Apologies for not fully understanding how to enter info, but I do want to help the community with my details.
I was looking at a lease-return (used) 2021 Taycan lease deal, when the dealer presented this option: new (2024), better-optioned, and my preferred term of 2 years (when most deals were on 1yr).
The dealer said this was a ‘vin-specific’ deal (not sure I have that correct, but something like that). That doesn’t mean anything to me, but maybe it does to others. What it probably means is ‘non-replicable’ or ‘unicorn’?
Link to SIGNED! deal: SIGNED! DEAL | LEASEHACKR
It says in that link that the effective is 10 years, so I think that’s pretty good. Anyway, I’m happy.
The deal was $5k DAS, but because I added a $1249 lease-end protection, it appears as $6250. Because it’s a 2yr lease I got this mainly to cover the tires (I may not wear the tires down given my ‘grandpa-type’ driving habits, but my wife is very risk-adverse).
Congrats on the new ride but I’m not sure I understand your definition of risk aversion. Either you’re above the threshold for remaining tread at the end and paid for nothing … or you’re below the threshold and prepaid for the privilege of driving with greatly reduced grip (the correlation between tread and grip is not linear).
not sure i understand the 2nd part (I get the 'above threshold and paid for nothing, but not the 'prepaid for privilege of driving with greatly reduced grip).
The $1250 also covers scratches and dents, which on a porsche would cost a lot - we have a $1000-2000 deductible on our car insurance, so the $1250 seems fair not avoid a claim.
It’s 100% true that I’m likely to return the car in mint condition without a scratch, but $1250 is insurance, and you’re posing a philosophical question: whether insurance is worth it at all (my premium is now $6K/year, and I’ve never had a claim in 35 years, so I’d say no, likely in agreement with you, but my wife thinks differently)
Basically in order for the lease end protection to cover the tires, you would need to turn it in at lease end with worn out tires below the threshold.
So instead of spending $1250 on tires yourself midway through the lease, and getting the benefit of driving on new tires for part of the time, you instead pay Porsche $1250 for tires upfront but get no benefit from that if it does end up needing tires.
If you’re the kind of person that takes care of their cars (as am I) then the lease end protection is rarely if ever worth it. Most dings and scratches are just normal wear and tear and certainly not $1250 worth of damage.
What’s the best case scenario in terms of coming out ahead on that policy? You return the car with basically bald tires (3/32” or below).
Most policies limit what they cover in total and per panel. So something large would involve using your own personal insurance anyway. Something small use a PDR specialist for like $250. The “Goldilocks” level of damage exceeding the cost of the policy is really unlikely.
Besides do you really want to drive around with dings until the end? These policies don’t fix your car. They just waive any charges at the end. Instead: Fix it ASAP and drive a car that looks new. Who wants to pay $1,000+ a month to drive a beater?
Insure your life, health, home, autos and liability. I’ve never purchased any add on insurance my entire life and figure I’ve save $100,000+ in premiums and maybe cost me $1,000 over 40+ years with 2 kids.
