Hi all,
Long time lurker but first post here.
Long story short, I’m leasing a Subaru Forester. It was a necessary thing at the time, it replaced my Subaru Outback which was around 8 years old with nearly 100k miles. There were a lot of things that needed to get done at once (Big timing belt service, brakes, tires) so I chose to trade in, get a check for the value of the Outback, and put down $0 towards my lease on the Forester.
My lease ends January of 2022, which is a little over 19 months away. I could trade-in the lease and take a financial hit if the numbers were close but don’t want to do so now that the pandemic has caused the used car market to fall out. Values went from around $23k on Carvana down to around $20k over the last month.
My commute is pretty simple, I drive through my town for about 2 miles, get on a 55 mph highway for about 4 miles, and then drive through about 4 miles of city traffic, and then about another mile of city at the end. It’s about 10 miles each way. I have 1 or 2 alternate routes if the traffic is bad that is all highway, but ends up being closer to 20 miles each way. They’re also toll highways and I’m kind of cheap in that regard I guess, but $3 each way every day does add up.
In the summer I will do 3 or 4 trips Per week to work from shore areas (we relocate to be with family in the summer once the kids are out of school) ... these commutes are all highway and about 60 miles each way. No avoiding the tolls this way!
My work is in the planning stages for chargers. We don’t have them yet. I’m involved with the plans and I am trying to get them to put in 6-20 or 14-30 outlets rather than a ChargePoint. Out lot is private and not accessible to the public so we can’t be a destination partner for Tesla. I also need to figure out a way to Bill users as the employer will not provide free electricity.
Anyway I mention the above because that would be enough to help me not have to charge when I’m at the shore doing the 120 mile trip in the summer and not have to rely on Supercharging and not have to plug in at those shore houses. I’d also likely use regular household charging at home since I drive less than 30 miles a day including the 20 for work.
I’m comparing the Outback Limited XT or Touring XT specifically to the Model Y. I drove a Model 3 before the world shut down and I enjoyed it, but as a dad that is involved with my two kids’ sports (they’re both under 10) I have to have the cargo capacity to hold soccer and baseball gear.
I also foresee this becoming the family Trip car unless we can’t fit everything, or do a long vacation, which we would use my wife’s Honda Pilot.
Ideally the Model Y would eventually take the place of the Pilot and the Mrs. could get a smaller car in the future when we are comfortable with the Y. I am expecting to have to pursue the roof rack solution for that, which is fine for the couple times a year I’d need it. I could also consider the trailer hitch for bike rack purposes as well.
Anyway at quick glance it looks like the sticker plus State tax ends up pushing the Outback Touring XT up near $43-44k. In NJ we have a new benefit this year with up to $5000 off an EV depending on range, so the $53000 sticker with destination on the Model Y would become $48000. There’s also no state tax on an EV sale here.
It looks like with gas being around $2.50 per gallon I would save around $1000 per year with the Y after electricity costs are factored in. I pay $0.17 per kWh including supply and delivery, and we don’t have time of use. I also factored an 80% charging efficiency rating with 120V compared to 90% with 240V.
I am considering 240 V, but this requires major electrical panel upgrades as it is maxed and has been combined and tandem’ed already. I know of the federal rebate related to EVSE charging stuff, but it’s unlikely I would do this by year end when it expires. Perhaps it will get extended again, and then I will pursue a 14-30 or 14-50 solution (maybe even the HWC)...
I’ve read a few posts here comparing Eyesight from Subaru and AP. I don’t like the slowing down for lights and stop signs and don’t like the phantom braking thing. I have no interest in FSD as I enjoy driving, but I will admit I do use adaptive cruise in traffic to help take stress out of rush hour commutes. To that, my Subaru has performed excellent.
My pet peeve about the Subaru system is that I have lane keep and not lane centering. This means I ping pong off the boundary of the lane rather than actively stay centered. The 2020 Subaru now have Lane Centering. Also, the car is very cautious to accelerate when the traffic ahead turns off into a parking lot, like a hard 90 degree right turn. It’s not as natural as me where I project them to be moved and modify my speed as such. This results in horn honks behind me and people cutting in from the middle lane ahead of me.
I’m just hoping to buy a car that I can trust will make it at least 10 years but depreciation isn’t important as this next purchase will likely be driven until the wheels drop off.
My biggest concerns are the range in summer with those commutes. I live in NJ and we get snowy winters, so I believe i would be best suited for the AWD LR that is out currently.
I would consider a SR AWD if such a thing was released as long as I had that work charging solution in place.
Things like the new Mini electric are interesting but the short 120ish mile range cross it off the list. Which is a shame, because I could buy that for around $16k after federal and state rebates.
I’d need to time this right if I wasn’t trading in to Tesla, as I’d just have to hold the lease until it ended and turn it back in at a loss of $360 per month if I was early. Subaru is already sending me advertisements to get into the new Outback with no lease end penalty.
Things I am going to miss on the Y are potentially the heated steering wheel and auto dimming side mirrors. I’m sure I will get used to no CarPlay as I drive more and more. I am concerned about no spare tire in the event of a failure, and I might have to get a Modern Spare kit.
Things that concern me about long term ownership of the Subaru is the direct injection engine which seems like all brands have carbon buildup over time and the transmission is a CVT which is hard and expensive to repair when things start to fail.
I’ve already checked PlugShare and ABRP and I have lots of Supercharger options near me and off the highways. Everything seems doable.
what are your thoughts?
