Welcome to one of the oldest debates on the internet
I leased mine, because it made financial sense for
me. Your mileage may vary (no pun intended) so ask your dealer to show you the full worksheets - not just a monthly payment - for both a purchase AND a lease. The line of "we don't know what kind of problems this might have" is total BS. Base the decision on what you are comfortable with, not what the dealer pitches you. Remember their goal is to make money, not become your friend.
There were a multitude of factors that contributed to that decision (I've purchased my last 2 vehicles before this one):
- I knew I'd only be keeping this vehicle a short amount of time (3 years or so)
- The total cost of ownership over a 3 year lease is much less expensive than buying outright, which is what I needed.
- We have a 2nd vehicle, so mileage wasn't an issue.
- The GLA had one of the highest residual values of all the vehicles I looked at, so contributed to a lower payment compared to other models in the class
- Likely have kid(s) on the way in a few years, and I didn't want to be locked into a vehicle with a high monthly payment, plus I'll probably upgrade to a GLK anyways.
- I was able to negotiate a very low money factor (interest rate on the lease, basically) based on my loyalty to the dealership
Good luck on your decision, and most importantly I hope you wind up with a new GLA!