Super confused about the $7500 and leases!

Dyohn said:

That's why I never lease a personal car and do not understand why anyone would - except they get tricked into thinking a lower monthly payment (rent, rather) means they are saving money.

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This argument is sounding like a broken record around here, but let's kick that dead horse around some more.

If I take my MY2013 to the end of it's 24 month lease term (3 months from now) I will have paid $299.91 x 24 months = $7197.84 out of pocket, after which I have no equity nor liability (provided I don't beat it up).

If I had bought the car for the $39,020 negotiated price (which included lease rebates that the dealer passed to me, so I'm not sure I could have gotten that deal), less my $7,500 tax credit, I would have paid $31,520. In my area, I could probably get about $25,000 to sell my car today, a difference of $6,520. (This also assumes no interest paid on the car.)

My savings if I had bought it: $677.84, and that's assuming that in the next 3 months the used market for this car doesn't go down any when the 2015's hit the market.

Given the uncertainty of EV technology advances over 2 year terms and the benefit of not having to deal with selling it I consider that $677 a wash. (Also, in another 12 months I'll likely need to buy a new set of tires which would cost right around that much anyway.)

NOTE: I've left Tax, Title, Registration, Doc Fee's, etc. out of these calculations as they would be identical for buy or lease where I live. (we have to pay tax upfront on leases at purchase, not monthly)

All that being said, my next Volt may be a purchase since we now have an additional $2,500 rebate in TX which would be cut in half on another 24 month lease. Like others have said, you have to research the numbers and see how they apply to your situation. If we're all honest with each other, the most financially responsible thing would be to buy a reliable used car that gets decent mileage (be it EV, or not), we just all love driving a cool, new Volt!

llninja said:

How much of a down payment or a trade in did you put on the lease to get that monthly payment?

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$0 down

I did have out of pocket expenses, but they are what I would have had if I bought the car. (attaching a copy of the pertinent part of my Ally lease document)

My "out of pocket" on day one:

• First months payment: $299.91
• Refundable security deposit: $300.00 <--- should be getting that back at lease end
• Title fees: $103.80
• Sales/Use tax: $2389.06
• Admin fee: $199.00 <--- the only part that may not have had on a purchase, but not sure.

As you can see in the attachment, the dealer passed $3950 in rebates (from either GM or Ally) back to me as a CapCost reduction.

llninja said:

By leasing, you are stuck getting a new car after your lease runs out which gives the dealers the advantage as you need to drive something. By not being on a timetable, one can look for the deals of the decade.

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Maybe - or you can go buy a comparable used Volt and be in a similar situation to where you would have been if you had bought new originally. --OR-- You have that last month on the lease to go shopping for a new or used replacement - if you find one, you just turn in the lease and walk away. The security deposit refund makes that last month "feel" free. (I know, it's not, since you paid it up front; but it eases having 2 car payments during the overlap until you return the lease.)