2018 Leaf buy or lease

[ayekay]

I leased the past 2 times.. but am thinking about buying the 2018 model.. how would you make this decision ?

thanks in advance

[LeftieBiker]

Unless you live in a Cold climate and have range needs well below 100 miles, I would definitely lease if I were you. I'm not you, but I did just lease a 2018 SL.

[DaveinOlyWA]

Lease. Your financial hit is minimal and if you are an active investor, could by negligible. Your lease will then be essentially a 3 year test drive to determine whether the car works for you. Get LEAF Spy and track battery stats from DAY ONE

Doing it after you detect problems is kinda sorta like remembering to lock the barn door as you go running after your horse. The math on the TCO of lease verses buy is straightforward enough and you will find the difference to be very insignificant when compared to the possibility of buying a car that might fall short of what you want it to do.

[OrientExpress]

I do not recommend buying an BEV at this point in time. I do expect by 2020-2025, the market will have matured enough to consider purchase.

[WetEV]

I leased the past 2 times.. but am thinking about buying the 2018 model.. how would you make this decision ?

thanks in advance

Depends on lots of factors.

Technology is changing rapidly. Do you want to keep up, or are you OK with the current level for a while? I bought a cutting edge cell phone and owned it for more than a decade. This was an amusing experience, as the phone gradually went from "Wow, that's cool" to "Wow, that still works?", with a long period of "boring phone" in the middle.

Price including tax rebates. I've seen some crazy cheap leases in the past, one in 2015 that was the cheapest I've ever seen a Leaf, but the leases I've seen for the 2018 are much more expensive. However, the lease still might be better if you don't have enough owed in taxes to take advantage of the Federal non-refundable credit. Don't forget the impact of sales taxes. Businesses have tax reasons to lease.

Where you live and how much you drive in a year. Cooler climates are better than hot climates for battery life, salt on roads rusts out any car, leases have mileage limits.

And more.

Look at the extra cost to lease, and ask if it is worth it. If the extra cost is zero or even negative, then there is little reason not to lease. If the extra cost is a large enough fraction of the car's price, then there is little reason not to buy. Between? Harder to say, of course.

[ayekay]

thanks everyone for the info. I've leased a leaf for a few years now. I live in Seattle and a range of 100 is sufficient for my needs.

Based on the current lease numbers for a 2018 SV, I see that what I'll pay for leasing for 6 years is the same as the purchase price - fed rebate and sales tax exemption.

this is what made me think about buying Vs leasing.

[LeftieBiker]

Based on the current lease numbers for a 2018 SV, I see that what I'll pay for leasing for 6 years is the same as the purchase price - fed rebate and sales tax exemption.

No offense, but that is exactly why you should lease, not buy. You will have a low risk 3 year test drive before you have to decide about buying.

[DaveinOlyWA]

Based on the current lease numbers for a 2018 SV, I see that what I'll pay for leasing for 6 years is the same as the purchase price - fed rebate and sales tax exemption.

No offense, but that is exactly why you should lease, not buy. You will have a low risk 3 year test drive before you have to decide about buying.

WA is a bit more complicated. By buying now, He saves at least $3,000 in sales tax. If he leases, he would save just over $1500 since only the transaction completed by May 31st is exempt. This of course includes the entire lease term but would not include the buyout if he went that route.

[ayekay]

thanks... yes the $3000 sales tax exemption which ends in May was a factor.. the other was that Nissan Leafs 3 years from now won't be eligible for the $7500 tax rebate as well.

[joeriv]

Check with your local electric company- there may be a $3,000 purchase incentive.