anyone have opinions here about car shopping post-covid and has your opinion on leasing vs buying changed in the last few years?

right now I'm considering buying a used Honda CR-V because

1. I'm currently leasing a CR-V that has a few defects that I'd like to get rid of (mold is starting to grow because of bad sealing in the roof, so rain water gets into the interior, plus some other general electrical issues with the displays)

2. I work from home, so don't care so much about the mileage

3. If I leased again, I would plan on buying the car at the end of the lease anyway.

Right now, the MSRP on a used Honda CR-V (2021) with the exact same milage I have now it the same cost as when I originally leased back in 2020. The only benefit being is that I'd get a 2021 car with no mold it in, but would obviously have to pay more for it than just buying the current car i'm leasing.

In other words back in 2020 I leased:

2020 CR-V, 0 miles, ~$29,000

and an example used one I'm looking at:

2021 CR-V, ~30K miles, ~$29,000

So I'm very conflicted. Would it be worth it to just buy my moldy car and eat the cost that it would take to repair it?

do you know if the car you're looking at has issues? cus if it's gonna cost the same either way i'd just go for the car without mold lol

turns out covid inflated the prices of buying a used car so much that I can buy my lease and then sell it back for a profit, which is frankly insane.

So i'm buying my car and just gonna get the roof replaced, since that seems to be the most cost-effective option.

this thread is now about how covid made everything too expensive

no because actually - when i was buying starbucks semi-regularly at my job, i watched my coffee and croissant go from $10.64 to $11.33 within the span of like 2 years. dreading the idea of having to buy a new radiator for my car, getting the paint job its needed, among many other things since i got it. (dw the radiator thing is not an emergency thing, it's just a lil rusty and not running optimally).

that's insane, especially the price of coffee. When I was in hawaii late last year, I was shocked at the prices people were paying for a regular sized black coffee (like $4-$5). Even my uber driver was talking about having to move to Washington because the islands are just too expensive - his car registration costed ~$600!!!!! Which is really sad that native people are having to leave Hawaii.

I also just went to get the oil changed in my car, which was also way too expensive, but luckily the mechanic was being very straightforward with me and gave me the suggestion to just handle some of this myself for a fraction of the cost, like filling up my coolant.