But that just means that you couldn't afford the lease to begin with. All you're doing is spending your transmission-fixing money and ending up with no asset to

But that just means that you couldn't afford the lease to begin with. All you're doing is spending your transmission-fixing money and ending up with no asset to show for it. You can't sell that couch to pay for your transmission - it's money down a hole. Yes, you can afford a payment today, but you can't afford the couch, if you can't otherwise save to buy it outright.