Talk me out of ending my Model 3 lease early to go purchase one

[clayton006]

So I'll try to make this brief.

I leased a Model 3 Performance in June 20th, 2020 for $750/mo with FSD. My reasoning is that I like to change my mind about vehicles pretty often and that I would probably want something else in 3 years. Now I'm of the mindset that I actually want to own a Model 3 performance outright, and if a new one / better one comes out just trade or sell / buy for whatever comes next. I know I can't purchase the vehicle due to the Tesla lease agreement.

So my options (as I believe them are):
1. Call Tesla and ask what my options are. I assume they will just want me to pay off the lease in the entirety (which I could do, but in that case I'd just keep the car for 3 years)
2. Use swap a lease and see if someone wants to take over my lease and then save up a bit and pay cash for a new one.
3. Just keep this thing for 3 years even though I'm throwing my money away and call it lesson learned. Buy something at the end of this.

Just didn't realize how much I would love this car. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

 

[cbaaz]

Why not to see if you can purchase your existing car at the end of the lease ?

 

[clayton006]

Why not to see if you can purchase your existing car at the end of the lease ?

Tesla specifically says they won't sell the car at the end of their lease. I doubt they will budge on that unless something changes. That would be an option if they allowed it.

 

[cbaaz]

Tesla specifically says they won't sell the car at the end of their lease. I doubt they will budge on that unless something changes. That would be an option if they allowed it.

...and full self driving will be delivered this year

I think there is a decent chance that they will offer the cars for purchase at end of lease. Either way, you have already pre-paid some of the lease, why throw that away? Do you think it is likely that there will be more improvements over the next 2 years and a 2022 Model 3 would be a “better” long term purchase ?

 

[clayton006]

...and full self driving will be delivered this year

I think there is a decent chance that they will offer the cars for purchase at end of lease. Either way, you have already pre-paid some of the lease, why throw that away? Do you think it is likely that there will be more improvements over the next 2 years and a 2022 Model 3 would be a “better” long term purchase ?

Not specifically unless they offer more battery, or a three motor version of this car (unlikely) or some other performance upgrade. I should probably just keep the lease as is as I like to change my mind quite a bit. But I guess it may be worth talking to them about it.

 

[Gasaraki]

Why not to see if you can purchase your existing car at the end of the lease ?

Cause you can't.

 

[Gasaraki]

I would keep the lease. It's really too late, and something might be way better in 3 years. Teslas are a computer on wheels, 3 years is a long time for computer technology.

 

[cbaaz]

Cause you can't.

Why can’t you wait to see ?

 

[jjrandorin]

I should probably just keep the lease as is as I like to change my mind quite a bit. .

Your answer is right here, in your own words. It makes almost no financial sense to get out of a lease this early, but of course you could look at swapalease or something like that if you really want out. Otherwise, you should just keep the lease and see if you feel the same 3 years out.

Even if the car doesnt change much on the outside (and old ones get virtually the same firmware updates as new), what will happen 3 years from now is a complete unknown. By then, other car manufacturers should finally have something on the roads to look at (possibly making teslas less expensive). Or, there could be changes to this car where you would want the new one.

Or, We could be in the middle of a Covid fueled Zombie apocalypse.... no one thought 2020 was going to look like this, after all.

All you are likely doing now, is doing exactly what you, yourself say you do (change your mind quite a bit on cars).

 

[cbaaz]

Not specifically unless they offer more battery, or a three motor version of this car (unlikely) or some other performance upgrade. I should probably just keep the lease as is as I like to change my mind quite a bit. But I guess it may be worth talking to them about it.

I can think of a lot of things that could be improved in 2 years. Less road noise, “better” battery, upgraded autopilot computer, etc.

You asked us to talk you out of it

 

[clayton006]

Your answer is right here, in your own words. It makes almost no financial sense to get out of a lease this early, but of course you could look at swapalease or something like that if you really want out. Otherwise, you should just keep the lease and see if you feel the same 3 years out.

Even if the car doesnt change much on the outside (and old ones get virtually the same firmware updates as new), what will happen 3 years from now is a complete unknown. By then, other car manufacturers should finally have something on the roads to look at (possibly making teslas less expensive). Or, there could be changes to this car where you would want the new one.

Or, We could be in the middle of a Covid fueled Zombie apocalypse.... no one thought 2020 was going to look like this, after all.

All you are likely doing now, is doing exactly what you, yourself say you do (change your mind quite a bit on cars).

Yep you are right on the money here. I should hang tight and see how my mind is in a few years.

 

[cbaaz]

Yep you are right on the money here. I should hang tight and see how my mind is in a few years.

Exactly. You already “own” your car for another 2 years for a fixed cost.

