Truck - Lease vs Buy
Adding a truck to your fleet is a no-brainer—more trucks means more hauling capacity, which means more business. But a harder question to ask is whether you should buy one or lease it. We here at Carolina International Trucks want you to do what’s best for your business, so we’ve put together a brief comparison between the two options to get you started. To learn more, or if you want to see the trucks we have for sale or to lease, contact our stores across the great state of Carolina, today!
Leasing Options
There are two broad categories of lease that a truck can fall under: open-ended options and closed-ended options. An open-ended lease has a minimum lease term, but once that term is up you get the option to continue leasing the truck on a monthly basis. The closed-ended option has a fixed term and monthly payments. With both options, excessive wear and tear or mileage can lead to fees.
Leasing Benefits
The primary benefit of leasing a truck over buying is the short-term savings. Monthly, it costs much less to rent a vehicle than to pay off one you’ve purchased. Leasing also provides access to newer models at lower prices, leading to better fuel economy thanks to improving technology. That also means less wear and tear and more uptime!
It’s also easier to replace a vehicle you’re leasing than one you’ve bought. Just switch the truck out for a different one at the end of the leasing term and you’re good to go.
Buying Benefits
That said, don’t write off a plain old purchase, yet. One massive advantage of owning the truck yourself is that you have full control over it. You don’t need to worry about extra fees from dings or dents, or from excess mileage. That means greater flexibility in running your fleet, up to and including selling a truck you don’t want whenever you can rather than waiting for the end of a lease.
And don’t forget that buying a truck can build up your equity. That can then be recouped if you decide to sell the truck down the line, or you can just build up your company’s net worth by adding the truck to your arsenal. You can then reinvest that equity into your company to help it expand rather than losing money long-term by leasing from a rental company.
Ready to get started? If you have any questions, or you’re ready to either buy or lease a truck, contact us at Carolina International Trucks. We proudly serve the people of Columbia, South Carolina—let us serve you today!