stardream wrote:

They are both in car seats and will be in them for awhile. We want something that will be able to drive far (1-2 hour long stretches at times)
I dont care to lease or buy but what makes most sense financially in the long run?

amother

Cognac

Thu, Nov 24 2022, 9:16 pm

In the long run it would be better to wait and not lock yourself into a new car that will drop in value soon. There is still a shortage and things are still way overpriced. Only buy now if you need it now. Otherwise wait 6 months and hopefully the market will have improved.

We just bought a mini van because we absolutely needed one. We ended up buying used. If you can find a new one at msrp and you can afford it then that would probably make the most sense financially. We couldn’t spend that much. Leases are really not worthwhile now.

stardream

Thu, Nov 24 2022, 9:26 pm

amother OP wrote:

If finances is not a big concern than you need to decide if you want the convenience of leasing and (hopefully) not having to deal with car trouble and the nice part of always driving newer cars with new features, or if you want the car for a long while. Will you be happy keeping the same car for 10+ years? Probably the best thing financially is buying a car that is 3-5 years old unless the market is still crazy enough that buying a new car is not much more, but I doubt it's really still like that.

If they are both still in car seats than you want something that can fit 3 car seats across. That basically means larger suv's or minivans. If you don't have a clear preference, the car mom is a great place to start looking at your options. Having a car seat tilt option would probably be really nice for you.

ETA - I don't think driving far should be much of a concern for you. We use our older car for longer trips specifically to put as much mileage as we can on it instead of on our new car. I'm assuming if you're looking to buy something whatever you get will be reliable for trips. It needs to be in pretty bad condition to be unreliable like that. If you're in that spot that you can't rely on your car for a trip that's an hour or two you're probably looking for another car at that point unless your trips are so infrequent that it would make sense to rent and keep a car like that.

amother

Bone

Thu, Nov 24 2022, 9:55 pm

stardream wrote:

I may have misunderstood but I’m bh in the same boat as OP and I thought she meant comfortable enough for long rides- to me that mean I don’t want to be in a Camry with three across the back seat- I would like a minivan or equivalent where I have space to sit in the back as well.

amother

Cognac

Thu, Nov 24 2022, 10:29 pm

amother Bone wrote:

I’ve taken several hour road trips with a Camry with 3 car seats across. The car is small enough that you can reach the kids from the front passenger seat. You need to buy car seats with a slim profile so they fit.

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