2 year lease

[Horwie]

Hey All,

Proudly this is my first post here. I just custom ordered my model S a couple of weeks ago and I am scheduled for a mid-December delivery. I love everything Tesla represents, and haven’t been this excited to get a car since I was a kid!
Here’s my question - I have until December to decide if I want to lease or buy, but I need some advice:
1. I’m doing about 12,000 miles a year and I would much prefer to have the car for 2 years instead of 3. Problem is that puts the lease premiums sky high. If I instead finance, what is the chance that with a $7500 tax credit and $4,000 down on a $90,000 sticker that I’ll be able to sell the car without any significant negative equity in 2 years? I’m thinking I’ll probably be significantly upside down but hoping by some miracle there might some kind of workaround here?
2. If two years is not feasible, I’ll be looking at a 3 year lease verse finance (see pic), which brings me to my next question - the cost of leasing vs financing (72 mo) is slightly higher for the lease over the course of 3 years when you factor in the $7500 tax credit. At 12,000 miles a year how should I expect my s to retain its value after 3 years? Basically, in terms of overall cost, am I better off buying or leasing if I know I’ll return it after 3 years? All being equal I prefer to lease as I know it’s hassle free, but I’ll lean towards whatever will cost me the least amount of money over the next 3 years all in...

Thanks for any help and I’m thrilled to now be part of this community!

 

[ReturnZero]

I'm inclined to say if you know you're going to sell the car after 3 years, it's cheaper to lease. I think you'll likely have negative equity on a loan until at least around 4-5 years.

There are quite a few people here smarter than I am that can probably bring actual numbers to the table that will show at what point the equity will flip or become even.

 

[ReturnZero]

By the way love the white/black design, you're going to love the car no matter how you purchase it.

 

[patrick40363]

View attachment 252764 View attachment 252762 Hey All,

Proudly this is my first post here. I just custom ordered my model S a couple of weeks ago and I am scheduled for a mid-December delivery. I love everything Tesla represents, and haven’t been this excited to get a car since I was a kid!
Here’s my question - I have until December to decide if I want to lease or buy, but I need some advice:
1. I’m doing about 12,000 miles a year and I would much prefer to have the car for 2 years instead of 3. Problem is that puts the lease premiums sky high. If I instead finance, what is the chance that with a $7500 tax credit and $4,000 down on a $90,000 sticker that I’ll be able to sell the car without any significant negative equity in 2 years? I’m thinking I’ll probably be significantly upside down but hoping by some miracle there might some kind of workaround here?
2. If two years is not feasible, I’ll be looking at a 3 year lease verse finance (see pic), which brings me to my next question - the cost of leasing vs financing (72 mo) is slightly higher for the lease over the course of 3 years when you factor in the $7500 tax credit. At 12,000 miles a year how should I expect my s to retain its value after 3 years? Basically, in terms of overall cost, am I better off buying or leasing if I know I’ll return it after 3 years? All being equal I prefer to lease as I know it’s hassle free, but I’ll lean towards whatever will cost me the least amount of money over the next 3 years all in...

Thanks for any help and I’m thrilled to now be part of this community!

Your downpayment for the lease seems to be very low.

 

[cwerdna]

Your downpayment for the lease seems to be very low.

Making it above $0 puts that money at risk in the case the car is totaled.

In virtually all car leases I'm aware of, if it's totaled, you're getting none of your payments back (down payment, monthly payment, etc.)

Irrespective of what the OP wants here, to put less $ at risk, make the down payment $0. (Yes, I'm aware the total cost of lease will be higher since one will be paying more in interest.)

I'm not sure why only 2 or 3 years or what you plan to get next and if for sure you're getting rid of the car at the 2 or 3 year mark. If you only plan to keep that long anyway, if you can cancel, perhaps look into a used S instead? Used Inventory | Tesla At some of these prices, you'll at least have a car at the end of 2 or 3 years you can sell, vs. paying $ into a lease and having nothing afterwards w/o paying more.

In my book, dropping $51K to rent a car for 3 years is a bit nutty. I'd probably rather spend that $ to buy one of the above used ones and sell at the end of 3 years. It shouldn't be worth $0 that at point.