People say you shouldn't discuss religion or politics. But there is another touchy subject that leads to heated debates: Should you lease or buy a car? A closely related question is this: Should you lease or buy a new or used car?

Fine Print Reveals the Real Savings — If Any

Leasing seems to have a vocabulary of its own. Understanding leasing terms can help you demystify this often confusing process. Here are the key words and their definitions.

Allowable Mileage: This is the number of miles you are allowed to drive over the term of the lease. Often this is stated as the number of miles per year you can drive. Most leasing companies allow 12,000 miles a year. On a three-year lease, that means you can drive a total of 36,000 miles. If the allowable miles are exceeded, you typically must pay between 12 and 15 cents per mile.

A friend of mine calls it the "rip-off sticker" — the sticker in a new car's window that lists the aftermarket extras installed by the dealer. These dealer add-ons make it harder for the average buyer to get a fair deal on a new car by charging king-size prices for low-value items.

At the end of your lease, you might decide you want to buy your car and keep it. There may be many reasons for you to do this. For example

You're shopping for a used car when you think you've hit pay dirt. It's a '95 import with low miles. It drives great, and the price is right. When you question the owner about the car's history, he says he bought it from a used car lot only two years ago.

It began so innocently. And with such good intentions. Who could have predicted that something as simple as a lease buyout would lead me into a sea of red tape that would nearly drive me nuts?

Wouldn't it be great if buying a car online was as easy as ordering a book or downloading a movie? Though we're still a number of years away from that, online car shopping has become more streamlined, practical and user-friendly than most people realize. If you try it, it will save you time, money and frustration.

Let's say you are looking to buy a house. You find one in a neighborhood you like, and you know how much the seller is offering to sell it for — its "listing price."

You're buying a car that has a great reputation for reliability — and it even comes with a strong warranty to offset the cost of unexpected repairs. But just before you sign the contract, the dealer offers you a "prepaid maintenance plan." The way it's pitched, it sounds tempting. But is it a smart use of your money? Or is it another profit center for the dealer?