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A question that’s asked daily when people are online car shopping is, “Should I lease or purchase a vehicle?” To help make your decision easier, we’ll briefly cover a few topics on which scenario might work best for you.

What’s Your Credit Score?

The first thing you’ll want to consider is your FICO credit score. In 2025, most lenders would like to see an average score of 660 and above. A credit report, or sometimes one of your credit cards, will have your credit score to review before submitting your financing application to a dealership. Having a higher credit score puts you in a stronger position to qualify to lease or purchase a vehicle. However, if it’s slightly lower than 660, you still may be able to qualify for financing. Lenders also require that there aren’t any recent vehicle repossessions on your credit report.

How Many Miles per Day Do You Typically Drive?

If your roundtrip daily commute is around 50 miles or less, then leasing could possibly work. Leasing is for a below-average to average amount of miles driven annually. Most leasing programs range from 2,500 to 15,000 miles annually. If you drive more than 60 miles daily, then buying is likely more ideal. It gives you the flexibility to drive as much or as little as you’d like without any restrictions or penalties.

How Long Do You Think You’d Like to Keep This Vehicle?

Leasing is convenient if you're just searching for a brand new car and you like to trade in for a newer model every 2-4 years. Buying makes more sense if you typically keep a vehicle for more than 3-4 years at a time, or until the next generation is released.

Monthly Payments

Monthly lease payments are typically lower than purchasing; however, that’s still considered on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes purchasing could get you a lower monthly payment. With manufacturer, dealer, and employer incentives updating monthly, it’s always good to compare and see what programs you qualify for when you’re shopping.

Service Intervals

For repairs and maintenance, prepaid service packages are available for both leasing and purchasing a vehicle. This makes it a bit easier to stay on schedule and already know the cost of your service intervals. Dealer-level prepaid service packages may still be available for used vehicles that are not certified. If you don’t feel like going with a prepaid package, then you’d just go into the dealership or an independent repair shop whenever your services are due.

Warranties

Factory warranties are included with leasing or purchasing new or certified pre-owned vehicles. If the vehicle is not certified by an authorized dealer, then you’d want to check when the original in-service date began to verify if there’s any factory warranty remaining. A dealer or third-party aftermarket warranty could be purchased if it’s out of warranty.

Summary

In summary, if your roundtrip drive is less than 50 miles daily, you want a brand new car, and plan on only keeping it for about 3 years, then definitely look into leasing. If your daily roundtrip commute is significantly more than 50 miles, or if you’re in no rush and plan on keeping the vehicle for more than 3 years, then purchasing would be the way to go.

This is just a surface-level overview that helps provide some framework into how to acquire the vehicle that you want. Please reach out if you have any questions or would like some help with car shopping!