Leasing a car instead of driving your old one to pharm school?

[rivatnt]

I live in So Cal but I am moving to Massachusetts in August for pharmacy school.

Are all of you who are moving far away for pharmacy school shipping/driving your car over there?

I thought about leasing a car. I don't know much about leasing. I am going to a 3 year school. I wanted to just keep the car for only 3 years. I see a lot of 3 year leases. Is it a good idea?

I have old cars back home but I don't think it could take a cross country drive and also I wouldn't know what to do if it breaks down. My dad knows about cars and does all the work.



Man, I haven't driven since high school. I heard boston drivers are called "massholes". Hahah. I hope they don't have highway shootings...

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[PharmBound]

I live in So Cal but I am moving to Massachusetts in August for pharmacy school.

Are all of you who are moving far away for pharmacy school shipping/driving your car over there?

I thought about leasing a car. I don't know much about leasing. I am going to a 3 year school. I wanted to just keep the car for only 3 years. I see a lot of 3 year leases. Is it a good idea?

I have old cars back home but I don't think it could take a cross country drive and also I wouldn't know what to do if it breaks down. My dad knows about cars and does all the work.

Man, I haven't driven since high school. I heard boston drivers are called "massholes". Hahah. I hope they don't have highway shootings...

Leasing can look good from a monthly payment perspective, but is rarely the best option from a financial standpoint. In a nutshell you make payments on a cars depreciation (lost value) only. At the end of the lease you just give back the car, and have nothing to show for all of your payments. So if you had a lease payment of $300 for 3 years, you would have paid out almost $11K...and nothing to show for it at the end but the cancelled checks!

Another thing to consider is the fact that car leases are pretty iron-clad. If 2 years down the road (assuming 3 year lease) you want to trade-in/sell the car, you will have to come up with a large sum of money "in addition" to the lease payoff.

Would it make sense for you to rely on public transit, and rent a car on occasion? A second option might be to spend the $11K (3 years of lease payments) and buy a reliable, late model car.

Just my 2 cents...Good Luck!

 

[gimpsd]

Leasing can look good from a monthly payment perspective, but is rarely the best option from a financial standpoint. In a nutshell you make payments on a cars depreciation (lost value) only. At the end of the lease you just give back the car, and have nothing to show for all of your payments. So if you had a lease payment of $300 for 3 years, you would have paid out almost $11K...and nothing to show for it at the end but the cancelled checks!

Another thing to consider is the fact that car leases are pretty iron-clad. If 2 years down the road (assuming 3 year lease) you want to trade-in/sell the car, you will have to come up with a large sum of money "in addition" to the lease payoff.

Would it make sense for you to rely on public transit, and rent a car on occasion? A second option might be to spend the $11K (3 years of lease payments) and buy a reliable, late model car.

Just my 2 cents...Good Luck!

Well put and 100% agree.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

Yup, leasing is generally not a good deal.

Buy a cheap, reliable used car for a daily driver.
Don't spend much because you'll probably want to get a newer car after you graduate.
Get your father to help you pick it out if you can.
I have bought and sold cars using Autotrader and found some great deals.

 

[HABANERO4ME]

YOu dont need a car in Boston. They have public transportation all over the place. If you are attending the Boston Campus then you can take the "T" around. Plus car can be costly over there. The park space is additional cost too. I wouldnt recommend it.

 

[a504n]

I agree with everyone else, don't lease a car. That's just a waste of money, either buy a cheap reliable used car for a few grand, and then sell it once you're done with school, or use the public transportation. It's bad enough you're going to have a lot of student loans to pay, you don't need to add an extra $11,000 for leasing a car.

 

[rxmusc]

carmax.com

 

[rivatnt]

I am going to Worcester. I will need a car to do my intern work at the pharmacy.

I'm kind of scared about buying a used car for just a few grand from a newspaper ad. The used cars on carmax seem kinda high.

