Tips on Buying Cars: lease end, 2006 nissan altima, lincoln town car

Question
I am in a rather complicated situation with vehicles and I need a little advice sorting out what would be the best option.

Currently I lease a 2006 Nissan Altima and the lease ends May 1.  Since starting the lease, I was laid off and got behind on all of my bills including the lease payments which has affected my credit.  In addition the job I have now involves driving my personal vehicle which has caused me to go over my mileage limit.

So I'm wondering what my options are at lease end for getting another vehicle.  I'm sure my credit will make financing difficult whether I'm trying to start a new lease or loan, or purchase my current vehicle.

To make things more complicated, we need to get a second vehicle.  My wife and I have been sharing the car since she has been a homemaker for the past 2 years.  She is about to receive some inheritance money which she plans to put toward a car and start working again.  

My ideal result would be to have two fairly new cars but I don't know if thats possible or how to go about getting there.  

Should I settle for older used cars?
Should we put her inheritance money toward a lease or loan, or pay cash for an older car?
Will I be walking to work aver May 1?

Any advise will be greatly appreciated.


Answer
Obviously, the easiest route is to take the inheritance and pay cash for a used car or cars; no one ever gets declined for paying cash.  The key is to get something that's both durable and reliable, vehicles that won't break down on the way to work, and won't cost a fortune in repairs.  There are a number of cars out there that fit that bill, but are you willing to drive them?  Case in point: what's sitting in my garage.  It's 13 years old, has 117,000 miles, gets 21-22 mpg back and forth to work, and hasn't cost me a penny in the past year (other than gas and oil changes).  Everything works fine, there are no squeaks or rattles, and it's in beautiful condition.  It's a 1996 Lincoln Town Car.  If you can get past the fact that it's an "old fogies car," then you'll find you can buy these for very little money, as Town Cars have terrible resale value.  As it's the same platform as the Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis, the same applies to those cars as well.  All are cheap, reliable, dependable transportation (which I think is why old fogies love them so much... ;-).

As for buying new, you might find it easier to lease than to purchase, as the credit requirements for a lease tend to be lower than for an outright purchase.  The question here is how comfortable you've been with the lease so far, and what your plans are for the vehicle.  If you can keep the vehicle for at least a year past the point where the payments end, then an outright purchase might be best.  But- if you tend to trade vehicles often (every 4 years or less) and find yourself carrying a balance over from the old car to the new one, then re-consider leasing.  I've never understood why anyone would want to own a car when they continuously owe far more than it's worth, yet some people feel they're always better off owning the car.  (Ask anyone in Miami right now who's trying to sell a house they bought within the past 5 years with a no-money-down mortgage.  They could easily owe $50,000-$100,000 more than the home's current market value; wouldn't they have been far better off to have rented the same property?  They'd own nothing, but they'd also OWE nothing.)  I hope this helps, and please don't hesitate to ask any follow-up questions.