all these cheap payment cars had inflated residuals. i’ve been doing a lot of buyouts, but for those that blew out their lease miles significantly.
never recommend paying for a car for 3 years and then another 6 years.
say 315 * 30 = 9450 + 19644 + (sales tax on 19644) 1800 = 30894 + ext warranty & gap 34000. but you can’t claim federal and get state or edison a second time. (again, over lifetime of lease to buy).
there’s 5500 purchase rebate on Volt Premier right now. a 41k MSRP (with the right dealer) can knock off another 4500-5000 and you’re back at 34k OTD. but now you get federal + state + utility again.
Thanks for the brilliant feedback - given the guidance here I think I will absolutely try and investigate a new Bolt/Volt Premier lease. It seems like too much risk and potential cost with warranty and such to deal with buyback, particularly given that there are rebates out there for new vehicles.
Final question perhaps for chevysalesgirl - is there any value in trying to secure a new lease earlier with as you say the right dealer (such as yourself), or just hold off until lease concludes in November ?
Again - so grateful to the guidance here, and the very specific information and advice.
FYI, the fed credit for GM will be cut in half again on Nov 1st.
Maybe GM will match the cut again, maybe not. If you see a great deal 2-3 months before your existing lease deal expiration my advice is to take it.
Thanks to all for their advice - I’ve been spending time looking around a bit in the past month, and the landscape has changed quite a bit in even that time with Bolt pricing, Kia Niro EV, New Leaf, Hyundai Kona EV - time to get out and test drive I think!
What did you end up going for, out of curiosity ? - I found the post when you were initially looking around (I’m in Ca) . I’m tempted to go full EV as opposed to Hybrid given the new landscape of some decent affordable and reasonable range options in addition to Bolt/Model 3 (Kia, Hyundai, Nissan w/ the Plus etc)
I’m superstitious, so not ready to reveal, but I should have an announcement to make on Thursday. I have been making myself crazy since May, and it’s not what I expected (I talked myself in/out of it probably six times) but it’s the only thing I feel both emotional (at all) about and specifically good about. Lots I felt nothing about, and several I felt icky about.
Fair enough, and congrats on the decision - excited to hear where you landed! So hard to commit, I really wanted to hold out for the Polestar 2 next year but so many unknowns there, and I have to drive in the interim
I started writing a whole long silly reply about my shopping experiences, but then remembered that you don’t have the same constraints that I do.
Drive the Fusion Energi, the Niro and Optima at Kia, the Sonata and Kona at Hyundai, maybe the Prius Prime (for the chuckle). Based on those 3-4 dealership trips you will have a direction. My guess is you won’t like the Clarity or Prius (cheapo interiors), the Koreans do that better but their MF are mostly too high.
The 2019 Fusion Energi (comes in 1 trim no options) is more Lincoln than Fiesta, just like the Volt is more Opel than Cruz. Or you may think I’m nuts.
Obvi the 530e is nice if don’t mind the bump in your lease payment.
Hey GOCAM,
I’m in a very similar situation as you, with a 2017 Volt with less than 20K miles, in the Bay Area. My 36 month lease ends in December. I have been wrestling with this decision (buy the Volt or get something else like a Prius Prime or Kia Niro PHEV) for months, and I am still undecided. Whatever car I decide on has to be a hatch of some kind, either hatchback or SUV. I think the RV on my Volt is a good deal since the car has low miles, but my uncertainty is coming from the fact that GM has killed this car, and the bumper-to-bumper warranty goes away at the end of the lease. Not sure what extended warranty options I have. So…since your original posts a few months ago, have you made a decision on what you will do next?
Hi ! Yes, I did make a decision as it turns out after way too much research
In the end I decided to purchase (not lease) an SR+ Tesla Model 3 White/White, I managed to line up the timing to get a good deal and 2yr free supercharging and so far love the car. I have been very happy moving from the Volt to this, particularly with the new software. I test drove the Kia and others, but nothing was as fun a drive, and the M3 actually has pretty good storage both in back and front - it is certainly a much more comfortable cabin for me - I’m 6 foot 2.
So…what this meant for me was to work out what to do with my car with about 2-3 months left on the lease! Even if I had not decided to get a Model 3 I was still evaluating whether to sell on rather than return to GM and pay the disposition fee along with whatever they decided I would need to fix some minor denting on the body (which if I fixed myself would cost anywhere from 500 to 1.K). I got a buyback quote from GM that was not particularly fantastic, but in parallel started getting quotes from the likes of Carvana, Vroom etc.
To cut a long story short, I decided to go with Carvana - I got a 10 day lease buyback quote from GM, Carvana’s offer was quite a bit above the KBB value, and the difference between the two amounts was not so much so I decided to pay that difference in lieu of dealing with GM at end of lease. Entire process was very efficient, but rather than bore everyone here on the details, shout if you’d like more info and I am happy to share !
I ended up managing to get the dates to match up almost exactly so the Volt went away practically the same day as the M3 came.
So that is my experience. Leasing a M3 is possible with less $ down and monthly, but I don’t know that it makes financial sense as it comes out too spendy. Buying a new M3 I get access to at least some federal rebate, the refunded california 2.5K credit, as well as PGE incentive. There is also some pretty good inventory on used vehicles, but you’ll lose rebate (but save on transport fee)
Thanks a ton for all these useful research and perspectives… I’ve been figuring out the best way to move onward with the Volt that I leased to my son few years ago. I drive Model S P100D, and since OP ended up with M3 in the end it will encourage me to advice my son to give up the lease now, save up some $ meanwhile working, and tons in our insurance and then we can get him Model 3 in spring once he needs a car again. In current circumstances one doesn’t need a car that urgently since we have one ICE in the fam as well…
I mean, the price is/was set in the leasing contract. The only way buying the vehicle after the lease ends makes sense would be if you went over your mileage massively. I think’s 22 cents per extra mile outside the lease, so if you are 10k over, it’s 2200 + tax in “penalties”. If that’s the case, then maybe it’s worth negotiating off the same contract.
If you can, it’s always better to start the negotiation from scratch, as the most effective negotiation tool, IMO, is your ability to just walk the fuck out of the dealership mcdvoice
