Total waste of money. I've had luxury cars a bit above 50k, more like $75k. Leasing is your best option for 36 months because you'd be paying the depreciation o

Total waste of money. I've had luxury cars a bit above 50k, more like $75k. Leasing is your best option for 36 months because you'd be paying the depreciation of the car. Loan or lease it's pretty much equals after 3 years. But with a lease, you're not in debts forever and stuck with a huge depreciating asset. Buying is insane because you're looking at a huge down payment (like putting a pile of cash in a trash), very big monthly payment, expensive insurance and since you're in beautiful California, a big yearly registration fee. I call it the CA car tax. In 3 years from now people will literally lowball the hell out of your car to help you get rid of it because you're a private party not a dealer. On the other hand, dealers will lowball even more! They need to make a margin re-selling your car so you're not in for a 30% loss, more like 50%. If you think private parties buy used cars for 30-40k :) you'd be foolish. Again, it's California, what's the point? They would just get a brand new car since anything is financially possible when it comes to debts in CA. so yeah, lease. Add up gas (CA prices are laughable), then you're in for a LOT of money. Not just 30%... If I were to do it again, unlike most of the people, I'd actually buy an OK used car (2-3 years) which already took a hit in terms of depreciation, then I'd keep it for 3-4 years. You could get something descent for $25-30k. The loss between 3 to 6 years is usually smaller than a loss from 0 to 3 years. Audi's keep their value high, don't buy infinity or Lexus, with $50k and above, go for a car that has a whole community around it like an 'R' or 'GTR' or 'M', things like that because again, people want those car badly and would do anything to get one cheaper than brand new. Don't buy a standard BMW's because you can't bit BMW dealership in terms of rates, etc. They will always come up with a much better car/deal than you when you're ready to sell. Again, people would rather buy new and at a dealership and get a quick and easy loan going with a low rate.