 

[sweetemo]

i hear in general that leasing a car is a bad idea financially, but i am sure it depends on how the numbers crunch since its pretty expensive to move a car across country.

i have lived inside Boston and you really can get around most everywhere without a car if you take the T. a car is a wondrous luxury. i have memories of walking through the snowstorms with my groceries to the T just to get home. so living without a car is possible, but with a car you will have access to other areas outside of the immediate city, and because all the eastern seaboard cities are so close to each other it is really easy to just go to NYC or Philly if you want.

things to deal with are snow and ice, your car will get wear from the weather and salt on the roads. people get territorial with their parking spots, if they dig their spot out they will put a chair there. parking in the city itself is really really expensive. and the drivers can be crazy but only if you don't know where you are going, they are impatient and a little more rude. the streets get old and are badly maintained because of the weather, and sometimes its hard to find directions because of one-ways and turn-abouts.

i still remember when a friend was driving me that we were at a light right near mass. general hospital. usually in california, you wait about half a second before you start inching forward when the light turns green because you have the slackers running red lights. but in boston, that half second will earn you angry honks and cursing from the drivers behind you. people are go go go there. and there is traffic. lots of traffic that you can avoid by stuffing yourself like a sardine into the T... at least you don't have to wait as long.

the busses are more few and far between outside of boston like in worcester. but if you do go to boston, unless you have guaranteed parking, you may want to drive your car to the T stop, and then it is preferable to take the T when you are just moving around boston itself.

I am going to Worcester. I will need a car to do my intern work at the pharmacy.

I'm kind of scared about buying a used car for just a few grand from a newspaper ad. The used cars on carmax seem kinda high.

 

[rivatnt]

I'm not really going to boston. I'm going to school in Worcester. I need a car just to go to my rotations. I wish I could just rely on public transporation like the T.

For my interview, I just took the commuter train from Boston to Worcester. I like public transportation but now the only reason I can't use it anymore is because I need to drive to whatever pharmacy they assign me to.

I spent my entire undergrad without a car. I just took the bus everywhere.

Thanks for the info about boston vs. la drivers.

 

[alwaystired]

Ok. So I did what you are thinking about doing. My lease will be up 3 months after pharm school. I did it b/c I was buying a hyundai and wanted to see how I like it. I bought a really nice Tiburon with all the stuff. Put 4000 down, my payment are pretty good (less than 300). When the lease is up (after I graduate) I can buy it for 8000 or buy another car. In my opinion, I don't mind not having anything to show for the payments. Most people buy a car and want a new car in 4-5 years anyways, and they often still owe payments and end up tacking that onto their new car too.

It's been a year, I love my Tiburon, my lease is affordable, and It looks like I am going to want to keep the car when I am done, but then again who knows. I may sick of it and I may want to use my sign on bonus for a nice new mercedes or something. Who knows. That's why I like the lease, b/c it lets you decide later when the lease is up. Anyways, Just my 2 cents from someone who is a leasee.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I'm leasing and I love it. I have a 3 year lease after which I have the option to buy for $7800. My payments are $210/month and I put $1300 down. I only had a day in which to find a car and I looked for used cars and none of them in my price range (I didn't have much cash on hand) seemed like risks I wanted to take. For me, it was worth the peace of mind to know that if anything happened to the car, I would not have to find a few hundred bucks to fix it. Having just gotten rid of an aging junker, that was important to me. I was constantly pumping money into a car that was on it's last leg. Everything on my current car is covered including the tires, for the duration of my lease. Driving my old car and stressing out anytime something moved when it shouldn't or didn't move when it should was starting to wear on me. I also have 24/7 roadside assistance which is great for a single gal.

Financially it might not be the very best option, but for me right now, it has worked out perfectly. I have no regrets.


PS - Carmax is so expensive!!!!

 

[Caverject]

I'm leasing and I love it. I have a 3 year lease after which I have the option to buy for $7800. My payments are $210/month and I put $1300 down. I only had a day in which to find a car and I looked for used cars and none of them in my price range (I didn't have much cash on hand) seemed like risks I wanted to take. For me, it was worth the peace of mind to know that if anything happened to the car, I would not have to find a few hundred bucks to fix it. Having just gotten rid of an aging junker, that was important to me. I was constantly pumping money into a car that was on it's last leg. Everything on my current car is covered including the tires, for the duration of my lease. Driving my old car and stressing out anytime something moved when it shouldn't or didn't move when it should was starting to wear on me. I also have 24/7 roadside assistance which is great for a single gal.

Financially it might not be the very best option, but for me right now, it has worked out perfectly. I have no regrets.


PS - Carmax is so expensive!!!!

what kind of car did you lease for that?