Buy or Trade Scat Pack?

First of all, I’ve been lurking here for a while and the insight here lead to me getting (what I believe was) a great deal on a 2018. I paid $0 down, 15k miles a year on a $45k car paying $498 monthly. All I paid to drive off was the first months payment. My lease is up soon and I am significantly under the miles at 33k. Agreed buyoff at end of lease is $21,136. Looking at similar models with similar miles retail is from $37k to $40k.

I still love the car but I am interested in upgrading to a Hellcat, but they don’t seem to lease well right now. Would I have more leverage if I traded in the Scat Pack and work for as much positive equity as I can to go toward a Hellcat lease, or if I buy it outright then trade it in? Or is there a difference in either scenario.

Thanks in advance.

1 Like

Charger or challenger?

Sorry, Charger.

Used car values are insane right now, the problem for charger owners is that the hellcat is now widebody only.

Looking at a lease you are going to be paying $800/mo for a relatively base hc.

I would sell the scat pack and keep an open mind while trying to work both a scat pack and hellcat wb lease.

I extended my '17 charger hc lease and will probably sell my hc this month rather than turn it in, I’m hunting the m5 and charger hc wb rn, would spend $800/mo for a fully loaded charger.

2 Likes

Thanks for the input. I may just buy it out and keep it for now. I have considered adding some performance upgrades. The HC is obviously a better platform to make power with, but I don’t want to pay $800 a month for one. Maybe one of these days the $600 HC lease deals will come back.

You could probably work you way into a $600 lease for a base challenger hc but yeah the wb being forced upon us jacks up the payment by $100+ for chargers.

I would suggest selling the scat pack and waiting to buy a used hc once everything comes down to earth. That is if you can live without a car for a few months.

You can always run something like a pro-charger on the 6.4.

Working from home since Covid so I only drive for pleasure at the moment and have a beater car I can use. I’ve been doing a ton of research on superchargers for the 6.4. I may go that route including drop in rods and pistons as I need it to be as reliable as possible.

$21k residual? Wow. See what carvana/vroom will give you. Looks like it should be in the $39k zip code, give or take, depending on their mood. $18k in your pocket is a helluva way to end a lease! And you paid $18k over the course of the lease, so free car!

Apply that $18k to the next lease payment and you could be $300/mo effective on a hellcat if you want, no? At least, that is one way to look at it. But I’d personally avoid leasing right now if not driving enough to justify it. Buying is better when not putting much miles on.

What was the purchase price on your car? $21k plus $18k in payments is still only $39k, and that would have to include taxes, fees, and interest. Seems REALLY low for a scat pack.

It was around $39k out the door. I got leather, sunroof too. I’m no expert obviously but I think it was a combination of a good credit score and great timing. I did spend about 10 hours at the dealership haggling.

I picked up my ordered Charger Hellcat last month. MSRP of 78k. 712 a month 36 months/15k miles a year. That’s with a CDI code(like employee discount +$100.) I dont think numbers changed for this month.

1 Like

Would love to see details on the deal, and how did you obtain a cdi?

It’s not easy to obtain a cdi code.

Really want to order a Charger scat pack wide body but I don’t know what the prices are going to be when it gets here, thinking I should wait til next spring or early summer

Family friend is an exec. Even got the car expedited from the factory. Car was made on a Monday. I made a call Wednesday and the car was at the dealer Thursday. I should add that the 712 is with wheel and tire package plus tracking device incase of theft. Before adding that in, payment was 690. 2k DAS.

That’s a great deal but your deal isn’t replicable without inside connections or being an employee.

Very true. Getting a CDI code is probably impossible for most ppl. Getting an employee code is slightly easier. Regardless I wouldn’t consider leasing one of these unless you can get a CDI or employee code. You could try to get the dealer to discount the car but it would be tough as most hellcats are getting sold before they arrive at dealers.

As an auto damage adjuster…… I doubt that the base model or even mid-model will hold its value