Rate my lease Need to finalize deal tomorrow.

llninja said:

If you lose your job tomorrow, are you OK with the risk of owing $6.1k over 3 years? It's all Monopoly money. $0 down payment means higher payments. $5k down means lower payments. What you didn't tell us was the MSRP and what the discounted price of the car was. Dealerships are more than happy to ask you what you are willing to pay as a payment to hook you in, then make their money. But the best deals are where you negotiate the price way, way down then go from there.

Plus, 3 years from now you are back at square one looking for your next car, which is another opportunity to find a decent deal or get screwed. I prefer to find the deal of the decade, buy it with the 100% down plan, $0 per month payments, unlimited miles, unlimited term, and avoid car dealerships as much as possible.

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Normally, I would agree with LLninja, but not with this car. It's not going to last like other cars. Buying it and keeping it for 10+ years is almost certainly not going to be an option. It won't be user serviceable, and the cost of keeping it on the road might escalate to the point where it is no longer economically viable to keep it. It WILL be superseded by other better technologies (both EV and hybrid). The new technologies will further drive down the resale cost.

Buying this car (instead of leasing) is dangerous and risky. Can you risk being stuck with an obsolete boat anchor that you can't resell or trade when 200+ mile EV's are commonplace in a few years? Interest and finance charges are nothing compared to the depreciation risk on this car. The Volt can easily decline in value over $5k/year for the first few years. If you can lease it for $3-$4k/year.... do it. Worst case, you lose an extra thousand or two on lease fees, interest, or early termination charges.

Leasing protects you by limiting your exposure to depreciation. It actually works very well to negotiate the sale price in three years at the same time you are buying. If you buy up front, you lose your leverage in negotiating the future sale. A lease provides a much more accurate picture of the cost of owning a Volt, because unlike a conventional ICE car, you can't count on the car being viable beyond 7 years or so. It's an unknown.