That is exactly what I was thinking. I like to have something to show for the money I spent on it. I am not the type of person that wants to keep trading up to the new car every few years. Sounds like I am better off not leasing. I will just keep my 04 WRX for now and keep an eye out for a premium 05 - 07 STI.
Subaru was never really into leasing. I mean they could get you into one, but their terms were pretty bad and it would cost per month as much as buying it, which is kinda pointless. I think $400 is close to how much you'd pay if you bought that WRX, maybe $50 less (UPD: truecar.com calculator says $477/mo for base WRX with $0 down, less if you trade-in your 04). $400/mo will get you into a much more expensive BMW or Infinity, or any other brand that's pushing leasing hard.
Good luck finding a clean/unmolested 05-07 STI for reasonable money. I tried it for about six months last year and failed miserably.
Not entirely clean analogy. Renting a house usually costs more than the mortgage. Leasing usually costs less, and it could be a viable option for some.
+1. I'd avoid first model-year turbo cars. If anything goes wrong they go kaboom and spend a month in the shop, since new parts aren't stocked yet.
$600/month for buying a $27k car? That's a 10% APR for a 5 year loan. If that's the best one can qualify for (then he/she should repair their credit first), the $400 lease will suddenly turn into $550 lease when the dealer tries to qualify him/her. At a regular 5-year APR of under 3%, the payment would be under $500 for a zero-down purchase.
My credit score is over 800.
I am 36 and have never missed any payment of anything in my life. 
Still ~$550/mo then, at 2% apr with $0 down, and that's with taxes already included.My credit score is over 800.
The estimated quote was closer to $30,000
If, and I really mean IF, renting a car is cheaper, it's only cheaper because you have nothing in the long run. End of the day, I own my car and all the money I save driving it with no payment or the money I get when selling is money against the renting formula. I don't think it's cheaper to lease/rent but that's just my opinion.
That said, I've got news about the 2015 WRX...
I just test drove one.
It was a premium with the H/K & Nav, and short throw shifter (32k sticker after all the little fees).
Gotta say, the new engine is nice and so are the steering wheel and seat.
The interior was nice as well.
Still don't like the display for tach and speedo... I much prefer the tach centered like in my STI.
That said, my only major complaint was the transmission.
I know it's supposed to be better than the previous 5 speed but it was still inferior to my 6 speed in the 2011 STI. No doubt about it, the linkage felt soft, the space between gears feels like a ghost land (surprisingly large area considering it was using the short shifter), and the engagement was missing that notch I've grown to love so much.
The transmission definitely felt like a FWD cable type rather than the mechanical feel of my current STI.
Overall a very cool car but if I bought one it would be the base model with a CVT or a base model STI.
Of course, since you can't buy a hatch I think I'll be waiting for the mid-cycle refresh where the STI gets a DIT and a hatch is released (just my hopes I suppose).
And you should have had them write that down on paper to guarantee it, because chances are, once the finance department starts getting involved, everything goes upward.
2012-2013 WRX was $309/mo on a 36 month/12k mile lease with $0 down IIRC(EVO X was only ~$270ish
) That's ~$11k over the course of 3 years. Considerably less than buying. I've looked at a few econobox-ish car leases over the past 2-3 years and you can have a car for 3-3.5 years and spend less than ~7k.I was hoping the 6spd would be more similar to the STI trans than the BRZ trans but it's not the case. It's just the same old 5spd feel with an extra gear.
Don't most leases come with some damage protection? Each body panel has a damage allowance so that small dings and scratches are covered.
Because the current ones look stupid and generic.
Don't brand me as an idiot or a fool, but in my honest opinion... I like the tail lights... And haven't the past WRX/WRX STi models use the same tail light design as their basic, non-turbo performance models...? Despite the 2015 WRX/WRX STi being something of a different "body format", it still goes along the line of being an Impreza.
