2024 Hyundai Elantra Limited trim
Region is Rhode Island
Here is a link to the calculator with all the numbers
LH calculator
10K miles/36 month term
MSRP $28,725
Selling Price $25,725 ($3000 discount before incentives)
Incentives $1150
RV 68% ($19,533)
MF 0.00252 (MF is marked up 0.0004)
Monthly payment $269 and about $1,880 due at signing.
If this is just a starter car for you and you’re confident that your income will be ~50% higher in 3 years then take it.
Otherwise don’t get into a cycle where you spend ~$24,000 over two lease cycles (72m) and have no equity.
Can you please explain what you mean when you reference an income increase in 3 years? I am not sure what you’re intending to say with that.
Most people with lower incomes should not get into perpetual lease cycles. It is far less expensive to buy a car and hold it than lease something new every 3 years. It is more about wise financial management than whether or not you have a good deal.
I’m really confused by this conversation. Did I miss the part where OP stated he was fresh out of college and/or struggling financially? Based on the discount this seems like a solid deal. I’d push for base money factor but the discount is good for a Hyundai based on available broker deals.
As far as buying and holding a car, who on leasehackr wants to hold a car for 9 years? My goal with lease hacking is to minimize the financial penalty of wanting a new car every few years. I imagine that’s many of us. It’s always going to be cheaper to buy a 12k 10 year old Accord, right?
I would’ve held onto my 8-year old 08 Acura TL for 10 years if I could’ve. But yeah, sometimes you just want to own something new and that won’t require you to change out critical engine components every 3-4 years.
That said, I find it hard to justify $320+ for an Elantra, and Elantra Limited just seems like an oxymoron.
I do understand your point, but to get close to $300/month on any ICE vehicle these days is very difficult. I’d say your average Joe is paying well over $400/month for an Elantra based on quotes I received for my MIL. I know we’re trained to see $400/month and think “solid EQE deal”, but as we know mainstream ICE isn’t going to allow for many blowouts.
I’m genuinely curious, does anyone have a recommendation of a better ICE option at an effective ~300/month?
I find this discussion very interesting, because I’ve had many similar conversations along the lines of financing vs leasing. Just to aid in the argument- If OP were to finance this car at his selling price of $25,725, with nothing down and at a rate of 3.99%, the total cost over 5 years would be roughly $31,292. Add in some typical maintenance costs and it’s safe to assume a total cost of about $34,000 over that period (tires, brakes, etc, the stuff you won’t pay for during a lease).
The effective payment of this lease is $313.75/month. It would take OP over 9 years to pay that amount in leasing costs. Now sure, after paying the financing for 5 years, you could drive another 4 years “free” and even out with the lease cost, and then you’d have your equity. Equity which would be highly mitigated by the maintenance costs of years 5 through 9.
Anyway, I know which option is more attractive to me. 3 brand new cars every 3 years for the cost of financing 1 car for 5 years, and one that I’d have to hold for another 4 just for it to make financial sense relative to the leasing options available.
Are you planning to comfortably lease a $500 car in 3 years? Because if you’re not and if you’re just going to lease another ~$300 Elantra-segment car, then you’re doing yourself a disservice. Tally up the payments of consecutive leases and ask yourself why you’d make all those payments without having any equity.
In the absence of a hackable lease, you need to ask yourself whether you’re better off buying new or used.
If I have two consective $500 leases, I still have no equity in a car. How is this any different than having a cheaper lease? Either way I have no equity.
That’s when you buy a car instead of an unhacked lease.
I know you’re an OG around here. What is your definition of a “hackable” lease? Do you view it in relative value of the payment to the MSRP or feature set of the car, or are you purely viewing a hackable lease as one where you have equity at the end?
For example, even with my $588 effective on a 113k EQS, I’ll have no equity, so was that a hack in your view? And if so, how’s that any better than any other lease with 0 equity?
No. EV leases are hackable but don’t have much equity at the end.
I believe he looks up the TCO and compare it to the quality of the car. Your EQS, e.g., is a nice hack.
The Hackabili: Many are called, few are chosen.
A $300 Elantra lease? Not a bad monthly payment but the value of the car to the lease is terrible.
A $300 Cadillac Lyriq? Now that is a hack.
Hackable lease doesn’t need equity. If anything a super overestimated RV makes it a better hack.
Hackable lease means it’s well below the TCO of long term ownership.
Couldn’t agree more! But if the OP isn’t looking to go electric, are there any better value ICE leases that come close to an effective $300/month?
Based on the math I posted above if this is the car they want, I’d still roll with leasing vs buying but that’s me. I do understand the other points made.
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