Are you going to purchase/finance or lease the Model 3?

[Infoe]

Straw Poll

 

[astrorob]

i am a bit conflicted - i feel that my decision not to lease the 2011 leaf was a serious mistake given the battery degradation/current resale value and that i'd have to drive the car for ~4 more years to get the cost of ownership (on a monthly basis) down to where a lease would have gotten me. so off the cuff i'd think it's a good idea to lease any new EV just so the battery does not become my problem. what do you guys think?

 

[CyberKnife]

Probably finance it if interest payment isn't too much, if it adds up to like one or two upgrades I will eat Ramen and cash it!

Leasing is tempting but will see what are the deals by then, if it works out same as financing options I may lease. I like the advantages of new year with years of new futures. If it is like the leaf lease I didn't pay a dime on servicing and never washed the car and drive it like a rental.

 

[JayM]

Likely start with a lease due to car allowance and ability to get mostly all of the payment covered. Also give some flexibility in case something else/new comes out during that time if not then I would buy it out after lease is over.

 

[Brad_SC]

I prefer to own "my things." I'll purchase for sure. I understand the difference, and I can see the benefits of leasing... but similarly, I "bought" my house (yea, it's financed). I like knowing that I can do pretty much anything I want to the things that I call mine.

 

[astrorob]

I prefer to own "my things." I'll purchase for sure. I understand the difference, and I can see the benefits of leasing... but similarly, I "bought" my house (yea, it's financed). I like knowing that I can do pretty much anything I want to the things that I call mine.

agreed, i feel the same way and hence why i bought the leaf. but in retrospect the lease probably made the most sense financially; maybe lease deals on teslas won't favor the customer as much... i think back when the leaf was new even nissan had no idea what the residual value should be and so they were set quite high vs. reality.

 

[http]

I prefer to own "my things." I'll purchase for sure. I understand the difference, and I can see the benefits of leasing... but similarly, I "bought" my house (yea, it's financed). I like knowing that I can do pretty much anything I want to the things that I call mine.

+ you get equity

 

[Christopher Chan]

Equity only make sense with appreciating assets (like a house). Not a depreciating asset like a car.

 

[Brad_SC]

See, if I lease and want to buy new wheels and get a custom paint job (not that I'd ever do either, but just as an example)... I'd have to keep the old wheels stored for the time when I have to return the car, as for the custom paint job, yea, forget about that on a leased car. Think about other things that you cannot do to the things that you do not own.

 

[shrspeedblade]

I will consult the bones!
The bones....tell.me.nothing.

 

[tga]

Just don't lease if you're planning to buy at the end - you'll overpay for the car by $7500, since the tax credit is added to the residual. See this thread:

Model 3 leasing

 

[http]

Equity only make sense with appreciating assets (like a house). Not a depreciating asset like a car.

I should've caveat-ed that, but yes, I was referring to his owning his home.

 

[Infoe]

I see on other places being mentioned that if you own a business its better to lease. How exactly does it benefit on the tax schedule can anyone shed light?

I will probably lease as I dont modify my vehicle and my last vehicle was an bmw 5 series purchased new that i loved for 4.5 years exactly and then sold it. I'm a car and phone guy and I like being in new in both often

 

[Lunarx]

Buy if full $7500 Tax Credit is still available.

Otherwise Lease, but only if the Lease Deal is good (high residual, low money factor & hopefully some cap reduction) to make up for lost Tax Credit.

 

[Lunarx]

Just don't lease if you're planning to buy at the end - you'll overpay for the car by $7500, since the tax credit is added to the residual. See this thread:

Model 3 leasing

Leasing is still a good play, with a high residual.
Just don't buy your own car out.
Its cheaper to:
Buy a used one, with less miles.
Or
Lease another new one.

 

[Ryan P]

i am a bit conflicted - i feel that my decision not to lease the 2011 leaf was a serious mistake given the battery degradation/current resale value and that i'd have to drive the car for ~4 more years to get the cost of ownership (on a monthly basis) down to where a lease would have gotten me. so off the cuff i'd think it's a good idea to lease any new EV just so the battery does not become my problem. what do you guys think?

I think leasing could be a good option, simply because a future version of M3 might be more equipt for level 4 autonomous driving, something that might not be available at the start.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Equity only make sense with appreciating assets (like a house). Not a depreciating asset like a car.

It depends on the lease/purchase costs/time you'll own the car. A purchase is worse than a lease when the amount you paid to purchase the car less the value is more than it would have been to lease the car. Back of the pad suggests that leasing an S70 for 8 years would run ~$90k+, while purchasing would be ~$83k, and while the purchased S would have depreciated a ton, it would still be worth something. In that case, buying is better. There may be situations, like a low mileage 2-year lease, where leasing is less expensive than buying because of the resale hit.

Also, house don't usually appreciate at anything more than the rate of inflation. If they do, that suggests some kind of market force (bubble, scarcity in certain regions, etc...) is driving the price increase.

 

[Snow Drift]

Lease.

1) Lower payments because the finance company gets the $7500 credit. I hope to not owe that much. Too many tax advantages available to reduce what I owe.

2) Tesla tech and features change all the time. I dont want to sell an old model.

 

[tinm]

Not sure if we'll finance or buy outright. My wife will probably wind up with the 3 to replace her aging car. I may have to trade in the S, which by the time the 3 is in the garage, will be going on 5 years old. I wonder if I'd even get 200 miles at 90% of battery by then...

 

[Az_Rael]

I will finance most likely. Right now I am driving 25-30k a year, so I would blow through any mileage restrictions on a lease.

I am going to do my best to save up enough cash between now and then to buy outright, but if the car I configure ends up in the high 50s (likely), I probably won't quite make that and will have to borrow some.


I am already making the assumption I won't get the tax credit and will base all options pricing decisions on that. That way if the credit (or partial credit) is still available when I take delivery, it'll be like getting a bonus discount!