should I lease or purchase when I have chance to buy new Model S at 20K discount?

[dippybird6]

I pre-ordered a new Tesla Model S two years ago, after two years of waiting, I finally got delivery notice, I was told that they still honor the old price, saving about $20K compared to if they release the car to someone else who order today. My total payment is about $88K including everything.
I originally planned to lease the model-S, since I. like to drive newer cars every 3-5 years. Given the 20K discount, should I consider purchasing the car instead, and sell it myself after 3-5 years? would it be hard to sell an old Tesla? Would I make a little money from purchasing now and selling it later myself? or neutral or losing money?
I need to make a decision now. so any early feedbacks would be really appreciated!
I could not believe it, I was told about the delivery last Friday, deadline to make decision is today, latest delivery day is tomorrow, otherwise, they are going to release the car to someone else.
thanks so much!

 

[DerbyDave]

Leasing now does not give you the purchase at end of lease option. Buying it seems like an easy decision. You probably will be able to sell it at any time with very little if any, depreciation. Leasing, like I say Tesla takes it back after lease.

 

[SantaFeSpence]

Makes more sense to buy rather than lease. It seems like a no-brainer to me, but then again I never lease. I agree with Derby Dave's comments above.

 

[NWDCanada]

Buy, don't lease.
You cannot buy out of the vehicle's lease and keep any positive equity gained. Unlike most leases, Tesla had it written into all vehicle leases that it must be returned. Beyond that, their residuals are terrible.

More specifically, because you have 20k positive equity you could simply drive the car for 3-4 years and be in a ~+20k delta. I'm sure future you would appreciate that rather than thinking " shoot, I should have given myself that equity instead of Tesla".

 

[patgilm]

No brainer to me, I would buy it. Like you, I typically lease for the same reason, I like to drive something new every 2-3 years. However, with Tesla the lease terms aren’t great so I bought mine.

 

[RagingCANE]

I took delivery on my Model S LR that I ordered so long ago I can't remember. It was at the lower price so I purchased it. I always lease because I have car ADD and like new but I know I can sell this one at any time. My biggest regret is that I turned in my 2019 Model S lease that I could have bought and resold. Now, as stated here, they don't allow lease buyouts at all.

 

[2101Guy]

wait..TWO YEARS of wait time?
Gotta ask..what happened?

 

[dippybird6]

thank you all for your insights, I did buy instead of lease eventually. good thing about owning it is that I can consider tinting the windows, which I did not do to my last one because of the lease.

 

[SantaFeSpence]

Thanks for closing the loop on this. I believe you made the right decision. Enjoy that new S!

 

[oktane]

When did they change the lease to not allow purchase at the end?