We live in a place where transportation needs are very variable, and we should educate our kids to get onboard with it. Canada is huge... crazy huge. If you live in a dense urban area, public transportation will solve their problem, but if you don't, then you will need a car for them to move around. In this article, I will talk about how car leasing can benefit both, you and your grown-up kids when circumstances require them to start commuting around in a vehicle on a daily basis.
Why Leasing a Car?
I have talked a lot about it in multiple articles, so I will just drop the links below. On this post, I will focus mainly on the benefits resulting from the fact of being able to educate your kids, who will eventually have to drive almost every day of their lives. Car Leasing isn't just a way of solving your needs. It is the cheapest, most reliable and safest way of doing so:
- Benefits of Leasing a Car
- Is it a good idea to Lease a Car in Canada?
- Lease Cars: Understand Why People Do it?
- Leasing a 350CAD/month SUV is the Same as Buying a 16.000 Used One
- Why 70% of Canadians Lease Instead of Financing New Cars?
Modern Cars Are Safer
This is definitely the main factor a parent is looking for when you know your grown-up kids are ready to go on the road. Modern Cars come up with carefully studied and tested safety features that will help you feel better knowing they are out there. Although it is hard to imagine, I'm aware my kids will eventually drive, so I want them to be as safe as possible, as I try them to be right now. It is just an instinct fact.
The following is a list of Safety Features supported (in general) by most vehicle manufacturers nowadays, specifically 2017-2018 editions. I'm not referring only to high-end vehicles like Mercedes-Benz, Audis... these are supported on almost all Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Chevrolet, Ford and all other popular brands. Just to mention a few:
- Forward Emergency Autonomous Breaking: Cars use radar technology to stop and drastically reduce the force of an imminent impact.
- Forward Emergency Autonomous Breaking with Pedestrian Detection: The same as previous, but also include cameras to detect pedestrians and small objects.
- Blind Spot Detection Warning: Even if you are used to be checking it regularly, having a 2nd and computerized confirmation is always better.
- Lane Assist Warning and Lane Assist Active Correction: On the highways, it will detect if you are unintentionally steering out your lane, will warn and correct if the technology is included.
- Rear Traffic Alert: If someone is passing by behind your vehicle, it warns you.
- Automatic Accident Braking for 2nd Impact Avoidance: Even if your vehicle is hit by some other, it will break automatically to avoid additional uncontrolled impacts.
- Adaptive Cruise Control: An amazing assisted way of safely driving long distances. On some vehicles, it verifies up to 16 times per second the speed of the vehicle ahead and makes speed deceleration when needed, all automatically. It is very useful when visibility conditions are reduced and allow the driver to have way more time for making maneuver decisions.
- Backup Camera: Mandatory on all new vehicles in North America starting by May 2018, this has reduced the number of accidents when going on a reverse by a 95% when the vehicle has a camera.
- Up to 18 AirBags: Very trendy since the last decade, AirBag systems have been optimized for multiple angle impacts to reduce driver/passenger injuries by the vehicle components.
- Carefully Tested Structural Frames for Driver/Passenger Vital Space Protection: Components are developed to behave better on multiple temperatures, conditions and to preserve the cabin structure while absorbing impact energy.
- Automatic Emergency Call System: In case of an accident, vehicles notify autonomously an Emergency Line for speeding up the response of help.
And the list can go on even longer. I'm mostly naming the ones that actively help the driver to focus on the road and drive safe. So, who wouldn't feel safer knowing a family member is driving a vehicle with up to 90% fewer chances of being involved in an accident than a vehicle from 6 or 7 years ago? For sure modern Cars are safer and future cars will be, even more.
Leasing Guarantees the Lowest Risk
We only live once. I guess we are all aware of that, but I'm not talking about safety now. I will refer to "how valuable time is", now.
If I would have chosen to be an Airliner Pilot (and I would have had a successful career, of course), I would love to spend most of my "work" time, doing what I love to do "at work". The same if I would have gone through the "Car Mechanic" way. If repairing cars would be my passion, I would enjoy a lot doing so and also I would enjoy being fixing mine.
But I'm not. I love doing what I do and I hate fixing my car or having to bring it to get it fixed. Each time I have to do it, I'm 'wasting' time of the only live I have. Once again, if I would be a mechanic, I would enjoy having to do so, but I'm a software engineer.
So leasing a car is the way that I (and hundreds of thousands of Canadians) prefer to have transporation needs guaranteed at the less risk possible while we enjoy doing what we do. As a note apart, even mechanics lease cars as they love fixing other people's cars more than their own ;)
If the car breaks, it is not your problem. If the car scratches, it is not your problem. If the car gets stolen, it is not your problem. Your problem is to enjoy life doing what you love to do and have a car "out there" and ready anytime you need to go somewhere. Teach your kids that. I love cars, but these are simply a tool for our day-to-day.
There are exceptions, of course. I have a friend, whose grandfather gave him a car as a gift many years ago and he cares about it as the piece of gold it is for him. It is a tool, but also a very important and invaluable part of his life and I'm proud of him. I just wish I have had the chance to have something like this from my grandparents as the treasure he has. This is why I don't want to generalize as, like my friend's case, there are thousands of similar cases out there. North America has a long tradition of "cars" since 3 or 4 past generations, so my suggestions on this article, go directly to the people who are looking for a general advice.
Monthly Costs and Lease Contract
So, if you are considering doing the New Car Lease, it means that every month you will have to pay to have a car. That is OK. We do the same for rent, internet, mobile communications... why not doing so? Why not doing an affordable "car rent' for helping your kids when these grown up and reach that point in their age?
If you are planning to go ahead, then you need to be aware that there will be 2 main groups of expenses:
Fixed expenses:
- Monthtly Car Payment: These can be carried on bi-weekly (26 payment terms per year) or monthly (12 payment terms per year)
- Montlhy Insurance Costs: When you lease a vehicle, you must have a "Full-cover" kind of insurance.
- Regular Manufacturer Maintenance: Every 6 - 12 months, depending on the vehicle, but you can split it on a monthly basis to average the vehicle costs.
Variable expenses (like any car):
- Fuel Consumption:
- (NOT FOR LEASED CARS) Reparations when problems occur & Long Term Maintenance for "wearable" components like brake pads, brake disks, fluids replacement, new tires...
Plan Everything Ahead
Depending on each specific case, maybe your son/daughter started working somewhere, is going to University or helping you on a business. There are multiple variants, but the idea is that, as you are running on a monthly basis, you can go ahead and schedule a split of the expenses. Just to mention an example:
Let's assume your daughter started working on a company on the other end of the city. To push her up with her professional dream, you could co-sign a new car lease for 48 months (4 years) with her to help her focus on her new job, and agree with her that, while she grows professionally, you will do the following setup for the first year of the lease contract:
- You will run with all monthly regular expenses (car payment + insurance) and she will take care of the Variable Ones (Fuel) plus the Regular Maintenance.
For the second year, she will take over the insurance costs, and by the 2 final ones, she will run all vehicle expenses on her own.
An example setup like this can help you push them to grow up financially while getting the family members help they may need at the very beginning of their adulthood.
There is Always A Backup Plan
The first thing you have to do on a car lease is never to overpay or jump into a category of vehicle that is out of your real reach. There are all kinds of alternatives out there, so you are not forced to start with a luxury vehicle unless it is OK to you to pay it.
If something goes wrong, there is any change in the planning or simply, the car is not needed anymore, there is always the lease transfer door. Running a lease takeover isn't a big deal and the costs associated to it are acceptable enough if at some point you need to do one.
Just explore all the alternatives available out there. That is the first step to make all this work:
