Purchase, lease, or wait?

C

Curtis Muhlestein

New Member
According to some articles, Solid-State batteries will be coming out at the end of next year. With that in mind is it better to:
  1. Purchase a Leaf knowing that in a year or so when Solid-State batteries come out that you purchase will deprecate in value.
  2. Lease a Leaf so that at the end of the lease you can turn the Leaf in and then purchase a new one.
  3. Wait until a Leaf with Solid-State batteries come on the market and then purchase.
 
Curtis Muhlestein said:
According to some articles, Solid-State batteries will be coming out at the end of next year. With that in mind is it better to:
  1. Purchase a Leaf knowing that in a year or so when Solid-State batteries come out that you purchase will deprecate in value.
  2. Lease a Leaf so that at the end of the lease you can turn the Leaf in and then purchase a new one.
  3. Wait until a Leaf with Solid-State batteries come on the market and then purchase.
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Hi, my take is SS Batteries are still some time away, at least from mass production. My goal is to get people into a vehicle with a plug (preferably an all-Electric vehicle) but I understand BEV may not work for many where a PHEV can. Sooner we can get into a Plug, the sooner we can impact CC.

Now saying that, you can't be like waiting for the next computer to come out as we did in the past, or the next TV, etc. This EV market will change at a good pace, however IMO pack sized will stabilize and it will be more about size of the vehicles themselves that matter (compact vs. full size, etc.).

If you are in a position to do something now, I would certainly recommend you not wait. All cars depreciate, most 30% as soon as you leave the lot. They are never a good investment for making money, unless it's a classic car, hot rod or super luxury car.

Even a Tesla will depreciate and it will be hard to make money on selling a used Tesla, considering what you paid, cost to operate (being low anyway), maintenance (mostly lower) - all these factor in. So IMO don't even consider depreciation and resell values UNLESS that is all you want to do - than LEASE. If you never want to own a car and just make payments continuously (maybe for tax reasons/business, always want a newer vehicle in warranty, etc.) then that is your option to do.

I for one never want to do that and purchase all of my vehicles either up front or financed, but pay them off quickly to avoid more interest charges.

Now for your questions, 1 and 3 seem to be the same so I would say no to waiting.

Number 2 is up to you if you understand Leasing and are ok with it. Remember, if you lease then purchase, you'll be paying for something you don't own or really have any equity in until you either buy it out or then purchase another "new one".

Hope this helps and if you have more questions, you can email me a [email protected].
 
Kenneth Bokor said:
Hi, my take is SS Batteries are still some time away, at least from mass production. My goal is to get people into a vehicle with a plug (preferably an all-Electric vehicle) but I understand BEV may not work for many where a PHEV can. Sooner we can get into a Plug, the sooner we can impact CC.

Now saying that, you can't be like waiting for the next computer to come out as we did in the past, or the next TV, etc. This EV market will change at a good pace, however IMO pack sized will stabilize and it will be more about size of the vehicles themselves that matter (compact vs. full size, etc.).

If you are in a position to do something now, I would certainly recommend you not wait. All cars depreciate, most 30% as soon as you leave the lot. They are never a good investment for making money, unless it's a classic car, hot rod or super luxury car.

Even a Tesla will depreciate and it will be hard to make money on selling a used Tesla, considering what you paid, cost to operate (being low anyway), maintenance (mostly lower) - all these factor in. So IMO don't even consider depreciation and resell values UNLESS that is all you want to do - than LEASE. If you never want to own a car and just make payments continuously (maybe for tax reasons/business, always want a newer vehicle in warranty, etc.) then that is your option to do.

I for one never want to do that and purchase all of my vehicles either up front or financed, but pay them off quickly to avoid more interest charges.

Now for your questions, 1 and 3 seem to be the same so I would say no to waiting.

Number 2 is up to you if you understand Leasing and are ok with it. Remember, if you lease then purchase, you'll be paying for something you don't own or really have any equity in until you either buy it out or then purchase another "new one".

Hope this helps and if you have more questions, you can email me a [email protected].
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Thanks for your response.

I like to purchase vehicles and use them until they die. I also like to pay them off as fast as I can. One of my previous vehicles was a Plymouth Grand Voyager that died after 18 years of use. I currently have a 1998 Chevy Suburban that will turn 22 this fall. I do not believe that EVs are to the point where I can keep them for 18+ years with the same battery pack.

Back in 2015 I took a 4 year lease on a Leaf. I loved my Leaf. I am a Leaf fan.

When I had solar panels installed on my home, I added an additional 4 panels just for the Leaf. Since then I have added 14 more panels for a total of 44 panels.

