Is it better to Lease or to Buy?

"Lease" as in - lease it from a carrier you will be signed onto? Or a lease from a truck dealer, where you won't ever own it, but are also not on the hook for major repairs, and will turn over to a new unit every x number of months?

 

You need to have the dealership do a soft pull on your credit (only) and let them tell you what your interest rate is going to be. You really can't make an informed decision until you know what the numbers are.

I bought (am buying) a new truck in Dec 2015 via a loan I obtained through a small community bank in the town in which I reside. The interest rate is 5.5%.

Personally, I would not buy a used truck, but that's just me. Whether or not you can make any money leasing your truck on to your current company depends on a lot of different factors. I got my own authority and book my own loads personally. I did run under another companies authority for a few mos, however, do much better (on many levels) doing my own thing.

In addition, I would NOT recommend tapping into your home for additional capital.

 

$1000/week is out of the question. What is it, gold plated and diamond encrusted?

I would never deal with another carrier's financing. Do not need any strings attached to your earning potential all the while you are the one on the hook and should you not meet a payment they get the asset back. No thanks. I always will deal with a dealer/bank finance, so I can take the truck anywhere I like.

All that being said, I prefer to buy it and make payments to a bank. I am the kind of person to keep my stuff as long as possible and take good care of it. When the payments finish out, I am very comfortable in my daily life. Yes, I run the risk of major repair - which will come out of my pocket. Other people rather pay a fixed amount perpetually and not risk the repair cost and always be in a new/relatively new unit. Also depends if you are decided on staying in the industry for long term or not. If you want the ability to end the lease and hand it back in to dealer - no problem if you go that route. People will argue the math is better for one side or the other - there is no one correct answer, you have to figure it out for yourself.

 

Midnight, I have to tell you take this warning seriously - never ever use your home as a source of money unless you sell it outright.

I would take a serious look at what the dealer has to offer and see if that would fit into your program. If it isn't cost effected (I don't know what they are offering now), then move to a loan. I would also look at a use truck seeing you are a company driver right now and it may give you a good entry into ownership.

I do outright financing to purchase, I did a lease maybe on five or seven trucks and it was better for my operation just to finance.

 

I have done both a lease and a loan via Daimler Truck Financial ( Freightliner, Western Star) through the truck dealer.
The only advantage to the lease is that you right off the entire payment as you go. Simpler paperwork. But it pays down the truck at a lower rate, so when I went to trade the truck in on a new one, I had to cough up more for the difference.
The loan pays the truck down faster, but then you can only directly write off the interest portion of the payment. Then at tax time you do the depreciation.
The lease purchase plans via the trucking company are for people with lousy credit. Since you have good credit and a decent down payment you should be able to dealer finance between 6 and 8 %.

 

You mentioned home equity loan . I'd put down the 20 grand or even less and get the home equity loan it can be 5% or less interest rate . Buy something in the 60-70 k range under 300,000 miles . Good luck .

 

I rather stay away from the home equity loan for the vehicle purchase... Should the truck be a lemon, you stand to also lose the house..

People that are good money managers and have equity in their home are also likely to get a better interest rate when they go to purchase a truck. I view the home equity line of credit (loan) more as a tool in case of emergency funds needed. Otherwise keep them separate - business is business and personal is personal.