I can’t think of a single EV over the last 3 years where you would have been better off buying vs leasing. So far the lease to buy has only made sense on hybrids.
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A 60% RV for an EV buyout doesn’t make too much sense to me, either.
OP, is there a reason you wish to buy out at the end of the lease?
I generally like to keep my cars for a long time and feel comfortable that the egmp platform is mature enough. I live in California and can charge at my home so don’t have any concerns with owning an EV.
I can’t imagine there will be any drastic technology changes like a UI similar to Tesla any time soon or longer range so don’t know what else I would be waiting for.
Just because you’re willing to keep it for a long time doesn’t mean it makes financial sense.
Sense can only be made via numbers.
What are the lease payments, what’s the APR on the finance, etc etc
Ofc the greatest unknown is the unstated assumption built into every lease: that it be replaced with something similar at the end
While I agree with you this one is easy math. It’s an EV with 12,500 of lease cash and a 60% residual. High probability OP will be able to buy their same car back a few years from now for thousands less than the residual. Personally a cheap put option on a volatile asset is a no brainer. We’re not talking about a Honda accord here.
I appreciate all of the replies here. Curious how others would justify a lease then buy? If the lease incentives make the total cost cheaper is it just because the assumed residual value is valued too high?
For me this one possibly makes sense to buy via lease (if that’s your objective) because the rebate is much higher than the finance or purchase cash and MF is on the higher end at 0.00245 (5.88% APR). There’s $9600 of rent in a 36 month lease. Say you have $80k cash and can safely invest it at 4%. My rough math says you’d have about $3000 more after 36 mo if buying out early vs keeping the lease and buying at the residual. That’s something but not an overwhelming advantage (and erased if you can acquire an equivalent car cheaper). If financing the buyout, it’s more complicated. Benefit of leasing is more optionality for the lessee (including residual risk held by the bank). Benefits of buying are mostly personal judgments or preference.
The residual risk on the I9 is very large. If Hyundai drops the MSRP on the I9 next year, I expect it will crush the used car value much like what happened with Teslas.
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