Rethinking strategy - what would you do?

Okay so here’s the issue. A job change in the household means two of us will be commuting roughly 30 miles roundtrip each day.

We have a leased Highlander. Owe $32k, can sell to Carvana etc for $31k. It’s already 155 miles over with 1 month to go before the end year 1. I’d like to switch it out for something smaller and more fuel efficient. But in terms of strategy. What would you do?

  • Keep the Highlander and just lease a 2nd car
  • Sell the Highlander and lease x 2 new cars
  • Buy 1 car, lease the other
  • Buy 2 cars

The reason we’re considering a financed/bought car is for road trips. Given we’ll be basically covering 10k miles on each car from commuting/errands. We could get away leasing 2 cars on 15k mile leases but it doesn’t leave much.

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Your post is a bit confusing. Are you commuting 30 miles (roundtrip) each to work. If so then that’s around 7-8k miles each per year.

What is your concern ? Is it that you will go over your allotted miles on the leased Highlander ?

Is it the gasoline expense of the Highlander versus say a Camry ? When you actually calculate the gas savings of a Camry over a Highlander It might be less than $50 a month for your commute. Is that a deal breaker ?

No matter what you end up driving, expect to pay more for insurance also.

For what it’s worth I commute 90 miles every day - your commute sounds easy

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yeah it’s 30 miles roundtrip. It’s not a terrible commute by LA standards. It would suit a hybrid, but I know they don’t tend to lease well. We do another 100 or so miles on the weekend and evening activities so it tops up to 15k fairly quickly. Gas is costing about $65-75 a week.

Now we have to get a 2nd car, I thought it might be a good opportunity to re-think how we pay for/use the cars we have. The Highlander is currently at 15,155 miles with the 1st year anniversary for the lease being up on 28th of September so it’ll be quite a bit over already.

You seem to be stressing about going over the 15k with one month to go. Let’s say you put 2,000 miles on between now and Sept. That’s only $300 so I don’t think it should really play into your thinking. The tax you will pay for buying it should.

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Yeah, I think just picking up a 2nd car on a cheap lease is probably the easiest solution. I knew I shoulda picked up one of those remaining 330e’s when they were were basically giving them away recently.

There’s still time to grab a 430, no?

Dunno if there are even any left!? - although I do have an OL code that’s good till end of Sept…

I thought you were concerned about gas cost? And will want to feed your car premium?

@Cody_Carter has some good deals on Prius if gas is your concern. You would also skip the $350 disposition fee.

Yeah the Highlander is thanks to Cody though i’m not sure I can get on board with the current Prius styling.

I’m kind of tempted to just pick up a Corolla or a Camry hybrid though for commuting duties and then go shopping for a weekend fun car so I at least have something worth driving. If only those Accord Hybrid’s leased well ey…:wink:

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What about a GLC 350e (300e?) loaner? We’ve seen some deals on those lately.

I do kinda like the challenge of trying to get home from work on EV range only! It’d make the 5pm 405 parking lot almost enjoyable.

Maybe a Mirai, if there’s a fueling station nearby? Bolt EV and e-Golf are good, too, as a second car. We’re on our third i3 and love that car as well.

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Keep the Highlander (avoid the taxes/registration until disposition) and take over someone’s Bolt lease that has 15-18 months left. One of you gets HOV with no range anxiety on that commute and still have big H for road trips.

Greatest car in the history of motorized conveyance!

Well, perhaps I exaggerate, but my fifth one is arriving next week✔️ For FL, where literally no one wants these cars, it is a serious oddball machine.

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I might be speaking to you about this! My dad is considering one, but out our house (a townhouse) has no outside outlet, so it is also a matter of seeing how much it will cost to run a line outside.

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I’ve thought a lot about what car to get for road trips as well, and IMHO, a Subaru is one of the better options.

  • Leases pretty well
  • Most models come standard with adaptive cruise
  • All wheel drive
  • Descent fuel efficiency
  • As long as you don’t load it up, the residual value is pretty manageable, unlike Toyotas, so even if you go way over, you can just buy it out.
  • They’re actually pretty reliable even after the warranty

Haha yes, but there’s not really an outlet near the door either. Stupid house built in 1974. Of course, if we cracked the door, someone would probably try to break in. I’m looking at it now, and there’s actually an outlet sort of near the door that backs up to an outside wall. It’s a possibility. It’s a matter of cost…and my dad deciding what he wants!

Yeah I think if we were going down the purchase route for one of the cars, I’d probably be tempted to check out the new Outback XT. The main issue I had with previous Subies was the super plasticy interior (I realize I am not speaking from a place of authority given I drive a Highlander) but still, the new ones seem to be much improved.

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