Nissan Leaf. Buy or lease?

Lol that’s not how it works at all

Well the lease just isn’t that great and the advantages in California like carpool lane/gas prices aren’t as big of a deal in Colorado, plus allot people here want a car they can take to the mountains and you never know when the road will be closed and you have to take a 100 mile plus detour.

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“To qualify for the full amount available, you must have a federal tax liability in the year you purchase the vehicle that meets or exceeds the incentive amount. If the EV has a $7,500 tax credit available, and you only have a tax liability of $2,500, you can only take a $2,500 vehicle tax credit. Excess credits cannot be carried from year to year. The incentive is a one-time offer. You can only claim the tax credit the year you purchase the EV.”

Source- https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/how-does-the-electric-car-tax-credit-work

You just need to have had a federal tax liability of $7500 for the year, it doesn’t matter how/when it’s paid.

After further reading it appears that is the case.

However there are people out there who do not owe $7500 in federal taxes in a year.

Yes…and that’s why these people lease their cars and capture the credit that way.
For fuck sake, it’s been almost 10 years since these credits were enacted and people are still spreading misinformation.

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Have you ever filed one? You just need $7500 of fed liability in the tax year and you get it all back. Even if you had 11 kids and were getting a huge refund back, as long as you paid $7500 in federal taxes your refund will go up by $7500. If you only paid $5000 in federal taxes then your refund will only go up $5000.

I worked for a store who had mega complaints after tax season, as per my dealers ads (at the time), and just like the one OP posted, it made it seem like $7500 was a guarantee.

We were reported to BBB, had to cut out a bunch of checks to try to make it right.

I will admit my original post, and old thoughts were incorrect, however my point is, it’s not a guarantee.

You’d be surprised how many people dont have $7500 in tax liability.

To your point if you only paid 5000 you only get 5000. Is in theory what I was trying to say. Doesnt mean you are automatically getting 7500.

I 1000% agree with leasing these type of vehicles, as most manufacturers are giving back that 7500 in lease cash/rebate etc.

As far as your misinformation comment goes, all other commenters were saying how it was a great deal with etx. I may have been incorrect, however there are definitely cases of people not getting the full 7500 rebate. So if OP doesnt get the full 7500 rebate is it still a deal? May e if he gets 6500, but what if he only gets 500? Still a good deal?

I didnt see you ask OP about his tax situation, what if he is retired and on social security. He will get 0 back, as he isn’t taxed on that income.

So slow down and relax.

John has some valid feedback regarding the tax deduction. What he’s posting isn’t misinformation. Not everyone has a tax liability. Your situation may not be what he’s describing but it’s good he’s putting it out there in case some buyers fall into that category. As he mentioned, tax credit does not carry over and there are ways to plan ahead to ensure the full $7500 can be utilized.

So back to the topic at hand…

Is it not a good deal at $13k-ish out the door and does NMAC pass the $7500 federal tax credit onto the customer when leasing as Honda Financial did with the Clarity lease?

This would be a third car so don’t really care too much about range anxiety.

Leafs have very poor resale so factor that into your decision. If you buy at $14k out the door, and assume the value of the car in 3 years is $9k (30% residual) then it’s basically a $139/mo lease. That’s pretty good but there is a lot of uncertainty in that value because battery prices are falling and EVs are getting better. You also have to deal with the hassle of selling and uncertainty of finding a buyer.

I bought one Leaf and since have only leased Volts to avoid the uncertainty in value. Also Nissan sucks in terms of support for the car, charging and their battery tech.

No honey, you WERE incorrect, that’s why we corrected you…and what is this dickish you are doing trying to deflect the conversation to OP tax liability? That has nothing to do with your original comment or with anything i said.

“if you owe $7500 on your federal taxes at year end - you would apply this and then owe $0 - however if you owe $0, you do not get a $7500 refund”
Sure…so what do you want to call it?

Tell us how you really feel lol.

I suspect that’s more a supply and demand problem in CA than anything, but could be wrong. The dealer near me in PA only stocks 2-3 at a time because they sit there.

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I said I was incorrect on one portion of my statement and then re affirmed my other position. I did notice how you only quoted " I may have been incorrect" and not the whole sentence.

The other portion still stands. Not everyone will get 7500 back.

Wouldn’t not getting 7500 back be a big factor for OP on if the “buying the car” deal is good or not?

Which is what he started this topic for. You seemed to have hi-jacked it to show what a smart/ big tough guy you are, most likely compensating for problems in your life.

I can only assume the OP wanted pros and cons on whether to lease or finance. As that’s what this subject of the post is.

Maybe OP can change it to mark.ca was right and johnc71 was wrong. Would that make you feel better about your miserable life?

To repeat - so you dont have to send another reply saying I’m incorrect.

Was I incorrect on parts of my original statement - yes

Did I point out a valid reason for someone to question buying compared to leasing - ?

I’ll stop going back and forth with you now as I am once again going to assume OP wants to hear actual input from people and not you continually trying to build up your ego.

Ok guys, let’s keep it civil.

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Since you asked…

I call it you not knowing everyone’s situation and being a tough guy, know it all.

Notice John said “plan ahead”. If folks are w2 and don’t usually owe, it’s possible, if early enough in the year – like John said – to manipulate your W4 so that deductions coming out of the paycheck are nominal and increases federal owed at YE to take advantage of the credit. There’s more than one way to skin a cat and you do what works for you and what you think is right. All I’m saying is John isn’t wrong. This is not tax advice so do as you please.

Thanks for your input. I did see the resale for older leaf cars and thought they didn’t look very good. Perhaps it’s best to stick it out and see if they have deeper dealer cash contributions in a few months.

I’ll try it one more time…
You can manipulate the paycheck deductions all you want, that will NOT change your federal liability…it will only change your amount due at YE. What will change your fed liability is additional $ coming your way…like getting a second job or a raise or your wife giving birth.
Sure, you can claim exempt and have a big due at YE that can be canceled by the credit…but your fed liability would not change.
If under regular paycheck contributions say you paid $3k from paychecks and due another $2k at YE …with exempt you have a $5k due at YE because you paid nothing during the year.

“Would that make you feel better about your miserable life?”
It won’t. My Anaheim Ducks made only miserable trades this preseason so i will keep being miserable :frowning:

“Ok guys, let’s keep it civil.”
Oh, no …we are fine…we are just getting ready for tax season.