<prompt> Human: I currently drive with Uber in a car I own given to me from my parents. Would it make more sense for me to sell it and drive with a leased car? What is the difference between the two options? How big typically are lease payments?  <response>: You have to first understand how a lease works, you are paying for the depreciation on the car not the car. For example a car that costs 20 000 new is worth 10 000 at the 3 year mark. That difference plus interest is what you pay. The tricky part is the residual. The residual is the amount owing at the end of the lease if you want to take ownership. Remember when GMAC got into financial trouble several years ago? That was because they set the residuals way too high on their vehicles for a couple of years and ended up screwing themselves because they wanted to sell more cars. Example 20 000 car is worth 10 000 when 3 years old so lease cost for 3 years is 10 000 plus interest. They assume they can sell that car for 10 000 when you turn it in. The problem is that because there are now millions of lease returned 3year old Pontiac Sunfires they can only sell them for 7000. So if you leased you used up 13 000 worth of vehicle but only paid 10 000. So you won and the likelihood of you paying out the residual of 10 000 is nil. Why would you pay 10 000 for a 7000 car. But the opposite can happen too. You lease a Honda Civic with the same price and lease conditions and residual. At the end of the lease, however, the value of the car is 13 000. So if you want to buy out the lease you are getting a 13 000 used car for 10 000, which you should do because you paid for 10 000 of car but only used 7000. So is leasing or buying the best way to go about it. There is no answer, or better deal. But with a lease you have options. I have never leased a car but my sister did once and she was lucky she did. It was a VW Jetta, 3year lease. 1year in the timing belt broke and they refused to fix it adequately. Needed a litre of oil every gas fill up. Service advisor said that all Volkswagens burnt a bit of oil but a litre, come on. Anyway at the end of the lease she dropped off the keys and bought a RAV. If she owned that P.O.S. she would have been screwed. The best advice you will ever get when buying a car is the salesman is not your friend he is doing his job which is to maximize profit, so dont fall Iove with him, the car or the dealership. Be ready to walk and never, ever, ever give a good faith deposit when you start to negotiate. You can head for the door anytime you want. 