biggsy
Well-known member
neofightr said:First off let me say I did not lease but bought the 2014 model to be delivered later this week.
After scouring the ev forums I find it amusing that people are adamant about leasing this tech versus buying. Indeed even the dealerships are pushing this.
Here is some food for thought:
To lease or not to lease .....hmm
Neofightr,
You are buying and happy with that choice, but you have now spent nearly two pages defending/attempting to justify your decision.
We all agree the LEAF is a good EV, Telsa is great but out of the average buyers price range.
For some, YES, buying is the better choice. If 12-15K miles/yr is an issue then by all means purchase. From a pure math standpoint, leasing is costing me a total of 33.66 Rent, $595 Acquisition fee, and either $395 if I don't buy or $300 if I do buy. So at a maximum of $1024.66, I purchased an option to buy my LEAF for $12,522 in 3 years. If the car is worth more than $12,522, I can buy it at MY option, not the dealer's. If it is worth less than $12,522, I pay $395 and walk away.
If you are correct and replacement battery technology is in place I wasted $928.66 over 3 years, over buying last year. Could I have gotten a better deal by purchasing last year, maybe. I leased the S model, for 94% of MSRP ($31,305 MSRP vs $29,425 agreed price). If you got significantly under 94% of MSRP great, I don't think I could have beaten it by much. All of the other costs are the same whether it is a purchase or lease, at least in my state.
I am basically opposed to leases for most of the reasons you state. However, $1024 to hedge my bet on a $30,000 car is worth it to me, interest on a car loan would cost more. If you have the money to pay cash that is another reason to purchase as opposed to lease. Whether the dealer makes money or not, I don't care, he watches out for his interest and I watch out for my interest.
Also, based on your statements, you are buying a new car about every 5 years anyway so why are you now looking long term instead of your normal 5 years, what makes the LEAF different?