Wanted to say thank to the community and for the tools provided here - especially that wonderful calculator.
It made me realize how well protected I was by my lease terms on my current vehicle after the chaos of the pandemic market.
Feb 2021 I dived out of my 36 month Tesla 3 Performance lease at 24 months because the car’s value rise neutralized any negative equity in the final year so I traded it on the then pretty new and interesting Polestar 2 performance, with everything except the leather pack.
I wasn’t a ‘LeaseHckr’ back then, but I paid $64,500 with just Tax, Title and First month at delivery. Polestar leasing gave me 73% ($47,000) residual on 36/10k with an MF I guesstimate approx 0.002 at the time. $778 a month inc tax, I thought it was a pretty reasonable deal considering the extremely bullish market at that time.
Now 29 months on I realize how much I have dodged by leasing and not buying. Polestar 2 of the same spec as mine with less than 30k miles are barely managing to scrape $30k (47%), the EV over-saturation is really taking it’s toll.
Sure, I can’t dive out of my lease early, but at least I get to walk away at the end and let the lease company deal with the negative $17,000 that this car will have hanging around it’s neck.
It’s funny how many times, when I tell people that I only lease cars, they so ‘Oh I never lease, it’s just throwing away money.’
Life is never that simple is it.