Sorry, but their lease is a rip. I financed 100% (130K) only because money is sooooo cheap these days day that I wasn't willing to use cash and I only pay 1250/mth compared to their 1,620 for the same car that I will never own and only get 15K/yr (I drive more) and only for a few years. Simply not worth it.
But I am stilted. I have always found that leases just don't work out financially for anybody but company cars and the the guy selling the lease. They look great at first, but we pay in the end through the residual value BS they play.
Leasing makes more financial sense if you own your own business and are at a certain income bracket. I've been waiting for a lease to come out to get my car.
Here's why: Tesla offers a buy back guarantee for financing the vehicle after 3 years which is the same amount the car is valued at after a 3 year lease. Therefore either way after 3 years the car is worth the same amount. This means that if you wanted to keep the car forever and lease the car car for 3 years and then decided to finance the remaining balance, your monthly payment for the last 3 years would be the same as if you financed if from the start for a 6 year term. Therefore the savings comes from the after tax cost for the vehicle if it is leased or purchased. In calculating my situation of either leasing the car though my business or financing it and depreciating it through my business, even after adding in the tax incentives for CA I still saved thousands of dollars leasing the car rather then depreciating it.
When you lease a vehicle you can expense the entire lease payment where as if you finance a luxury vehicle you can only depreciate it based on the luxury tax laws which are not good for non commercial size vehicles.
Here is an example for the car I bought that I verified with the tesla finance department.
after 36 months buy or lease the car is worth $58,668.50
Lease:
Down payment; 11,207 (including 2,500 deposit and first month’s lease payment of 2098)
Monthly payment; 2098 for 35 months
Total paid after 36 months including down payment, taxes, fees; 82,137 (Minus 2,500 EV rebate)= 79,637
Purchase option of 58,664.50; After 36 month I can turn the car in or finance 100% of the purchase option price. Monthly finance payment will be $1,685
Finance:
Down payment; 24,006 (including 2,500 deposit)
Monthly payment; 1,685 (including interest) 2.15%
Total paid after 36 months including interest; 60,660
Total paid after 36 months including down payment, taxes, fees; 84,666 (Minus 10,000 Credit/EV rebate)= 74,666
Guaranteed by back amount of $58,664.50 or option to continue financing for the remaining 3 years at same payment of $1,685
You see the total out of pocket cost to lease is $79,637 vs $74,666 to finance.
However the after tax cost (depending on your tax situation and I assume most of us purchasing a $120k vehicle will roughly be in the same situation) I'n my case I'm taxed at 50% earned income so my after tax cost for the lease is $39,818 for the first 3 years or $1,137/month
If finance depreciation is subject to limits under section 280f. Essentially the depreciation amount is the lesser of the allowable MACRS depreciation or section 280f.
I found the maximum depreciation to be the following if the vehicle is used at 100%: actual usage of the vehicle would require a calculation of percentage of the total. So take 50% of 80% per year.
Tax year Amount
1[SUP]st[/SUP] $11,160
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] $5,100
3[SUP]rd[/SUP] $3,050
Each succeeding year $1,875
Conclusion: if you own your business and are making over $250K per year you will save over $15k in after tax payments if you lease AND you can still finance the remaining balance for the last 3 years at the ridiculously low interest rate.
Hope this helps.
btw: I am not an accountant.
