Why do most people say leasing is bad?

I was telling my mechanic that I wanted a 2019 Honda Accord 2.0T, and he said that I should lease it for 3 years and thats it because financing and keeping the car past 60 000 km is a dumb idea.

I really do not want to have a car that has problems, but the Accord seems to be a real good car. He was saying he has had Chevy, Audi, and Volkswagen cars with 2 Litre turbos and they all blew up after 80 000 KM, he says those are not cars you keep, and you should lease them.

He also told me that if I have a stable job (which I do) then you can always lease, he was saying "if you don't think you will be at your job in the next few years, then finance your car".

Because you can lose cash on it

When you own an item, it counts towards your wealth. But when leasing an item, you are putting money into something that does not have monetary value that you can sell back.

Compare a loan with the same montly payment to the cost of a 3 year lease and see what the trade in value of a three year old Honda Accord is. If you still owe more than the car is worth after 3 years then the lease is a better option.

My experience says that the break even point is between 5 and 5 1/2 years. If you intend to keep the car for less than 5 to 5 1/2 years, you may as well lease. If you intend to keep it past that time, you should buy it. Your mechanic must be very hard on cars, Modern cars are just running nicely at 80,000 km. My daughter has a Jeep
with 340,000 km on it and runs just like new.
I leased my Cadillac for 24 months because GM gave a tremendous rebate for that. Then I bought it out. I got the car for less than if I had paid cash. (?)
One more thing. I understand that Honda is very fussy when you return your leased vehicle. They go over it very carefully looking for slight defects to charge you for.

Leases are based upon not just on value of vehicle. Also there's the miles driven. If you are going to drive a lot, then a lease might cost too much when you turn in the car.

It depend on how many miles you drive each day, because the lease kicks in a per mile penalty once you have gone over 10k to 15k miles a year. If your commute to work is 20 miles one way then a lease is questionable, and it's out of the question once you have over a 30 mile commute to work.

It would also depend on your car purchasing habits. If you get a loan then do you only make the minimum payment each month? Do you buy cars with cash? Do you kick in 10% or 20% extra each month? Do you race to pay the loan off As soon as possible? It will almost pay dividends if you know how the interest works when paying a car loan.

If you only make the minimum monthly payment and you drive 15 miles each day then a lease is worth considering.

I don't know about leasing but what people today do is buy a car and keep it long term. And the cars hold up long term for 10 years with ease. And then you can go longer if you can accept a repair or two now and then. But leasing gains you no equity.

Leasing is by far the most expensive way to drive a new vehicle. The up front cost may seem lower but the back end expenses will bite you hard. Wear and tear surcharges, mileage surcharges and depreciation will be very expensive unless you make high monthly payments and a large down payment that covers those costs. The only intelligent car lease is for a profitable business where the cost can be charged off against taxes as an expense.

Your mechanic told you that you should never keep a car part 60000KM (37282.272 miles)…
That's HILARIOUS! No one should drive a car that more than 2 years old… As soon as it hits 2y 1d old == got to go buy a "lease" a new car…

check out the car your "mechanic" is driving! I'm going to bet you it's much older than 2 years and has many more than 60000km…

You should find a new mechanic.

The main problem is that you don't own it. There's a certain degree of pride when you are driving a car that you own. It is absent with a lease car. Plus there's always the concern of what hell awaits you once the lease ends and you have to turn the car in. God only knows what they're going to try and ding you for. It's nerve wracking. I prefer owning it.