Question: A contractor is considering whether to buy or lease a new machine for her layout site work. Buying a new machine will cost $12,000 with a salvage value of $1200 after the machine's useful life of 8 years. On the other hand, leasing requires an annual lease payment of $3000. Assuming that the MARR is 15% and on the basis of an internal rate of return analysis, which alternative should the contractor be advised to accept? The cash flows are as follows:
