I'm interested in hearing your reasons for going lease vs finance.
Partly it's a financial decision about owning depreciating assets that require more and more maintenance/repair as they age. At the rate I'm paying, it'd take 8.7 years to even out the cost between lease and finance before any out of warranty repairs or new tires/brakes are considered. One tipping point to me from the 2010 was when I had to spend $1,500 for a wheel bearing, alignment, and someone else to put the brakes on that I had ordered off Rock Auto (another $300). CT also put lube on the back of my Wagner pads despite me repeatedly asking that they don't, and sure enough, they were super chatty until I had to go back again to get them to clean it off. The 2010 also needed 3 maintenance dates per year, the new one is 15,000km/1 year. I just didn't want to have to deal with more maintenance anymore, or drive a car without cruise control, heated mirrors, or any way to release the trunk without physically inserting a key (difficult while carrying a cake, as one recent example that led to the cake falling on the ground).
Did I NEED a new car, no, but some of the toys are safety-related (the 2010 didn't have traction control, for example, and the lack of heated mirrors was a nightmare for winter).
Did I NEED to lease? No, but I'm content to have short-term obligations rather than long-term, I don't drive high mileage anymore, smaller lease payments are easier to manage, etc. It mostly came down to not having to do any repairs/DIY stuff anymore.
I was rear-ended in the 2010 and have been in quite a bit of pain, so not doing any maintenance work other than tire changeovers (not that those are easy on me, either, but I'd otherwise have to lift/carry the wheels into the trunk/back seats instead of just rolling them around the garage - I also do the changeover on days when I can rest for the next 2-3 days as the pain is excruciating after lifting or bending. I just can't be doing DIY garage projects anymore).
On the topic of tires changeovers:
Make sure the nuts don't fly off the wheels, eh? ![Smiley :)](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/smiley.gif)
That happened ONE time, damn it!! And wifey's friend refused to come back for a retorque - they only came off after 3 weeks and only on one of the front drive wheels on a FWD Golf TDI - I blame everyone but me
![Cheesy :D](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/cheesy.gif)
I've otherwise changed over some 20+ wheel sets without issue and a retorque
![Wink ;)](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/wink.gif)