Leasing vs. Financing

With a Honda lease, you drive your new car as if you own it. When your lease comes to an end, you have the flexibility to simply turn your lease in and get a new car, or buy it out and keep it. The choice is yours!

Purchasing your vehicle through financing means the vehicle is fully yours when your financing term is finished. If you decide you want or need a newer vehicle before it’s paid off, there’s a delicate equity balancing act to consider – do you still owe more than the car is worth?

Lease payments are often considerably lower than financing payments. It’s because you’re only paying for the part of the vehicle you’ll use over the term of lease, not the whole vehicle.

Financing payment can vary greatly depending on the length of term you choose. In the end, you own the vehicle, but payment rates over terms similar to a lease are much higher in comparison.

When your lease is over, you can simply settle up your end-of-lease costs, turn it back in and start a new lease on a brand new vehicle.

If you decide to upgrade to a new vehicle or a different model, you’ll need to deal with selling or trading in your car. You may have negative equity or repairs to sort out first, which can be a hassle.

Honda leases offer convenient mileage terms to suit most drivers’ needs. If you go overmileage, you can either pay a mileage fee or buy out your lease.

There’s no limit to the mileage you can put on your vehicle purchase. However, if you finance over a long term and rack up high mileage, you may find you’re still making payments when your car is miled out.

Leases allow for normal wear and tear in most cases. As long as you still meet minimum wear requirements, you can turn in your lease without having to perform costly repairs or maintenance.

When you finance a vehicle, you’re fully responsible for its wear and tear. You may not have to deal with it immediately, but at some point during your vehicle ownership you’ll need to service or repair the problems before you experience a breakdown or sell it.

A leased vehicle offers flexible options. If, at the end of your lease, you find you have equity in your lease, you can choose to buy it out. Otherwise, you can turn it in and walk away from the depreciation.

When you choose the financing route, there’s no question you’ll experience depreciation – it’s just a matter of how much.

With lower payments, you can use your cash flow in other money-saving ways. You can pay down your mortgage, start a savings account, buy an RRSP or RESP, pay off your credit card, or open an investment portfolio.

More of your money is tied up in your vehicle, limiting your available funds for other important things in life. You may have equity in your car but you’d have to sell it to use that equity.