Current commute is 70 miles round trip, with the possibility of it increase to around 100 miles round trip. Unfortunately, I don’t foresee it getting shorter. At these distances, I find myself stuck in a precarious position…
Do I get a 15k lease with the plan to purchase at the end of the term?
Finance a new vehicle?
Finance a used vehicle?
15k lease and purchase a motorcycle? 
I would look for a 1-2 year old car with under 15k miles that is CPO’d and attractively priced. Drive it for 3-4 years which should get you through and still be under warranty. This will be your cheapest monthly cost for something decent IMO.
NJ = lease/buy an ev
Although having had a job like that before, the real answer is “find a new job”.
Make sure whatever you have at least has adaptive cruise.
hyundai sonata hybrids 21-22 are under 25k for a limited.
I would also look at the elantra hybrid.
Certain brands like volvo have unlimited mile warranties.
Definitely not. The only used car that makes any sense in this situation is a fully depreciated sub $5,000 car paid in cash and insured for just liability.
100 miles roundtrip everyday should be a good candidate for EV if you have home charger or nearest EA charger. The monthly lease will easily be your gas money. Get 7.5k miles and buy it out at the end so you don’t need to pay the miles penalty 
Depends on the cost/miles of the used car.
While I agree with your sentiment, I’ve been doing the 70 mile round trip for 2 years now. It’s not that bad. Depending on traffic is 40-60 minutes. I work in Bergen County…cant afford nor want to live in it.
Do what I do and lease two ev’s, maybe two Ariya’s would fit the bill, cheap too
My wife is currently leasing an Ariya…what’s two more
2x the insurance costs
If I went the lease to buy EV route, what models should I be considering?
One with reasonable RV at the end so you can just buy it to avoid the mileage penalty. How’s your wife Ariya? Similar ev will be ioniq5, ev6, id4.
Have had it for 9 months. It’s like all evs…takes a beating in the winter. Otherwise, we like it very much. Base model fwd engage. We got for 36/12 with 0 DAS for 360$ per month.
It is tough. There is no right or wrong answer. I live in Fairfield County, CT & commute to The Bronx, NY 5-6 days a week have a 65 mile per day (before I start driving my son to and from hockey practice) round trip commute (since 2010 and for the foreseeable future) and pile between 20-25K miles per year on my cars. Financially, not matter what you do, you’ll never come out ahead.
(1) Buy something new, comfortable, & dependable that YOU LIKE as you’ll be spending a lot of time in it. Finance it for 5 years. Maintain it by the book. After you pay it off, keep making the car payments to yourself to pay for repairs, maintenance, & tires.
(2) Lease something reasonable with the highest Leasehackr Score Possible. In NJ, @aronchi had some phenomenal Honda Accord Deals recently. One of the main benefits of leasing is that your depreciation costs are capped at whatever the bank say the residual value is at the time. So let’s say you take a 15,000 mile per year lease out and after 3 years, you put 60,000 miles on the car. On one hand, you’ll have to pay the bank $3,750 plus tax in over mileage fees, but on the other hand you won’t be trading in a car with 60,000 miles when the dealer has similar cars drive by these WFH people who put 8,000 miles on the car in the same 3 year period.
Acura has a mileage forgiveness program IF you lease another Acura. You’d have to check their website for details. They’ll forgive 1/2 of your overage miles up to 15,000 miles if you lease another Acura.
(3) Buy a CPO car with a long warranty like a Volvo from @thevolvoguy or a Lexus. Just be aware that these CPO cars are ONLY as good as the dealers that do the certification.
(4) A lot of people will argue to go out and buy a serviceable “beater.” Just realize that even with an older, higher mileage, $5K - $10K car you will have to address some issues. Plan on changing every single fluid as well as any potential wear items (brakes, suspension components, gaskets) that may or may not have been done by the previous owner.
Good luck!
Rather pay insurance for another cheap lease than buy anything and kill its resale with too many miles
I’m intrigued by your second idea. Would you mind elaborating on this idea please. Would I need to look at specific vehicles or will this work for any brand?
That only works for Acura (and Honda?)