Cheap car for little old lady

In terms of leasing, I'd watch for the "rubbing paint" factor. Even if your Mother-In-Law is a great driver, some of her peers may not be. Lease deals tend to not be as attractive if the exterior of the car has any blemishes when you try to turn it in.

I've heard horror stories about condition, mileage and early terminations, but then stories from recent leasees say all that's history on leases and they are the best way to "buy".

My grandmother loves her 2005 Camry.

Any reasonable mini-van since you sit up kinda high and the floor plan is low enough for easy an easy step.

Sounds kinda off, but a Cherokee is kinda small and easy to park and is not bad for stepping into and out of for older folks. Plus they are dirt cheap.

HHR.

carguy123 wrote:

carguy123 wrote: Any sage words of wisdom about the downfalls of a lease? I have an IN with a Ford Dealer and can get a Ford product for a great price so what do you guys think about a Fiesta or a Focus?

I was really looking more for reasons To or Not To lease as well as hoping someone had a new Fiesta or Focus and could chime in as to whether they might work well for an older lady. They Yaris is the yardstick at the moment in that she has been in one and found it to be much easy to get into than her Taurus, has limited blindsides and would be easy to park. She has never had a wreck or a fender bender in her life, but I'm sure that can change. A lease is just one of the options we are considering. It does have the up side of being less up front and low monthly payments since I'm betting that I have to foot the bill for most of the money. You know how relatives can be when you ask them for money.

Forget the Yaris. If you have an in with Ford, get the Focus. It'll be a bit roomier, have more features, get great mileage, is probably safer and the prices on those things are low.

carguy123 wrote: I was really looking more for reasons To or Not To lease as well as hoping someone had a new Fiesta or Focus and could chime in as to whether they might work well for an older lady.

The only good reason I can think of for getting a long term rental contract is if you're overseas on business for a set number of years and don't want the hassle of selling the car... or maybe if you're certain she's only got three years to live. It sounds like she's into the "keep a car until it falls apart" theory of car ownership, and rent-to-own seems like a really lousy way to get started there. If you're planning on keeping the car for a remotely long haul, it's better to buy outright.

And if you're not keeping it for ten years, a used Yaris, Echo, or Focus ought to have plenty of life in it for less money. Two years of $200 a month lease payments would be enough to buy a pretty clean used Focus with a lot of life left in it; I could only see the long term rental coming out ahead if done for a very short time and you somehow had the Focus lose all its resale value.

Focus or Fusion would be good. Fiesta's are virtually non existant. I leased cars for years, never had a problem.

My mother is 81, and loves her 2000 Buick Centry(sp?). We're starting to have tranny issues, but overall its been a decent appliance. I actually drove it for a few months, and could actually see myself driving one again if I had to and not wanting to slit my wrist. It drove firmer than my step-fathers caddy, but not so firm that it bothered her on trips( 1+ hours).