Lease a S while m3 comes out?

[gunfus]

Browsing around yesterday for news on tesla I found the following: Now you can lease a Tesla Model S for less while waiting for your Model 3 | ExtremeTech

I love infer how much truth there is to this statement.

 

[gunfus]

"Love infer" = wonder how

 

[xav-]

It's like $22k over 2 years. Assuming no autopilot, cloth seats, body roof.. Nothing.. And only 10k miles a year.

 

[Garlan Garner]

It's like $22k over 2 years. Assuming no autopilot, cloth seats, body roof.. Nothing.. And only 10k miles a year.

Oh yeah...I forgot about the mileage limit on a lease. I would kill 10K in 8 months. My job is 49 miles away from my house.

 

[Twiglett]

I wouldn't lease anything while waiting for a Model ☰
Too many unknowns doing that

 

[gjunky]

By the time the Model 3 is available for you and actually in front of your house, you will have paid for it with the lease....

 

[WileyTheMan]

Yeah, in general leases aren't a sound financial decision. Too many variables that can rake your pocketbook over the coals, not to mention you might be stuck with cancellation penalties if the timing isn't quite right for when you get delivery for your Model 3.

As much as I'd love the idea of cruising an S until I get my 3, I'm just going to do my best to make my ICE limp along for another year or two.

 

[Justmurr]

yeah. cant justify leasing an S or X in the same way I can't justify buying one, meaning the 'cheaper' one...it's all still too rich for this reservation holder.
Lots of cool announcements and options and offers I still can't afford...ho hum...

Well...on a positive note I'd like to think that it's now "less than" two years away from having a model 3.

(My personal guess delivery date is late May, early June 2018, assuming absolutely zero delays occur which I know is...rather quite unlikely)

 

[NikeWings]

yeah. cant justify leasing an S or X in the same way I can't justify buying one, meaning the 'cheaper' one...it's all still too rich for this reservation holder.
Lots of cool announcements and options and offers I still can't afford...ho hum...

Well...on a positive note I'd like to think that it's now "less than" two years away from having a model 3.

(My personal guess delivery date is late May, early June 2018, assuming absolutely zero delays occur which I know is...rather quite unlikely)

Love your discipline........do not get caught up in a bad sitch you'll later regret.
You'll be well rewarded for the wait, and still able to fully enjoy your life until then.

 

[garsh]

If you want a taste of what it's like to drive an electric car before your Model 3 is available, then buy a used Nissan Leaf. They're really cheap. Sure, they're not Tesla-fast, but even the Leaf will beat many cars from a stop light up to about 35mph. You'll get a feel for what "instant torque" feels like. You don't have to wait for the transmission to downshift when you punch the accelarate - it just immediately begins to accelerate.

More importantly, if you buy a car (or keep your existing bought car) instead of leasing, it frees you up. You don't have to worry about putting too many miles on it. You don't have to worry about getting it fixed when somebody scrapes the fender in a parking lot. And you don't have to worry about having to turn it in when your Model 3 ends up coming later (or earlier) than expected - just keep it as long as you need to. And sell it whenever you want, and get some of your money back.

 

[JeffK]

If you want a taste of what it's like to drive an electric car before your Model 3 is available, then buy a used Nissan Leaf. They're really cheap.

Cheap is a relative term... asking someone to blow $8-10k while trying to save for a Tesla might be detrimental to the end goal.

 

[jonnyg]

Cheap is a relative term... asking someone to blow $8-10k while trying to save for a Tesla might be detrimental to the end goal.

Blow $8-10k? Sure it will depreciate some over a few years, but not a whole lot. It will still be a car with little required maintenance and a decent range for driving around town and short commutes. It's not going to be worthless in a few years.

 

[JeffK]

Blow $8-10k? Sure it will depreciate some over a few years, but not a whole lot. It will still be a car with little required maintenance and a decent range for driving around town and short commutes. It's not going to be worthless in a few years.

When Model 3 hits the streets the Leaf's value might drop like a rock...

I'd even imagine impatient people might buy Chevy Bolts and then flood the used car market as they upgrade to a Model 3. That'll really hurt the Leaf.

 

[garsh]

When Model 3 hits the streets the Leaf's value might drop like a rock...

That has already happened. You can get a used 2013 Leaf for under $9000. Used Leafs are now priced so far below the Model 3's target that I don't see the Model 3 having any additional affect on it. It's competing with used Civics and Corollas at those prices.

 

[Neohippy]

That has already happened. You can get a used 2013 Leaf for under $9000. Used Leafs are now priced so far below the Model 3's target that I don't see the Model 3 having any additional affect on it. It's competing with used Civics and Corollas at those prices.

I considered buying one for a few years but even at 9k I'm scared it will be hard to sell when it's time to get rid of it

 

[JeffK]

I considered buying one for a few years but even at 9k I'm scared it will be hard to sell when it's time to get rid of it

You can find a used prius for half the price... and has a better range haha

 

[ProphetM]

Cheap is a relative term... asking someone to blow $8-10k [on a used Leaf] while trying to save for a Tesla might be detrimental to the end goal.

Indeed. And by that measure, leasing a Model S is detrimental as well.

I already have a car. It works, and it is likely to keep working until the 3 comes out. Even if it needs repair that is still going to be way less than leasing an S or buying a Leaf to tide me over. I'm already going to be splurging on buying a brand new car for the first time in my life; that is a big enough hole to be going on with, no need to make it deeper.

If my current car was falling apart then I'd have some thinking to do, but I would probably try to get by with the cheapest thing possible that fits my needs, until the car I really want arrives. That's just how things work down here in Lower-middle-class Land.

 

[Justmurr]

Yep. It was like a moment of clarity soon after standing in line back on March 31st and getting my reservation...
I faced the reality that in order to actually get a Tesla (not just a car, a Tesla) and to get that Tesla with at least 1 or 2 or more options... that I will somehow need to find (a.k.a. borrow) some portion of around $42-$44 thousand dollars in as little as 2 years!
Yikes!
I kinda freaked out...as someone who is already living directly up to (not over but up to) my means..I needed to change something....it was my current car... my '14 mustang...admittedly impractical and a bit of an impulse buy on my part...I bit the bullet and freed up some monthly liability by moving into an '05 Volvo S40.
That transaction happened on 9 days after reservation day.

Makes me wonder how many "downgrade type" transactions like mine might have happened in the months following reservation day?

 

[Twiglett]

I don't think the Leaf has quit depreciating though.
They are a pretty good deal now, but I expect them drop drop again next year when there will be no <100 mile EVs and the 200 milers will be hitting the streets.
Least cost option is to get a ten year old Civic for 2-2.5K - its definitely not going to drop in value much further than it already has.

 

[Ltespd]

I stood in line and reserved on March 31st. I will be doing a 2 year lease on a Model S. After 2 years if I love the S I'll buy it. Otherwise I'll get the M3 and either sell or turn the S back in. Another benefit is...I now move up the M3 list. Live in Ca., already own a Tesla, will order a M3 with lots of options, and reserved on March 31st.