Buying a first car or leasing a car?

Buying a first car or leasing a car? - 1

Added (1). I make roughly $1,500 a month and I have saved up $5000 as a down payment. The thing is I have 0 credit and my parents can't co-sign for me. What options do I have? Should I buy a car or lease a car? What price range in cars should I do? Do I make enough to even afford a car?

Added (2). I'm interested in a Nissan Maxima/Altima
Mazda3/6
Hyundai Veloster/sonata/Elentra
Toyota Camry/Corolla
Honda Civic/accord

Leasing is a bad deal for almost anyone.

The only people that get any sort of benefit from it are businesses and people that change their car every couple of years or so.

Without having a "good" credit score and more importantly a good credit history you will not be able to buy a new car nor lease a new car. Without a cosigner you will not be able to get much of a loan if at all.

Sorry to be so negative but these are the facts of the modern world, you need to say your age and your price range but forget about leasing.

Time is the key. $1500 a month isn't a lot, but I suspect you can get a store card, like at Kohls, Sears, Best Buy, etc. Get one, buy a few things, and pay it off every month. After 6 months to a year, go for a small car loan. Don't lease. Get a late model used car or something like a Versa, Accent, something at the lower end. I know you would like something col, but as you are starting out, get what you can afford, and what is reliable, not what you would like to have. Because you can't get that.

With no credit score, leasing is out. You need better credit to lease a vehicle than you do to finance one. Your monthly income and parents inability to cosign are going to make it next to impossible for you to finance one, too. Since you have $5K saved, try to find a mechanically-sound vehicle and pay cash. Get a credit card through your bank and build your credit.

You won't qualify to lease.

And borrowing with no credit, while possible with $5000 down, is likely to be on really bad terms.

Not just the interest rate of 19-29%, they often jack up the car price by a grand or more too.

Be smart. Pay cash for your first and every subsequent car. It really can be the difference between becoming wealthy or not.

http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/drive-free/

In ten months, you'll have $15,000. You can buy a nice used car for cash with $15,000

There's no way you qualify for a reasonable lease. With 5k cash, a car priced at 10k or less is reasonable given your income. 50% or more down payment, in other words.