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Lease or buy Tis the question of 100k!

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Never leased before....

Making this decision is like saying she loves me, she loves me not.....

If my current logic is to get a new car in 3 years or so .... comments?

When leasing you don't get stressed with scratches etc since u know it isn't yours and has to go back?

Btw confirming my order tomorrow. Does payment type need to be confirmed then too?
 
Never leased before either. If I could do it all over again I would have leased the Model S. Mine is without autopilot so if I had leased I could get the autopilot later. Who knows what other improvements Tesla will make to the car. Possibly new cameras or system for the AP.
The depreciation of the Model S have been significant given the improvements that Tesla has been making on the car. In my opinion if you can afford to lease then do that.
 
Never leased before....

Making this decision is like saying she loves me, she loves me not.....

If my current logic is to get a new car in 3 years or so .... comments?

When leasing you don't get stressed with scratches etc since u know it isn't yours and has to go back?

Btw confirming my order tomorrow. Does payment type need to be confirmed then too?
You have a quasi 3rd option where you can finance through Tesla (purchase) and then in 3 years if you want to sell the car back to Tesla they offer their guarantee buyback pricing, while not great it sets a floor for the value of your car in 3 years. In the meantime you can claim the $7500 federal rebate and any state incentives (you can't claim the federal rebate on a lease but Tesla can). So if you really wanted to get rid of the car in three years you might make out better with a purchase from Tesla, claim the $7500, sell car to a private buyer, rinse, repeat.

You can change your payment type right up until you take delivery. But if you use Tesla financing they need a few business days to run your credit for approval.

Btw you pay for any large scratches on a lease when you turn it in.

Don't forget to use a referral on your order to get an extra $1000 off. My referral link is below and so far I only have one referal and I'd love to get 5 before the program ends, so if you haven't used someone else's link I'd be honored if you used mine to help me move closer to a gigafactory invite.
 
Correct on that 3rd option. I guess I need to figure out exactly when the turning point turns to break even with selling back to Tesla with all the options since they are valued less. Plus not dealing with scratches and various other issues I understand one deals with in leasing.
 
You have a quasi 3rd option where you can finance through Tesla (purchase) and then in 3 years if you want to sell the car back to Tesla they offer their guarantee buyback pricing, while not great it sets a floor for the value of your car in 3 years. In the meantime you can claim the $7500 federal rebate and any state incentives (you can't claim the federal rebate on a lease but Tesla can). So if you really wanted to get rid of the car in three years you might make out better with a purchase from Tesla, claim the $7500, sell car to a private buyer, rinse, repeat.

You can change your payment type right up until you take delivery. But if you use Tesla financing they need a few business days to run your credit for approval.

Btw you pay for any large scratches on a lease when you turn it in.

Don't forget to use a referral on your order to get an extra $1000 off. My referral link is below and so far I only have one referal and I'd love to get 5 before the program ends, so if you haven't used someone else's link I'd be honored if you used mine to help me move closer to a gigafactory invite.


While it's still not 100% clear how the math works, Tesla definitely does not keep the $7500 federal rebate. It's factored into the cost of the monthly lease. If you run some basic numbers on, say, a $90,000 build, you'll see that lease payment Tesla quotes is much, much lower than what the payment would be if financed.

As a small business owner, the decision for me to lease was easy. I get to write off the $1,100 monthly lease payment, which, based on tax bracket math, is like a $250 per month discount.
 
As a small business owner, the decision for me to lease was easy. I get to write off the $1,100 monthly lease payment, which, based on tax bracket math, is like a $250 per month discount.

This was the only way a lease worked. I did a detailed spreadsheet that compared the two options and it was about an even proposition WITH the benefit of writing it off through my business. Otherwise it was better to buy the car with the plan to return it to Tesla at the end of 3 years. I think the difference worked out to about $12k over the 3-year period. Also, I had already made the decision to lease, but I guess the sign from the gods was that I got approved for the lease, but declined for purchase financing. That was weird.
 
Depends if you are going to pay cash or finance. You're going to spend between 1-5k in interest if financed.If you are going to replace it in 3 years anyway, it's a wash or lease is slightly better in the risk department if you plan to trade in. They are going to continue to set the resale values with the CPO program and a trade will be much less than the residual for a lease.
 
Depends if you are going to pay cash or finance. You're going to spend between 1-5k in interest if financed.If you are going to replace it in 3 years anyway, it's a wash or lease is slightly better in the risk department if you plan to trade in. They are going to continue to set the resale values with the CPO program and a trade will be much less than the residual for a lease.
It would be finance vs cash. One also has going over the miles, any marks and damage to a lease to worry about as well...

When you say risk dept. How do you mean?
 
I leased mine (never done that before). My reason is simple - I wanted to know exactly what my costs would be to own the car, not worry too much about Tesla releasing something new/cool because I have a baked in upgrade timeline, and I rarely (if ever) keep a car more than three years. It's definitely more expensive but it has it's pluses.

I have zero concerns about he mileage overages. You can do the math and figure out what level (10K,12.5K,15K) to start with. Ultimately the math told me to go with 10K and if (big if) I go over it's not really all that much money.
 
While it's still not 100% clear how the math works, Tesla definitely does not keep the $7500 federal rebate. It's factored into the cost of the monthly lease. If you run some basic numbers on, say, a $90,000 build, you'll see that lease payment Tesla quotes is much, much lower than what the payment would be if financed.

As a small business owner, the decision for me to lease was easy. I get to write off the $1,100 monthly lease payment, which, based on tax bracket math, is like a $250 per month discount.
I said "claim" not keep. My statement is correct.
 
It would be finance vs cash. One also has going over the miles, any marks and damage to a lease to worry about as well...

When you say risk dept. How do you mean?

If you lease, you know exactly how much you're paying in depreciation. If you buy, it may be a lot more than if you had just leased. The finance charges at 1.75% over five years is about $2k for every $40k over the life of the loan, so, depends on how much you plan to finance. If you finance $80k over five years, you'll pay $4k in interest. Up to you if you think you can beat that in the market or elsewhere.
 
If you lease, you know exactly how much you're paying in depreciation. If you buy, it may be a lot more than if you had just leased. The finance charges at 1.75% over five years is about $2k for every $40k over the life of the loan, so, depends on how much you plan to finance. If you finance $80k over five years, you'll pay $4k in interest. Up to you if you think you can beat that in the market or elsewhere.
Good info to know. Thanks.. one always tries to be ahead of the person taking your money.
 
Good info to know. Thanks.. one always tries to be ahead of the person taking your money.

Just for reference, I just took delivery this afternoon and purchased - but only financed $40k. I hate debt and prefer to own - so, I'll probably just pay it off once my first payment is due in March. I PLAN to give this car to my son when he turns 16 in ~ six years, so, depreciation is irrelevant. Who knows what'll be out in three and where I'll be in my life. All I know is this car is amazing and I highly encourage you to get one as soon as possible. Stop thinking about it and just put the deposit down and figure it out after. You'll probably change your mind a couple times in that first week anyway. :)
 
Just for reference, I just took delivery this afternoon and purchased - but only financed $40k. I hate debt and prefer to own - so, I'll probably just pay it off once my first payment is due in March. I PLAN to give this car to my son when he turns 16 in ~ six years, so, depreciation is irrelevant. Who knows what'll be out in three and where I'll be in my life. All I know is this car is amazing and I highly encourage you to get one as soon as possible. Stop thinking about it and just put the deposit down and figure it out after. You'll probably change your mind a couple times in that first week anyway. :)
Already confirmed and received my Vin today. :) I'm now looking at accessories....