Buying vs Leasing

[sideoutjj]

I know that this is my first post but I have spent a lot of time on here reading a TON of information.

I know that there is a lot of information on buying vs leasing, but here is my particular situation,

Looking at a 2013 Leaf SL for 26K (Yes, I verified it is the Sl and the price is 26K). I asked the dealer and he stated that the Tax Incentive had not been used and I was still eligible for it. I am looking at trading in my truck for it and the KBB trade in is right at 21K. So here is my math.

26,000 for the Leaf
19,000 trade in (using that number since I know the dealer will never give you the KBB trade in)
(added bonus is that my truck is paid off)
7,000 for the leaf to finance.

When I file my taxes next year I "should" get the 7500 credit basically making the car cost me the total amount of interest I pay from now till I get the 7500 back.

Does my math sound right?

 

[garymelora]

The math looks OK, but I suggest that you have your employer stop withholding the tax money now so you can pay off the loan sooner with less interest.

 

[johnqh]

When it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Just ask yourself. Why would they sell it for 26K when they can easily sell for 32K?

I will bet you cannot get the 7500 tax credit.

 

[philipscoggins]

The $7500 tax credit is not a refundable credit, it only reduces your tax liability. (Wish I'd had that explained to me when I decided to buy instead of lease)

One "trick" to getting the $7500 off the price of the car is to lease it and then turn around and buy the car. Several people have done this on mnl.

Philip

 

[apvbguy]

I know that this is my first post but I have spent a lot of time on here reading a TON of information.

I know that there is a lot of information on buying vs leasing, but here is my particular situation,

Looking at a 2013 Leaf SL for 26K (Yes, I verified it is the Sl and the price is 26K). I asked the dealer and he stated that the Tax Incentive had not been used and I was still eligible for it. I am looking at trading in my truck for it and the KBB trade in is right at 21K. So here is my math.

26,000 for the Leaf
19,000 trade in (using that number since I know the dealer will never give you the KBB trade in)
(added bonus is that my truck is paid off)
7,000 for the leaf to finance.

When I file my taxes next year I "should" get the 7500 credit basically making the car cost me the total amount of interest I pay from now till I get the 7500 back.

Does my math sound right?

it all depends on if you income is high enough to allow you to claim the full 7.5k of tax credits. one reason that many lease is the the full 7.5k is accounted for in the basis price of the lease

 

[sideoutjj]

Thanks all for the replies. I know that it almost takes a CPA to figure out the tax credit so I am trying to figure it out. The first question I asked when the price dropped to 26K was why.

I asked: What initially made me wonder is why this car was 10K less than the other one you have on the lot….as it appears this one suddenly got a discount.

The dealers reply: That is a management discount here at XX dealer

Then I asked: Does this one still qualify for the 7500 discount?

Dealer Reply: Jim, Yes, the purchase of the Leaf does qualify!

I know that there is a TON of information out there regarding the Leaf and the Volt. I am leaning towards the leaf simply because my daily commute is right at 10 miles...so I can go several days without having to charge.

 

[evnow]

What state are you in ?

There is very little reason why a 2013 SL would be discounted that heavily. So, they are definitely doing something wrong.

 

[sideoutjj]

Evnow...I am in Ohio (sadly...lol)

 

[johnqh]

Thanks all for the replies. I know that it almost takes a CPA to figure out the tax credit so I am trying to figure it out. The first question I asked when the price dropped to 26K was why.

I asked: What initially made me wonder is why this car was 10K less than the other one you have on the lot….as it appears this one suddenly got a discount.

The dealers reply: That is a management discount here at XX dealer

Then I asked: Does this one still qualify for the 7500 discount?

Dealer Reply: Jim, Yes, the purchase of the Leaf does qualify!

I know that there is a TON of information out there regarding the Leaf and the Volt. I am leaning towards the leaf simply because my daily commute is right at 10 miles...so I can go several days without having to charge.

Simple. Ask to lease it. If it qualifies for the 7500 tax credit, then they (actually NMAC) will have no problem to give you a lease based on 18500 pricing. If they refuse to lease, then you know they were lying through their teeth.

 

[evnow]

Evnow...I am in Ohio (sadly...lol)

Before you buy, ask them to give a signed letter stating they have not taken the 7.5k tax credit on the car.

 

[LEAFer]

Simple. Ask to lease it. If it qualifies for the 7500 tax credit, then they (actually NMAC) will have no problem to give you a lease based on 18500 pricing. If they refuse to lease, then you know they were lying through their teeth.