Long time lurker but first post here.
Long story short, I’m leasing a Subaru Forester. It was a necessary thing at the time, it replaced my Subaru Outback which was around 8 years old with nearly 100k miles. There were a lot of things that needed to get done at once (Big timing belt service, brakes, tires) so I chose to trade in, get a check for the value of the Outback, and put down $0 towards my lease on the Forester.
My lease ends January of 2022, which is a little over 19 months away. I could trade-in the lease and take a financial hit if the numbers were close but don’t want to do so now that the pandemic has caused the used car market to fall out. Values went from around $23k on Carvana down to around $20k over the last month.
My commute is pretty simple, I drive through my town for about 2 miles, get on a 55 mph highway for about 4 miles, and then drive through about 4 miles of city traffic, and then about another mile of city at the end. It’s about 10 miles each way. I have 1 or 2 alternate routes if the traffic is bad that is all highway, but ends up being closer to 20 miles each way. They’re also toll highways and I’m kind of cheap in that regard I guess, but $3 each way every day does add up.
In the summer I will do 3 or 4 trips Per week to work from shore areas (we relocate to be with family in the summer once the kids are out of school) ... these commutes are all highway and about 60 miles each way. No avoiding the tolls this way!
My work is in the planning stages for chargers. We don’t have them yet. I’m involved with the plans and I am trying to get them to put in 6-20 or 14-30 outlets rather than a ChargePoint. Out lot is private and not accessible to the public so we can’t be a destination partner for Tesla. I also need to figure out a way to Bill users as the employer will not provide free electricity.
Anyway I mention the above because that would be enough to help me not have to charge when I’m at the shore doing the 120 mile trip in the summer and not have to rely on Supercharging and not have to plug in at those shore houses. I’d also likely use regular household charging at home since I drive less than 30 miles a day including the 20 for work.
I’m comparing the Outback Limited XT or Touring XT specifically to the Model Y. I drove a Model 3 before the world shut down and I enjoyed it, but as a dad that is involved with my two kids’ sports (they’re both under 10) I have to have the cargo capacity to hold soccer and baseball gear.
I also foresee this becoming the family Trip car unless we can’t fit everything, or do a long vacation, which we would use my wife’s Honda Pilot.
Ideally the Model Y would eventually take the place of the Pilot and the Mrs. could get a smaller car in the future when we are comfortable with the Y. I am expecting to have to pursue the roof rack solution for that, which is fine for the couple times a year I’d need it. I could also consider the trailer hitch for bike rack purposes as well.
Anyway at quick glance it looks like the sticker plus State tax ends up pushing the Outback Touring XT up near $43-44k. In NJ we have a new benefit this year with up to $5000 off an EV depending on range, so the $53000 sticker with destination on the Model Y would become $48000. There’s also no state tax on an EV sale here.
It looks like with gas being around $2.50 per gallon I would save around $1000 per year with the Y after electricity costs are factored in. I pay $0.17 per kWh including supply and delivery, and we don’t have time of use. I also factored an 80% charging efficiency rating with 120V compared to 90% with 240V.
I am considering 240 V, but this requires major electrical panel upgrades as it is maxed and has been combined and tandem’ed already. I know of the federal rebate related to EVSE charging stuff, but it’s unlikely I would do this by year end when it expires. Perhaps it will get extended again, and then I will pursue a 14-30 or 14-50 solution (maybe even the HWC)...
I’ve read a few posts here comparing Eyesight from Subaru and AP. I don’t like the slowing down for lights and stop signs and don’t like the phantom braking thing. I have no interest in FSD as I enjoy driving, but I will admit I do use adaptive cruise in traffic to help take stress out of rush hour commutes. To that, my Subaru has performed excellent.
My pet peeve about the Subaru system is that I have lane keep and not lane centering. This means I ping pong off the boundary of the lane rather than actively stay centered. The 2020 Subaru now have Lane Centering. Also, the car is very cautious to accelerate when the traffic ahead turns off into a parking lot, like a hard 90 degree right turn. It’s not as natural as me where I project them to be moved and modify my speed as such. This results in horn honks behind me and people cutting in from the middle lane ahead of me.
I’m just hoping to buy a car that I can trust will make it at least 10 years but depreciation isn’t important as this next purchase will likely be driven until the wheels drop off.
My biggest concerns are the range in summer with those commutes. I live in NJ and we get snowy winters, so I believe i would be best suited for the AWD LR that is out currently.
I would consider a SR AWD if such a thing was released as long as I had that work charging solution in place.
Things like the new Mini electric are interesting but the short 120ish mile range cross it off the list. Which is a shame, because I could buy that for around $16k after federal and state rebates.
I’d need to time this right if I wasn’t trading in to Tesla, as I’d just have to hold the lease until it ended and turn it back in at a loss of $360 per month if I was early. Subaru is already sending me advertisements to get into the new Outback with no lease end penalty.
Things I am going to miss on the Y are potentially the heated steering wheel and auto dimming side mirrors. I’m sure I will get used to no CarPlay as I drive more and more. I am concerned about no spare tire in the event of a failure, and I might have to get a Modern Spare kit.
Things that concern me about long term ownership of the Subaru is the direct injection engine which seems like all brands have carbon buildup over time and the transmission is a CVT which is hard and expensive to repair when things start to fail.
I’ve already checked PlugShare and ABRP and I have lots of Supercharger options near me and off the highways. Everything seems doable.
what are your thoughts?