Should a buy a new car or lease?

If you are a teenager and you want to get a car and you had a choice to buy a 90's honda vehicle or a newer car but you would have to lease it and pay a monthly fee hoping you make enough to pay it off monthly which would you choose. I want to buy a car so I could feel good and call it my own, if I lease it though I won't have to worry too much about damages and maintanence etc but I don't always make a consistent amount om money monthly to pay it off and I'm technically feel like I'm borrowing it. I can say that my first car was a such and such if I leased it.

The only time to lease car is if it gives you tax advantages ie it's for business use. Always better as a private citizen to pay cash

Lease

No one under 18 years old would even be considered eligible to apply to lease a car.

No one leases used cars, so you'd be dealing with new cars with new car prices. If you are looking at cars over 20 years of age, then clearly, you are not remotely able to pay for a newer car, regardless of buying or leasing.

And, have you considered what insurance would cost a driver of your young age? No one can buy a car on payments and not have insurance, and liability insurance is the minimum required on every car.

NEVER go into debt for anything based on a hope that you can make enough money to pay for it in the future. If you are uncertain about your future income, you should either pay cash or go without a vehicle. One thing is certain, which is that leasing is a bad decision and is the most costly way to go.

You wrote "if I lease it though I won't have to worry too much about damages and maintenance etc " That's absolutely false. You would need to worry MORE, because at the end of the lease they will charge you handsomely for damage, excessive wear and tear, and excess mileage.

There's a whole lot of space between buying a jalopy and leasing a new car.
If the teenager thinks these are the only options the person has, the person is not very smart.

A teenager could not lease nor finance a vehicle. If you are old enough financing means when it is paid for you own it. Lease means you are "renting" miles and at the end of the lease you can buy it, or walk away with no debt if you did not damage it or go over the miles.

Save up and buy something you can afford. If you think you can make a $400 car payment, start doing that NOW, put pay it ot your bank account. In a year or 1.5 years, you should be able to pay cash for a 1st car.

If you are a teenager it's unlikely that your credit history would let you lease or buy a "new" car on credit.

You can't afford to lease a brand new car. Don't even consider it as an option.