On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 12:41:23 GMT, Julia Altshuler
> wrote:

> We've
> never leased a new car, but we've seen on the carfax sheets that a car
> had been leased and wonder if that tells us anything about its likely
> condition.

It's probably more good than bad (cross your fingers and
hope for the best). As an owner, I have to take care of my
leased car because I am penalized for mile overage and every
ding, dent or mechanical problem that has to be repaired
when I turn it in.

I have absolutely NO idea how or where you bought your car,
but I would NEVER buy a used one because you just can't tell
its history. We had an absolutely wonderful BMW that we
leased brand new and purchased when the lease expired. Two
years later, we couldn't get a computer generated reading on
the engine. It turned out that we had a short in the
electrical system. We KNEW it would cost us $6000 at the
time (this is 7 years ago) JUST to find out where the
problem was and then we had to FIX it. So that's why we
turned it in.

The car was 7 years old, but my husband kept it immaculate
inside and out (the leather was in perfect condition) so it
looked brand new. When he took it to a dealer (not BMW) to
lease a new car, they gave us a $10,000 trade value for it
w/o even turning over the engine! We think they didn't sell
it on their lot, but sold it at auction as part of a group
of cars instead.

.... and that's why I'd never buy a used car.

sf
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