Considering trading in our 22 XC90 T8 Inscription (7P) (owned) for a 25.5 XC90 T8 Ultra (6P), and I know I missed the boat on the year-end deals. Balancing waiting to turn in our other SUV (22 XC60) at natural lease end in October and looking for a 6+ passenger SUV then (potentially also trading in the 22 XC90 at that time to use equity for either an XC90 or new Palisade (which I know won’t lease well)) vs. trying to “save” some money now by leasing the 25.5 XC90 T8 (6P) for less than our monthly payment on the purchase finance ($1180). (We already got the $7500 credit in 2022 since we purchase it just before the changes in tax laws.)
I’m wondering how good the deals actually were in late 2024. I never put money down (waste) and typically do zero DAS on leases but may reconsider to at least to title/tags/first month. Looking for a real world example, not a claim of $600-700 that is really based on large amounts DAS plus MSDs with 7500 miles per year and that doesn’t factor in monthly tax payments.
If I am, today, being quoted ~$950/mo. (including within that figure the 9% monthly tax) on an $82K 25.5 XC90 T8 Ultra with zero DAS and 12K/yr., is that a good deal today? Is a good deal today still lousy and not worth trading in the 22 XC90 (recognizing no one knows what will happen in Fall with tarrif issues outstanding)? What would that sort of lease have been in late 2024 (albeit for the 2025 T8 model pre-“refresh”). (Those who say the refresh is negligble must not really drive these cars. The new non-blonde option (cardamom), actual captain’s chairs with real armrests vs. the previous removed middle seat, and real (actually useful) charging pad are actual changes apart from the exterior tweaks and alleged sound/ride improvements.
Will still need another large SUV in fall so trying to do what I can to save some money somewhere. There are not a lot of truly usable 3-row SUVs, let alone ones that lease well. And we are limited in going larger because of driveway space and wife’s aversion to driving huge SUVs (she has vetoed Yukon XL, and even Acadia (which is, for daily space purposes similar in size to the regular Yukon) because it’s hard to see over the hood at her size).
Any help/advice appreciated. Yes, I know to contact brokers on here (have already contacted the two “main” ones, from my perspective).
Palisade, Sorento, CX90 and QX60 could be worth looking at.
Pilots are really good buys when they do $5,000 off an Elite or Touring like last May.
Telluride has a big, flat hood that’s probably a no-go for you guys. Acadia is actually not that big but it’s probably the flatness of the hood that makes it hard to tell where it ends.
Sadly everyone has followed the more “masculine” design trends of big grilles and big hoods even though women are 50% or more of the drivers of these cars.
It doesn’t if based on mfr incentives, but I’m not going to pull the trigger on a trade and lose the equity we have in the 22 now if there is a chance we get a better deal later (assuming trim/seat configuration is available later on). We also aren’t in a rush on the 22 XC90 since we purchased it. My XC60 is off lease in October, and I could pull ahead, but I don’t want 2 XC90s and need two 6+ passenger SUVs when I turn in my XC60. Just trying to gauge how deep discounting was (in addition to incentives) late last year as gauge for waiting, even though I know you cannot predict anything, etc.
It’s also because I know given how these boards work that there will be comments (usually snarky) about what could have been before in relation to today.
It’s just common sense to understand where you are in a fluctuating market for an extremely similar product. It’s like an airline replacing a flight landing at 9:15 with one that lands at 8:45 or 9:45.
The refreshed features you highlight wouldn’t be called a refresh by anyone else. A new color is introduced all the time, in non-refresh years. Wireless charging is years old technology. Armrests on captains chairs are decades old. To point out these things is about as snarky as saying the fabled emperor wore no clothes.
It’s different to when Acura blew out the last 2020s. When there were literally no 2020s left and a 2021 was a ground up brand new model maybe it didn’t matter anymore where the last 2020s traded. Not the case here.
The point I was making is not that the features are new in the industry but they are different between model years and to me, who has had multiple Volvos, they are improvements and meaningful ones. The old wireless charging pad rarely worked because of how it was positioned, was too small, and was in the way of drinks, and the old change tray was useless. That’s an improvement. The old captain’s chairs were literally like they just ripped out the middle seat and charged you for it. These are purposeful, more comfortable and the arm rests have cupholders in them. Again, an improvement that someone with 4 children would find meaningful. A non-white interior is also an improvement if amber and marron brown are out. We have a blonde, and I know what happens to it, and I had amber before, and it wears better (plus it has black seat backs and headliner and black steering wheel, which wear better). The laminated windows and suspension adjustments are also improvements even if the SPA1 platform itself is still old. They may not be meaningful to someone who doesn’t want a volvo or who hasn’t complained about the absence of those improvements in previous years. That’s not snark. The stlying outside and tablet interface as opposed to the original screen interface is also an improvement (setting aside some of the lag that is being reported), but that’s all in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.
I’m not saying it doesn’t matter how the previous model year was leasing a few months ago. But I didn’t want and don’t want the previous model year when I already have a 22 with extended range. Only material difference is between 22 and 25 was Google vs. Sensus, and you can get around that downside with Apple Carplay.
