Thoughts on leasing??

ElVee

True, if you miss payments and a collection agency is called in to collect, that's going to tank your credit very fast.

In the end, don't buy or lease beyond what you can afford.

With a lease, you're tied in (moreorless) for the lease term, but with a bought car, you're tied in with the loan as well.

You can break a lease and pay penalties up the wazoo, but you can't easily break a loan or purchase; you're going to be out a lot of money.

Best case, you sell the car to someone else who takes over the loan and you pay them the difference between what you owe on the car and what it's worth. Google "upside-down car loan" for more information on that. Basically, when you buy and drive a car off the lot, it immediately depreciates quite a bit. It's not worth what you owe on the car loan. This means if you want someone else to take the car off your hands, you're going to actually have to PAY them (or pay a huge chunk of the loan right away to get it in line with the value of the car).

For a couple years, you'll likely be upside-down on a purchase car loan. This is why a lease makes more sense on short term new car acquisitions. Eventually, you'll pay down the loan and owe far less, but the car will then be worth more than what you owe. For instance, 6 years into your loan in 2020, your Z may be worth $16,000, but you only owe $1000 left on it. That's good!

Yes, it takes time to wrap your head around all of this. At the end of the day, don't commit to more than you know you can afford.