Honda Clarity Lease vs Purchase Question

Lease - 2020 Honda Clarity Base
Vehicle Price (MSRP): 34,355
Your Price: 25233.16 (Includes $6500 dealer lease incentive)
Money Factor: 0.00020
Residual Percent: 44%
Residual: 15116.30
$0DAS - nothing out of pocket lease
$329.23 including tax $305.74 without

I get a lease hacker score of 9 and I get the benefit of the electric range I need to bypass 95%+ of my gas and a carpool sticker in addition to $1000 back from CVRP CA rebate.

My question is why would I not purchase this vehicle

Same dealer is quoting me the following:
$7500 Down - (I will get $1000 back from CVRP and $7500 in tax credit that I will get back in Q1 2021)

$339 per month at 1.99 interest for 60 months. Total finances $19400 + / -

I know there is risk from a car value standpoint and being able to walk away but looking at 2018 models with 30k currently I got a Carvana valve of $20400 if I had that model to sell today.

Obviously there are no guarantees in life but assuming I wanted to keep this car 3 years and trade it in I would owe ~$7800.

This seems like a good opportunity to be in a positive equity situation quickly with a similar payment.

What if anything am I missing?

PS The Mrs. loves the car, payment and carpool sticker so all of those are a win win

Thanks Matt

What is the sales price and incentives when doing a purchase? I highly doubt it’s anywhere close to that $25k sales price they offered you on the lease.

$26864 OTD if I put nothing down
I do not have a full breakdown of fees and taxes on their worksheet.
$19364 loan amount after my $7500 down

1 Like

You’re not really comparing apples to apples with the $7500 down on the purchase, you could do a Bolt one pay for that much. There was some lease deals on these in the past, but not so much anymore, that MF and residual are not good.(missed the third zero, MF good)

Put enough money down on any car and you’ll have equity, and less money in your bank account

I’m very surprised that Honda would give a bigger incentive to purchase than to lease.

@HondaSoCal Is there really such a huge purchasing incentive right now on the 2020 Clarity Plug-ins?

1 Like

Dealer cash is exactly the same on both the purchase and the lease, so sale price wouldn’t change between the two

The incentive is labeled as PHEV money so I’m not sure if you can also get a tax credit on top of it

Go the route you prefer after looking over the figures, you get a low MF on the lease and 1.9% on a 60 month finance

2 Likes

Yea $6500 back-end incentive whether you lease or purchase.

2 Likes

If you’re someone that needs carpool stickers every 3 years then leasing has another advantage (not paying sales tax on the entire purchase).

1 Like

It’s confirmed that the $6500 dealer cash is valid for purchase or lease.

If you qualify for the entire $7500 federal EV credit, I think it does make more sense to do the purchase on this.

Most of the Clarity customers I have purchase it.

I could definitely Get the full return on the $7500 tax credit if I decide to purchase

You don’t want to purchase the car because the trade in value in 3 years will be pretty much zero. Honda Clarity with range of 89 miles is pretty much the worst EV money can buy. Given the development of EVs, this car will be completely obsolete in 3 years and hence the zero trade in value at that point.

Leasing is definitely the right way to go here. I know that the estimated residual value is at 44% but that will not reflect the reality. Even with Teslas and Audis, the actual trade in value is often times lower than the residual value on their leases.

BTW Honda stopped making the BEV clarity in 2019. (The 89 miles you are quoting)
This is the PHEV Clarity, which gets 47 miles on Battery and also has gas.

2 Likes

This is the plug-in hybrid version.

1 Like

Got it. My mistake

I would not buy a Clarity PHEV for all the reasons mentioned (I did look at it last year).

If you do buy it, make sure to get an extended warranty.

Only 1 poster has mentioned anything, and he was comparing the wrong car.

:point_up::point_up::point_up: What they said.

Bolt is not the same car - We looked and it does not fit my family comfortably.
This is a much bigger car and works much better for our needs.

I am feeling better about the purchase after reading everyone’s comments.
I definitely will get the full $7500 back with the tax credit.

I agree that the lease could be upside down at the end of 3 years with a $15000 RV.

If I purchase I would owe ~$7800 at the end of 3 years when the warranty expired. As an FYI the 2018 and 2019’s of the PHEV which this car is are looking pretty good so far from a reliability and a resale standpoint. I just find it hard to believe I would not be in a positive equity situation if I purchase vs the lease where walking away with nothing would definitely be a possible scenario.