I’ve been lucky/skillful with most of my recent car purchases and leases, but have no idea what to do now.
Previous ‘deals’ include:
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Getting paid (after incentives a negative purchase price) to buy a 2015 smart electric, selling it for several thousand a couple years later.
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Getting a $64/mo. lease with $0 DAS on a 2016 Chevy Cruze, and something similar on a 2015 Spark EV back in the ‘glory days’.
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Buying a new 2020 Bolt in 2021 with inflated value on the trade-in (made money on that one, too), for about $23k, getting it recalled a few months later, getting a free rental car for 6 months, swapped into a new 2022 EUV Premier for $52 additional, then immediately selling that car for over the $39k MSRP.
I dumped the Bolt EUV because I’d rather have the cash than the car, and I’m in the process of moving from WA to CA. WA doesn’t charge sales tax on EV’s, so I’d have a monster registration fee due in CA, and would also forgo the CA state EV incentives. I could buy my old car back (a 2020 Bolt) and still have $15k in my pocket, even in this market.
To a certain extent, I don’t care too much what I drive (I’ve owned everything from a Mitsubishi Mirage to a VW Phaeton to a 7 Series to the aforementioned EV’s). As of this moment, I don’t own a car (just sold the Bolt), and will be looking for something in the coming weeks/months.
The market is beyond bonkers now, with 8 year old shitcans selling for 80% of their price when new at GSA auctions, 2-3 year old ones selling for more than new, and having to beg a dealer to only pay MSRP on a car is…something.
What are your thoughts on buying vs. leasing, renting a car when we need it for the day (tenable for us for awhile), and what cars may be unloved and flying under the radar in this market? Will it cost me less to beg a dealer to buy a Corolla Hybrid at MSRP, buy a monstrously overpriced used car, lease a (insert vehicle here with high retained value) for Y months, or other?
In other words, from a purely financial sense, what is the least stupid move in this market?