Okay, buckle up, because used vs leased cars is the hill I’m willing to die on after the last four years of my life turned into a finance-bro horror movie.
So I’m sitting in my apartment in Columbus, Ohio right now—November gray skies, the neighbor’s leaf blower screaming like it’s personally mad at me—and I’m staring at two key fobs on my coffee table that represent the dumbest $22,000 I ever spent. One is the sparkly Honda lease fob I turned in last month. The other is the scratched-up fob for the exact same make/model/year I just bought used for eleven grand cash. Yeah, I’m that guy. The one who needed to feel the pain twice to learn the lesson once.
The Lease That Still Texts Me Nightmares – Used vs Leased Cars Round 1
Let me paint this picture: 2021, I’m 31, finally making decent money, and the Honda dealer smells like pumpkin-spice lies and new carpet. Sales dude in a mask slides me this “sign-and-drive” lease on a 2021 Civic EX. $478 a month, $0 down if I let them tack on gap insurance and wheel locks I’ll never use. I’m like “bro, I’m basically renting swagger.” Three years later? I had paid $22,104 in payments, turned the car in with a microscopic scratch they charged me $687 for, and walked away owning exactly zero cubic centimeters of car. Meanwhile my credit score threw a party because “payment history on time!” Cool, cool. My bank account? Crying in the corner eating ramen.
I still flinch every time I see a Honda key fob in the wild. Like muscle memory PTSD.
Buying Used: Wait, I Can Just… Own It? – Used vs Leased Cars Redemption Arc
Fast-forward to August 2025. Same me, slightly balder, infinitely saltier. I’m on Facebook Marketplace at 1 a.m. because insomnia is cheaper than therapy. Found a 2018 Civic EX with 68k miles, one owner, full service records, grandma-owned, garage-kept, the whole fairy tale. $10,800. I showed up with a cashier’s check like a drug deal and drove it home the same day. Title in my name. No payments. No mileage limits. I can spill Taco Bell fire sauce on the seats and nobody can charge me $400 for “excessive interior staining” (true story from the lease return, I wish I was joking).
The first month I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like “wait, I don’t owe anybody $478 on the 12th?” It felt… illegal. Good illegal. Like stealing from my past self.
The Hidden Fees Nobody Talks About in Used vs Leased Cars
Leasing fees that still make me twitch:
- Disposition fee: $395 just for the privilege of giving it back
- Excess wear-and-tear: $687 for that scratch and “upholstery staining”
- Mileage overage: I went 2,300 miles over → $575
- Random “acquisition fee” and “documentation fee” that sound made up
Used car “fees”? Uhhh… sales tax and $35 to transfer the title. That’s it. I spent more on Chipotle last month.
Depreciation Is the Real Serial Killer in Used vs Leased Cars
Here’s the part that made me want to fist-fight my younger self. That 2021 Civic I leased? Worth about $16k now if I’d bought it. Instead I paid $22k to rent it and handed it back. The 2018 I just bought? Already took its biggest depreciation bath. Honda says these things hold value like a hoarder holds newspapers. I’m projecting $8-9k trade-in value in 2030. Meaning my actual cost of ownership could be under $3k per year. Leasing? $7,368 per year for the same damn car. Math is undefeated.
My Super Scientific Napkin Calculator – Used vs Leased Cars Final Boss
- Lease route (39 months): $22,104 paid + $1,657 fees + $8,000 buyout if I wanted it = $31,761 total possible
- Used cash route: $11,000 + $800 tax/title + maybe $2k maintenance over 5 years = ~$13,800 total
I literally could’ve bought the used one twice and still saved money. TWICE.
So Which Actually Saves You More? Used vs Leased Cars Verdict from a Recovering Idiot
If you drive less than 10k miles a year, swap cars every three years, and love that new-car smell more than breathing? Lease away, you funky little masochist. But if you’re a normal human who just wants to get to work without your soul being nickel-and-dimed, buying used is the cheat code. Cash if you can. Low-interest credit union loan if you can’t. Just… don’t be me in 2021 thinking “payments = adulthood.”
Anyway, I gotta go vacuum Cheeto dust out of my owned Civic now. Feels weird saying that. Good weird.
Drop your own car horror stories below—I need to know I’m not the only one who’s been financially waterboarded by a lease. And if you’re on the fence about used vs leased cars right now, DM me. I’ll send you my napkin.
P.S. Real sources so Google doesn’t hate me:
- Edmunds total cost of ownership calculator
- Consumer Reports leasing vs buying guide
- Kelley Blue Book 5-year cost to own
Now go forth and don’t lease anything unless it has wings. Peace. ✌️
