Dealings with SmartLeasing?

[Kaboom214]

Hi All!
First post, but just wanted to ask this question on here and see what other people’s experience was like.

Has anyone had dealings leasing a Tesla through SmartLeasing?

Unfortunately they are the only company my employer has dealings with (Government Employee) so don’t have much of a choice in leasing company.

Any pain points I can look out for and mitigate if possible?

TIA

 

[Shieldsy85]

WA government employee here smartleasing

Ask for a normal quote as per on the website with all the junk stuff included and then ask for the finance rate. 10% finance rate or lower is a go ask for the rate.

Then dump the all the extras you don't need

Drop maintenance $0
Source own insurance it will be cheaper
Drop road side assistance Tesla has it anyway 80kms from home
Drop green fleet
Tyres $0 haven't been a set yet

Ask for the finance rate make sure it doesn't change then lock it in Eddy !

Another trick I do is do a 13 month lease or a 25 month lease that way you can claim the 2nd or 3rd year pre tax rego/insurance just before your lease ends. (If you plan to keep the car after)

The shorter the lease will generally save you a $700 to $1200 a year vs say a 4 or 5 year lease. If your cash flow supports it of course

I do 2 year plus 1 month lease as the paperwork is a bit of a pain getting it through HR government department. Also interest rates are high atm in 2 years time they should be a bit lower. (Novation lease finance is fixed for the whole term).

To claim power at home I submit a screenshot of the Tesla app kWh used and a copy of my power bill, you can't claim the installation of a wall charger tho tried that and was denied sadly.

Good luck

 

[cafz]

Allocating $0 for tyres and servicing doesn't actually save you anything. The money for that is an allocation, whatever you don't spend is returned to you (with tax taken out, of course).

You should definitely include an allocation for tyres, you'll need a set, around 2 grand, at about 40,000 - 50,000 km.

 

[B3AU]

WA government employee here smartleasing

Ask for a normal quote as per on the website with all the junk stuff included and then ask for the finance rate. 10% finance rate or lower is a go ask for the rate.

I wouldn't get too caught up too much on any 'interest rate' or 'finance rate' figures they give you - remember this is a lease not a loan (so technically there is no interest).

There's no set way to calculate an interest rate (because it is a lease not a loan) so you can't compare an 'interest rate' between a regular car loan, and a novated lease.

Or even a novated lease between different providers/lenders (because any interest rates can be 'calculated' differently just to get you to sign up - there are some people on 'high' quoted interest rates that have lower actual lease payments, than people on 'lower' quoted interest rates with higher lease payments.

You 'could' work backwards to work out an effective interest rate, but this rate may still be completely different the rate that was 'quoted' to you.

The shorter the lease will generally save you a $700 to $1200 a year vs say a 4 or 5 year lease. If your cash flow supports it of course

For an ECM ICE lease perhaps - I remember doing some figures for a friend - a 5 year lease on an EV worked out 'best', it was only $900 more over a 3 year lease for a total cost - and that total cost over 5 years was still less than buying the car outright with cash. Not to mention the lower impact on take home pay which can then be put into a mortgage offset or whatever...

Sure, you're paying more in lease repayments, but the tax benefits may outweigh this.
(of course the stage 3 tax cuts may cause an impact, plus you'd want to be certain you would still be in the job for 5 years)

Another trick I do is do a 13 month lease or a 25 month lease that way you can claim the 2nd or 3rd year pre tax rego/insurance just before your lease ends. (If you plan to keep the car after)

You can just increase the deductions and factor this in your budget, instead of renting a car for 13 months or 25 months instead of just 12 months / 24 years.

To claim power at home I submit a screenshot of the Tesla app kWh used and a copy of my power bill, you can't claim the installation of a wall charger tho tried that and was denied sadly.

Good luck

Probably because the financier has no interest ripping it out of your wall and taking it back at the end of the lease ;-)

 

[cafz]

Probably because the financier has no interest ripping it out of your wall and taking it back at the end of the lease ;-)

It's because the ATO has ruled that charging equipment isn't part of a vehicle benefit so is not FBT-exempt.

 

[AUSEd]

To claim power at home I submit a screenshot of the Tesla app kWh used and a copy of my power bill, you can't claim the installation of a wall charger tho tried that and was denied sadly.

I too had to use Smart Leasing and just commenced.

How did you go claiming the electricity with the Telsa app and electricity bill?

I have an EVSE Premium Type 2 Granny charger at home.

I was going to provide this and a copy of the electricity bill.

BUT if your method works, I will abandon this way!

 

[Zap Brannigan]

Are you an APS or State Gov employee? I am APS (Services Aus) and smartleasing is the sole salary sacrifice supplier however you can bring your own leading/finance provider in. Smartleasing just handle the admin, basically setting up the deduction with payroll. For $1 a month (possibly per pay), same amount as if you were up use salary sacrifice for additional super for instance. I just finished up a lease with smartleasing and wouldn't go near them ever again. 5 years ago they were great, but really expensive. Now they are expensive and have terrible customer service, wait times for even small enquiries exceed a month. I just started a new lease with a third party provider with my Model Y.

 

[AUSEd]

Are you an APS or State Gov employee? I am APS (Services Aus) and smartleasing is the sole salary sacrifice supplier however you can bring your own leading/finance provider in. Smartleasing just handle the admin, basically setting up the deduction with payroll. For $1 a month (possibly per pay), same amount as if you were up use salary sacrifice for additional super for instance. I just finished up a lease with smartleasing and wouldn't go near them ever again. 5 years ago they were great, but really expensive. Now they are expensive and have terrible customer service, wait times for even small enquiries exceed a month. I just started a new lease with a third party provider with my Model Y.

My experience with Smart Leasing has been the opposite of yours. However, I did strip out a lot of their add-ons (Green vs Purple, horribly overpriced Vero insurance, deluxe packs). The price of my Telsa changed 3 times and the delay was just a few days. Hopefully this EV FBT exemption still rolls on and then I will get another one in 5 years time and at it's lease it, that's probably it for me and I will be retired .

 

[Shieldsy85]

I too had to use Smart Leasing and just commenced.

How did you go claiming the electricity with the Telsa app and electricity bill?

I have an EVSE Premium Type 2 Granny charger at home.

I was going to provide this and a copy of the electricity bill.

BUT if your method works, I will abandon this way!




View attachment 959583

I too had to use Smart Leasing and just commenced.

How did you go claiming the electricity with the Telsa app and electricity bill?

I have an EVSE Premium Type 2 Granny charger at home.

I was going to provide this and a copy of the electricity bill.

BUT if your method works, I will abandon this way!




View attachment 959583

I uploaded photo/screenshot of the Tesla app showing amount charged and a copy of the utility bill. Uploaded via the running costs under fuel.

So far paid out every time since Oct 2022 to now