FANTASTIC IDEA Then buy it out in a month or two ... or at the end of the lease ... (you might change your mind as competition increases and other EVs become available).

(BTW: if it's a 3 year lease with 45% residual ... ($36k x 0.45 = $16,200) ... that's a heck of a deal ! About $2000 spread over 3 years ?!?)

 

[johnqh]

Often, the sales person has NO clue about EV and the tax incentives.

I have the feeling that the 26K is the pricing AFTER fed and state incentives (looks about right) or the pricing for leasing.

You see that all the time. Dealers post ads on craigslist with after incentive pricing, or even on their website.

 

[MrIanB]

I know that this is my first post but I have spent a lot of time on here reading a TON of information.

I know that there is a lot of information on buying vs leasing, but here is my particular situation,

Looking at a 2013 Leaf SL for 26K (Yes, I verified it is the Sl and the price is 26K). I asked the dealer and he stated that the Tax Incentive had not been used and I was still eligible for it. I am looking at trading in my truck for it and the KBB trade in is right at 21K. So here is my math.

26,000 for the Leaf
19,000 trade in (using that number since I know the dealer will never give you the KBB trade in)
(added bonus is that my truck is paid off)
7,000 for the leaf to finance.

When I file my taxes next year I "should" get the 7500 credit basically making the car cost me the total amount of interest I pay from now till I get the 7500 back.

Does my math sound right?

What's the mileage on this Leaf?

Ian B

 

[sideoutjj]

This place is like most forums...always awesome people on here willing to help.

I just asked him the mileage and lease question.

It has 7 miles on it and it is eligible for a lease.

 

[johnqh]

This place is like most forums...always awesome people on here willing to help.

I just asked him the mileage and lease question.

It has 7 miles on it and it is eligible for a lease.

So they will take 7500 off the price for the lease?

Take it!

 

[sideoutjj]

I am going to ask him that tomorrow regarding taking the 7500 off. Will see what they say....it should be interesting....lol

The main issue I have is my truck....if I try to trade it in, I know I will get nothing for it on the lease, and maybe a little more for buying it....

 

[cgaydos]

$26k, new 2013 SL, 7 miles, Ohio. This is an incredible deal. I can think of two possibilities: first, the dealer really really needs to move some LEAFs for a Nissan quota and second, the sales guy has the numbers wrong and this is the price of a lease, which of course is after the 7500 federal credit is applied.

I'd ask them to print out the sales contract ... that will show the real price after any "extras". When I bought my 2011 remotely I did that to be sure the numbers quoted over email were real.

Regarding the 7500 credit - as you will find out elsewhere on this forum there are two potential gotchas. First, you have to actually owe that much in federal tax in the year you bought the car to get all of it back. There are some tricks you can used to temporarily boost your official tax liability to reach that amount, usually involving IRAs, documented in other threads. Second, if you buy a home EVSE aka "charging station" you probably will not be able to claim the 30% credit for the EVSE in the same year as the 7500 due to arcane AMT rules.

 

[cgaydos]

Often, the sales person has NO clue about EV and the tax incentives.

I have the feeling that the 26K is the pricing AFTER fed and state incentives (looks about right) or the pricing for leasing.

You see that all the time. Dealers post ads on craigslist with after incentive pricing, or even on their website.

Agree. When I was looking for a second LEAF there were literally no new ones available in Colorado so I began looking for older "new" LEAFs from other states. I found many on autotrader.com and cars.com that had incredible advertised prices but usually when I called I found that their price was AFTER the federal tax credit, any state-and-local credits, the Nissan loyalty credit, the recent college grad credit, and the born-on-February-29 credit (ok, I made that last one up). But a couple were advertising the real sales price which, for whatever reason, was heavily discounted. If you can get one of those, take it.

 

[johnqh]

Op, any update?

 

[blueblob06]

Thanks all for the replies. I know that it almost takes a CPA to figure out the tax credit so I am trying to figure it out. The first question I asked when the price dropped to 26K was why.

I asked: What initially made me wonder is why this car was 10K less than the other one you have on the lot….as it appears this one suddenly got a discount.

The dealers reply: That is a management discount here at XX dealer

Then I asked: Does this one still qualify for the 7500 discount?

Dealer Reply: Jim, Yes, the purchase of the Leaf does qualify!

I know that there is a TON of information out there regarding the Leaf and the Volt. I am leaning towards the leaf simply because my daily commute is right at 10 miles...so I can go several days without having to charge.

What ended up happening? I'm in Ohio (Cincinnati) and have not seen anything here near 26K before the 7.5K credit for a 2013.