What is everyone thoughts on Leasing a Leaf for 3 years
- Thread starter jopeters
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Ready2plugin
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jopeters said:
I've had my car for exactly 7 months, and I would be bumming to think about handing my car back in only 29 more and starting over.....glad I bought.
hodad66
Well-known member
I will be leasing and the 39 month is the best rate. I simply
couldn't afford the payments otherwise.
couldn't afford the payments otherwise.
Nekota
Well-known member
I have been waiting for 30 years for an electric car I could own so leasing is not for me. I plan to keep this vehicle for a long, long time - like the one horse shay.
planet4ever
Well-known member
I expect that EVs will have made giant strides in the next three years. That might (or might not) depress the resale value of a LEAF purchased now. Because I leased I can wait three years to see what happens to technology and price, and not risk being penalized if I want to jump to something different. Of course I am paying an "insurance" premium for avoiding that risk.
Ray
Ray
Well, if I like the Leaf and it works out I will buy the car at the end of the lease. I have never leased. I just couldn't afford to buy and the risk of the new technology. I hope to see charging stations going up around the US in the next 3 years. As long as electricity prices stay low and I don't see gas prices being low....this will be a good thing for our country.
evnow
Well-known member
Checkout the Buying/Leading sub-forum. There are long threads with a lot of pros/cons.
TomT
Well-known member
I leased for 48 months and feel it is the only way to go, what with all the uncertainties and the rapidly evolving technology. I got the 15K a year option and an excellent deal from Fontana ($303 a month). The lease covers GAP insurance but not vehicle insurance itself.
jopeters said:
smkettner
Well-known member
With all the uncertainties of leasing.... I went with a purchase as always.
Seems far more threads on making the lease come out right vs nice clean easy purchase.
Only reason to lease that I see is if you pay little to no federal income tax.
Seems far more threads on making the lease come out right vs nice clean easy purchase.
Only reason to lease that I see is if you pay little to no federal income tax.
LEAFfan
Well-known member
smkettner said:
There are many reasons for leasing besides not being able to get the $7500 fed tax credit by buying. You can always buy it or return it after three years or however long your lease is. As great and amazing as the LEAF is, we have no idea what the EV market will be like in three years or so. I also LOVE the lower payments. I have a 36mos./15K miles under $400/mo. including taxes.
I am semi retired and already have two cars. A 2006 Prius, and a 2001 NSX-T Supercharged. So for me to buy another car was a push. It was not necessary. I was also concerned about the Federal Rebate. Back when I purchased the Prius I was not able to take advantage of the entire Federal rebate. So going into this purchase/lease decision I was concerned. When I found that Nissan would credit me the entire Federal Rebate without my having to do anything I thought this is great. In addition my concern was the technological changes underfoot. Way back when we first purchased the Prius, I knew then that battery technology was the problem. There was little money in going into hybrids for the existing manufacturers. This was one of Toyota's biggest concerns. Now of course years later things are changing and they are changing rapidly. As a Chemist I understand that some of the limitations. However as they say necessity is the mother of invention. I expect that we will see significant changes in the next two to three years, especially if electric vehicles and infrastructure take off. So I paid a premium of about $3500 over purchasing but feel it is worth it for me at this time. If Nissan is smart they will start talking about offering upgrades to existing owners (specifically the 6.6 kwh charger) as I see that as a game changer.
tidalsearch
Member
LEAFfan said:
How much did you have to put down at signing?
evnow
Well-known member
I'm almost ready for a new car ;-)Ready2plugin said:
Unfortunately have to wait another 28 months - for i3 or Infinity EV to come out :lol:
As other mention with this new technology 3 years may be a giant leap and then you can hand the leaf back or sell it outright. your guaranteed the 7500.00 rebate no forms no guess work. lower payment means money in your pocket for what you need now. for me the cost was only $1500.00 difference from buying it out right so that a small price over 3 years for some security of its resale is worth this.. if it goes down more than the 55% they guess I make money. if it better then I will keep the car and sell it out right or trad. WIn/Win. The interest rate is 4.8 while not great , still not bad. and that covers 15,000miles/yr more than most leases . I put down like 4000.00, payments run $290/mnth, 36month plan that covers TTL and first month lease. the lease is fixed from Nissan and not bad over all. the car is an unknown so why take a big risk with Nissan I am hopeful that I will keep the car for more like 5-7 years and hand it down to kids . Right now I am saving over 300.00 month in gas or more. so I look at it as a free car for 36 months. either way if you can handle the range limits its a great little car for running around town in.
Desertstraw
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I have used the same reasoning. The Blink man told me that Nissan is working on better replacement batteries but BYD already has them and apparently is going to start selling its e6 (yes we heard it before but I believe).planet4ever said:
evnow
Well-known member
BYD's LiFePO batteries are less energy dense than Nissan's. Next gen Nissan's NMC batteries will be 75 to 100% higher in energy density.Desertstraw said:
My guess is when Infinity EV comes out in 2013/14, it will have the next gen battery. The leaked detailes from the Infi EV focus group is that they are targeting 130 miles of range @ $47K.
TRONZ
Well-known member
We leased and still plan to buy-out the car in the end (if no major battery issues). With two kids growing fast, we need to start collecting "hand me down" cars. I was a little surprised to see a brand new black LEAF parked in the student lot at the local High School. Then we thought how much sense it makes for a young person... and their parents.
GaslessInSeattle
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Ask me in 2013 when we see if we can sell before the 3 year leases run out and "upgrade" without taking much of a bath. We love the current Leaf but that's not to say that if some cool new features come out that we won't step up. We bought, no regrets, particularly every time we put a little scratch or nick in the paint or rims... you can get screwed on a lease for that. In a few more months we'll be getting our rebate, kind of a forced savings account.
there are some unusual aspects to Leasing a Leaf over a usual Leaf, which have been talked about numerously. Good rates, instant rebate, potential for faster than usual depreciation curve do to advances in technology, to name a few, certainly makes it more of a toss up. If I had to lease, it doesn't seem like you are getting as hosed as usual.
there are some unusual aspects to Leasing a Leaf over a usual Leaf, which have been talked about numerously. Good rates, instant rebate, potential for faster than usual depreciation curve do to advances in technology, to name a few, certainly makes it more of a toss up. If I had to lease, it doesn't seem like you are getting as hosed as usual.
redLEAF
Well-known member
jopeters said:
Could not tell from your profile where you're from but one last thing (sorry, perhaps beating a dead horse but could be costly if ignored) -- does your state offer additional incentives? if so, is it available for leased EV's? Here in IL it is NOT and an extra $3,750 (it's up to $4,000; 10% of MSRP) from the IL EPA is hard to pass up so I'm buying versus leasing. The IL incentive is also in the form of a check rebate, not tax incentive (arrives within 90 days) so it's money back in the bank --
dgpcolorado
Well-known member
This is similar to Colorado: with leased cars the tax credit is based on the capitalized cost and can be reduced by half or more. Since the credit may be in the $4000-$6000 range (it's complicated) that difference is significant. Makes the cost of leasing potentially quite a lot higher than buying.redLEAF said:
Nevertheless, I have no idea what the resale value of a LEAF will be when the hordes of leased cars are dumped on the market and new EVs with better range and features are available. If it is too low I will just keep the car and not upgrade. Here, there just isn't a "right" answer. Better to just wait a few years and see how things shake out...
