> add-ons such as the $2000 rustproofing
I've only ever bought cars in UK and South Africa, and never once heard of a rust-proofing option.
Must be hard work living in a country where you're always the victim of someone's hustle.
I've only ever bought cars in UK and South Africa, and never once heard of a rust-proofing option.
Must be hard work living in a country where you're always the victim of someone's hustle.
My wife said that when she moved from upstate New York to San Francisco, the first mechanic she took her car to asked whether she drove it to the beach a lot. He was not used to seeing the effects of road salt.
Rustproofing is less necessary on modern cars than it used to be, and dealer rustproofing is pretty much universally worse than third-party (RustCheck, Krown, Corrosion-Free, etc.) but if you drive on salty winter roads for 1/3 of the year it definitely helps things not rust out on you as soon as they would otherwise.
Furthermore, ice alone is basically inert at the timescales that we experience. It would take eons for pure ice to react enough for visible rust to form. Even if it was cold enough for salt water to freeze, the difference would be negligible because salt and water separate from each other as the water crystallizes into ice.
Also, we salt the roads here. Our freeze/thaw cycle is more frequent allowing for rust reactions to occur throughout the season, whereas a colder climate will only see reactions in the spring. There is no shortage of rust here.
We bought an EV with cash, and the range have almost halved since we bought it. With lease, I guess I get a fresh car (and battery) every few years. And insurance is included.
What kind of hustle can I expect with leasing? (I'll do some research when the time comes for the next car, as we're currently a 4-person 1-car family.)
2. Leasing is like a car purchase but with a mandatory trade-in (you are going to be trading back the car that you are leasing, at some point in the future when you return your lease). Unlike a normal trade-in, where you have your car as-is and you can ask around for its value, in a leasing situation you have to predict what the value of your car will be in five years. The dealers do this professionally. You do not. Guess who wins?
3. Leasing means it's not really your car. This is an issue most frequently for people who drive a large number of miles. Going over your mileage limit on a lease is very expensive.
4. If your circumstances change such that you need to exit your loan obligations by selling your car before fully paying off your contract, it's easier to sell your way out of a purchase / finance situation than a leasing situation. Ending your lease early is not an option, as car leases (unlike apartment leases) typically carry a heavy early cancellation penalty.
5. In places like the US, where leasing and purchasing are both possible, this enables a unique type of scam: a "sale" where the buyer thinks he's getting a purchase but the paperwork actually says it's a lease. So you're paying full price for the car and you don't get to keep the car in the end.