Joel, you are one logical dude.
Get a beater honda, its what every college kid does.
If you just want a new car then whatever, but saying its cheaper to lease a new car is nutso.
Bought my f150 in 98 with 38k miles for 8500 bucks from a dealer in ohio, about to sell it to a guy from out of state for 8050 next week. Truck has 74k miles, and I paid 5.9 percent interest on the loan.
It cost me pretty much nothing to own the truck and i drove the truck for two years.
I’ll get a 4 banger ranger at auction soon and do the same thing in two years.
12k miles is nothing dude. My buddy has a new f150 on a lease, and he’s like nah i can’t take on vacation, i gotta watch my miles.
Thats bullshit.
Get with a credit union and get a cheap newer car on autotrader, and you’ll do much better for yourself, and you won’t have to pay huge money when someone scratches the vehicle because its yours.