PA lease advise and choice making

Ask the Hackrs
, , , , , , ,
1

I am looking to lease an EV or PHEV for next 3 years. I am thinking if I buy a 10 year old used car with less than 100k miles, it would cost around 12-15k. And after using it for 3 years if I return it would yield back around 2-3K. Hence total money spent out of pocket would be around 8-9K over the span of 3 years. When I see the deals section I see many people getting a steal deal on leasing really semi-luxury or luxury EV or PHEV vehicles. My office offers free EV charging. Hence I will also save money on gas. So I feel it is better to look out for such good deals. I would be able to use a new car rather than. I am looking at following options.

I expect my yearly travel to be less than 10K miles per year.

I have following requirements:

  1. I am okay between SUV or a Sedan but would prefer SUV.
  2. If it is a PHEV than looking >30 miles on pure electric range because that’s a usual distance I travel within the city and a combined MPG > 60 or 65 miles. If it is pure EV, I am looking for total range around 300 miles.
  3. I need a sunroof/moon roof but a panoramic roof would be great.
  4. Need ample amount of boot space. By ample I mean it should be able to accommodate 4 big trolly bags and 2 cabin bags at the same time without folding the back seats. Basically enough to be able to receive 2 people from airport flying in internationally. This is a must have.(I have checked this with following cars and their boot space is enough. Camry, Accord, Rav4, GMC Terrain. So all the cars having similar boot space is fine. But something like Prius or corolla are not okay.)
  5. Must be AWD.
  6. Total number of passengers 5 seats. 7 seats is good to have but I am not picky about it.
  7. Good shoulder room and head room in front and back seats.
  8. Heated front seats and heated steering.
  9. Great interior design. Leather(or leather like) Interior.
  10. 360 degree camera. Wireless Android Auto and/or Apple car play.
  11. Adaptive cruise control is a must have. Good to have self driving kind of thing but not absolutely required.
  12. Blind spot monitoring and all the safety features must have.
  13. Park Assist is good to have.
  14. HUD is good to have not necessary.
  15. Not really looking for awesome or great speakers but also don’t want to settle for bad sound quality. Okay with average quality speakers.

I am looking at following categories:

  1. Look out for something like RAV4 PHEV, Honda CR-V EV, Kia Sportage PHEV, Kia EV6, Mazda or similar range/brands. But only 2025 vehicles
  2. Something like Lexus NX-PHEV or PX-PHEV, Acura ZDX or Volvo equivalent EV or PHEVs. Okay with 2024 or 2025 models
  3. Some low end Mercedes, BMW, Audi or similar. Okay with loaner or Demo vehicles with very low milage for year 2024 or 2025

I don’t have affinity towards any particular brand. Just that it’s a big no to Tesla. IDK somehow I feel no for Tesla unless someone can make some great points to sway my opinion.

Above is the jumbled chain of thoughts that I have. Really looking for help to get clarity here and make a right choice.

For more reference I am from Pittsburgh, PA.

Thanks in Advance.

2

4 suitcases and 2 carry-ons?

If this is a must-have, you need to use YouTube reviews as an early filter and then move to personal evaluation to create a shortlist of vehicles that work for you.

Right off the bat the cars the size of the NX through EV6 can be eliminated

IDK if any EV smaller than a Kia EV9 can clear this criteria or Mazda CX70 among PHEVs.

3

I have checked this with following cars and their boot space is enough.

  1. Camry
  2. Accord
  3. Rav4
  4. GMC Terrain
    So all the cars having similar boot space is fine.

But something like Prius or corolla are not okay.

Added this additional details in original blog as well.

4

Do you have a target for due at signing and monthly?

5

I willing to spend total 8-9K across 3 years inclusive of everything. I don’t mind how it is split.

6

300 miles requirement for ev - why? How many miles do you drive in a day? How often do you drive 300 miles+? You mention you got free charging at work, will you install charger at home for the weekend? If you can answer those, you may realize you probably won’t need 300 miles range

7

You will have to forget about these in your budget. Mercedes EQB maybe but you’ll have to compromise on range.

Ioniq 5, EV6, Nissan Ariya, Equinox/Blazer, or Prologue are your best bets but almost all of them require a conquest rebate. What car(s) do you currently drive?

8

My rent includes the charging thing so I don’t need to worry about it. TBH I don’t travel a lot over the weekend. Usually it is below 100 miles. But once in a while(say once 1 month or something) I might travel a bit longer and hence I assumed 300 miles would be decent. A lot of vehicles do come in the range on 280-300 miles and I am eyeing something similar. Please correct me if my assumption is incorrect. I am not fixated on 300 miles but I am looking for something definitely above 250 miles to have an easy life.

9

This will be my first car. I am new to the country.

I have been seeing deals like these:

  1. Acura ZDX Aspec AWD 27 mnths / 10k year - $7000 ONE PAY ($260 month effective)
  2. Signed! 2024 Mercedes C300 4-Matic Loaner, $63,650 MSRP, 36/10k, $0 DAS $316 per month
10

How long is your credit history in the US?

11

4-5 months. But I have a good paying job and I can get a letter from my employer outlining my compensation and stuff.

12

That’s not a guarantee you will be approved for the lease. IMHO, you are probably better off getting a used camry 2018+

2 Likes
13

You have a long list of “needs” for such a low budget. I doubt you’ll be able to get anything that fits your requests.

4 Likes
14

Aren’t these things available in low end cars too? I have listed them exhaustively to convey what is a priority for me and what is not. Is there anything that’s usually not available in the range I am looking for? I would really loved to be corrected or streamline my assumptions if they are wrong.

15

You won’t get any good ZDX deal since you won’t qualify for conquest.

That C300 doesn’t meet most of your requests, including your budget being at $9k or below.

2 Likes
16

Unfortunately your auto credit history is nil. If some captive lease company approves you at, say, Tier 6 then the lease payment will be brutal. And the insurance payments will be obscene.

Credit union loan :arrow_right: used car

Save on insurance and build up your auto score and credit history; in 3 years you’ll be much better placed to lease something and pay the same as the deals you’re seeing.

2 Likes
17

Then you’re not getting a ZDX anywhere near your price since there is a substantial loyalty/conquest incentive required to get a decent price.

2 Likes
18

Yup, this throws everything out the window for the target price point.

2 Likes
19

What is auto score? I thought the credit score is the only thing I need to worry about.

For long term I am planning to buy a car(maybe after 3 years) but in the mean time I wanted to see if I could use any of these nice deals to get a new car on lease rather than the used one because:

  1. The total money out of pocket would be more or less same. (If I get the deals I am reading about - but seems like I won’t)
  2. I am paranoid that I might spend more time with my car in repair shop if I get a used car and it breaks down.
20

What low end car is AWD, has sunroof, leather seats, 360 camera, big trunk space, heated seats and steering wheel and ACC?

2 Likes