Hello. I leased my first car, a 2023 Subaru Impreza, 3 years ago and the lease is about to be up. I've had zero issues with the car and I hear it's very reliable so I was interested in buying it.
It has 19k miles and at the end of the lease I can purchase it for $13k. I think this is a really good deal, right? My dealer is assuring me that it's not worth purchasing it because interest rates are high and the best I can get is about 6%. Even looking online or going through my bank, those are the only offers I'm seeing. He wants me to lease another car but I don't want to lease cars forever and I'd rather just purchase this one.
I've been paying $200/month for it and I'd really like to keep it that way but apparently I'd have to put $8k down to achieve that. Truthfully, I do have the $13k but I'm not sure if it's a great idea to buy this car in one shot like that or not. I have a lot of other expenses and it would cut my bank account in more than half and probably stress me out.
Is there anything I should consider and does anyone have any suggestions on what my next steps should be? Thank you