 

[jjrandorin]

Yep you are right on the money here. I should hang tight and see how my mind is in a few years.

At least you understand that you like to change your mind frequently, so you likely did the right thing by leasing a vehicle if thats the case. People who tend to like to get new cars frequently can normally hang on for 2 - 3 years. Usually, the first year is a honeymoon period when you love the car, then after another 6 months or so, what generally happens is you hear about some feature or other that is like "ohh my car doesnt do THAT" and you start doing research for your next car lease a few months after that (lol).

Ask me how I know

Anyway, I purchased my model 3 in 2018, wanting to get one of my vehicles off the "lease merry go round". we still have my wifes Leased BMW for me to scratch that itch. I have found that, because tesla updates this car so often, it virtually completely scratches that "my car doesnt do that" itch, because.. my car DOES do that. There is virtually zero difference between model 3s now and the one I got, except I have a few things that came with mine that no longer come with new ones (minor things).

I bought FSD specifically to get the new computer.... I dont spend that much time actually using FSD, only in traffic mostly, because I actually really enjoy driving this car. I wanted the new computer to combat my own personal "FOMO" (fear of missing out).

New ones may be being built a little better, but mine has been very trouble free, and I seem to have done very well in the "tesla battery lottery" (or, just charging to 90% and not stressing about it works, some combination of those two things anyway).

So, I am at the point where I would start researching my new car to lease, but I still love this one, and am glad I bought it.

Since you already leased, you should just ride it out and see what the market looks like at the end, but believe me I get it.

 

[run-the-joules]

The only reason they say you can’t buy the car at the end of the lease is because of this robotaxi delusion that they want a fleet for, which may happen some day, but not before your lease period ends. They’ll likely be willing to sell them when the lease period ends until they actually have autopilot where it needs to be for robotaxis, or very very very close to it. In 2030 or so.

 

[stonelance]

At the very least you probably want to wait for battery day before making a decision?

 

[cucubits]

So I'll try to make this brief.

I leased a Model 3 Performance in June 20th, 2020 for $750/mo with FSD. My reasoning is that I like to change my mind about vehicles pretty often and that I would probably want something else in 3 years. Now I'm of the mindset that I actually want to own a Model 3 performance outright, and if a new one / better one comes out just trade or sell / buy for whatever comes next. I know I can't purchase the vehicle due to the Tesla lease agreement.

So my options (as I believe them are):
1. Call Tesla and ask what my options are. I assume they will just want me to pay off the lease in the entirety (which I could do, but in that case I'd just keep the car for 3 years)
2. Use swap a lease and see if someone wants to take over my lease and then save up a bit and pay cash for a new one.
3. Just keep this thing for 3 years even though I'm throwing my money away and call it lesson learned. Buy something at the end of this.

Just didn't realize how much I would love this car. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

I'd suggest option 3. Three years is a long time and with what will be available then, who knows if you'll still want your 2020 Model 3 for long term that much.

 

[KenC]

So I'll try to make this brief.

I leased a Model 3 Performance in June 20th, 2020 for $750/mo with FSD. My reasoning is that I like to change my mind about vehicles pretty often and that I would probably want something else in 3 years. Now I'm of the mindset that I actually want to own a Model 3 performance outright, and if a new one / better one comes out just trade or sell / buy for whatever comes next. I know I can't purchase the vehicle due to the Tesla lease agreement.

So my options (as I believe them are):
1. Call Tesla and ask what my options are. I assume they will just want me to pay off the lease in the entirety (which I could do, but in that case I'd just keep the car for 3 years)
2. Use swap a lease and see if someone wants to take over my lease and then save up a bit and pay cash for a new one.
3. Just keep this thing for 3 years even though I'm throwing my money away and call it lesson learned. Buy something at the end of this.

Just didn't realize how much I would love this car. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

For a person who knows he changes his mind a lot, you should always opt for the most options when you made your initial choice. A lease with no option to buy, wasn’t it.

 

[focher]

You should just sit tight on the lease. Financially, you'll take a significant hit if you try to get out of it and there's no benefit to paying the lease early. Especially if you're going to turn around and buy the same car.

 

[Michelle_eriw]

Why can’t you wait to see ?

Unless
Tesla changes it, the lease agreement says that you cannot buy the car at the end of the lease, period. No, ifs, ands, or buts about it. End of discussion

 

[cbaaz]

Unless
Tesla changes it, the lease agreement says that you cannot buy the car at the end of the lease, period. No, ifs, ands, or buts about it. End of discussion

My point was that I think this is likely to change by the time his (and my) lease ends. It’s not like Tesla hasn’t flipped-flopped and changed their timelines on a lot of stuff so far. Pretty much no risk and no reason you can’t wait to see.