So back to the original question, “Purchase, lease, or wait?”, I think I will do another 4 year lease with a 2019 Leaf, the one with a 40kWh battery pack, to keep the cost down vs. the 2019 Leaf Plus with a 62kWh battery pack. Then after solid-state batteries become the norm, then purchase an EV and keep it until it dies.

Thanks again for your input.
 
Curtis Muhlestein said:
Thanks for your response.

I like to purchase vehicles and use them until they die. I also like to pay them off as fast as I can. One of my previous vehicles was a Plymouth Grand Voyager that died after 18 years of use. I currently have a 1998 Chevy Suburban that will turn 22 this fall. I do not believe that EVs are to the point where I can keep them for 18+ years with the same battery pack.

Back in 2015 I took a 4 year lease on a Leaf. I loved my Leaf. I am a Leaf fan.

When I had solar panels installed on my home, I added an additional 4 panels just for the Leaf. Since then I have added 14 more panels for a total of 44 panels.

So back to the original question, “Purchase, lease, or wait?”, I think I will do another 4 year lease with a 2019 Leaf, the one with a 40kWh battery pack, to keep the cost down vs. the 2019 Leaf Plus with a 62kWh battery pack. Then after solid-state batteries become the norm, then purchase an EV and keep it until it dies.

Thanks again for your input.
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Great, sounds like you've made up your mind them to Lease. Best of luck and let us know how you like the 40kWh Leaf!
 
I'm expecting there to be some price revisions or at least some offers because the Leaf e+ is now considerably more expensive than the Model 3 SR+ on PCP, and about the same if you pay cash.
 
I leased a 2017 Leaf for two years and it was a great deal. The finance charge was next to nothing and I was only paying the depreciation with no money due at signing. When it came time to re-up, the finance charge for a three year S+ was just over $5,000! This did not make sense and it was clear that Nissan really didn't want to lease their Leafs! At the time Nissan was offering a three year 0% loan to purchase. So, I bought the S+, broker negotiated a good discount and I financed all the charges and thus drove off a new Leaf S+ with no money up front. I'm betting that after three years, if I want to "trade up" I can sell the Leaf for more than the current lease's remaining equity minus $5,000 (paid monthly during the lease if I had leased it). It's clear that this summer, when I was looking to lease, Nissan wanted to lock in their "profit" up front on the finance charge and not have to deal with Leafs being returned off lease!
 
A New Leaf said:
I leased a 2017 Leaf for two years and it was a great deal. The finance charge was next to nothing and I was only paying the depreciation with no money due at signing. When it came time to re-up, the finance charge for a three year S+ was just over $5,000! This did not make sense and it was clear that Nissan really didn't want to lease their Leafs! At the time Nissan was offering a three year 0% loan to purchase. So, I bought the S+, broker negotiated a good discount and I financed all the charges and thus drove off a new Leaf S+ with no money up front. I'm betting that after three years, if I want to "trade up" I can sell the Leaf for more than the current lease's remaining equity minus $5,000 (paid monthly during the lease if I had leased it). It's clear that this summer, when I was looking to lease, Nissan wanted to lock in their "profit" up front on the finance charge and not have to deal with Leafs being returned off lease!
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Leasing is a tricky thing sometimes and each dealer/manufacturer will play it differently. I'm not a big fan of leasing as it is like rent-to-own without the ownership part. You basically are paying-to-use a vehicle. Now I understand for some like businesses, people who can write off car expenses on their taxes as well as budget constraints which may prohibit upfront financing/purchasing instead due to higher payments.

If one leases, it's a really good idea to research as much as possible not only the vehicle, but the leasing terms to make sure you don't have hidden surprises and costs at the end of the lease. The majority of leases will provide guarantee residual values.

In your example above of Nissan's leasing, it makes perfect sense that they (or most manufacturers) will want to make as much profit as possible, on typically a vehicle (EV) that most manufacturers are not making high profits on to begin with. I don't see anything out of the norm in your experience as pretty well all the auto manufacturers will play some games when they can.
 
Well, we finally did it. We leased a Leaf Plus SV for 36 months. We feel that in 36 months there will be an EV that is more suited to our needs, and maybe there will be solid-state batteries.
 
Curtis Muhlestein said:
Well, we finally did it. We leased a Leaf Plus SV for 36 months. We feel that in 36 months there will be an EV that is more suited to our needs, and maybe there will be solid-state batteries.
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Last August we looked into leasing an SL plus for 36 months and found that the finance charge was too much ~$5,000 over the 36m months. If you don't mind, can I ask you what the finance charge on your lease is? You can find the finance charge in your lease agreement under the item "Rent Charge" (the amount in addition to the depreciation and amortization charge which is the finance cost of the lease).

Congrats on your new Leaf. I really like the e-pedal, it's great!
 
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