Currently drive a 2024 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring, financed back in 2024 at 5.99% for 72 mos with the payment of 761, owe HFS 29.5k. No down when purchase, and I have GAP insurance. Right now it is at 36,320 miles (I used to commute 35 miles one way). I’m located in So Cal.
I actually pay more toward principal because when I bought the car, the 3rd party extended warranty was too expensive, I cancelled it, got HondaCare for half the price from somewhere else, but HFS could not redo my payment.
In December, got into an accident where the other party was at fault. Cost around 13k to repair the damage.
CarFax is showing a minor to moderate damage (broken headlight, bent hood, damage front bumper, and radiator). So when I checked Carvana, they offer me 25k for the car; CarMax offer 24.3k.
Now I just look at Tustin Toyota Leasing Express Store and they have 2026 RAV4 Limited with TSRP around 43k to 44k.
It is possible or make sense for me to roll the negative different into the lease? My credit score is 800.
I have no issues with my Honda, but I will start a family soon so a SUV might be a better choice. I also got a job that is closer to my house so my mileage will around 14k a year. Also, the Toyota will comes with tech that I don’t think Honda will have it until at least 2027 or even later.
2026 Rav4 limited will not lease well now and it will be hard to find a Toyota dealer match Carmax or Carvana. Best case scenario you roll some of that neggy and cough up some cash to stay within reason on 2025 rav4 xle or possibly well discounted 4runner.
Are you or your spouse actually pregnant now ? Many people frame this as “ starting a family soon” like they need a SUV tomorrow when it takes 9 months for a baby to be born after what could be months to years of trying depending on one’s situation and a car seat will fit in an accord just fine.
Rolling just basically means realizing the hit and then paying interest on it, so you’ve even worsened your situation more on a car you prob don’t need , for potentially multiple more years
What tech are we talking about? Hondas generally have decent tech
Not at the moment, but we expect to have a child within a year from now. I’m just trying to crunch some numbers before making a decision.
The autopark function is pretty neat, the 360 camera, as with how Toyota program their automatic high beam + actual button to turn on or off the AHB. Also seem like headlight from Toyota/Lexus cars are brighter? Because I got a Camry XSE for rental right now and the headlight are much brighter than my Accord.
Seem like the ADAS on the new RAV4 (TSS 4.0) might be somewhat better than my Accord Honda Sensing?
I’m living in Orange County, CA so most my drive is city/highway.
Well, my payment right now is 61 dollars extra because when I cancel the 3rd party extended warranty within the 1st week of purchase, they just remove it from the loan but the payment was already calculated and Honda Financial couldn’t redo the number.
I live in LA, and I’ve been obsessed w/ the IIHS headlight ratings on cars I’m considering b/c my current car’s headlights are barely acceptable, even in this urban area (and are genuinely frightening when I’m on a dark highway in a less populated area). I kind of get OP’s desire for bright lights.
Let me first commend you for asking about the negative equity before rolling it in, and starting to lay out the things that might be deciding factors for you. If you do end up leasing, the deal is not always on your first choice car, so having objective criteria like lights, safety feature, interior or cargo volume will help you when a deal does come along. And you also have at least a year (not to mention if you’ve never watched Pixar’s Up: don’t).
The RAV4 does have twice as much cargo volume as the accord because of the hatch configuration versus a sedan, but it actually has less interior cargo space (103+ CF vs 99).
Search on LH for “car seats” and read all the posts with more than you could possibly imagine about where certain ones do/dont fit. One baby in a car seat can fit in an Accord, my sibling and I were raised in the back seat of one until we were teenagers.
A cautionary tale would be to not make this decision before the baby arrives, bury the negative equity, and then realized you might have to do something different. I worked with a married woman who told me when we met that she wasn’t planning to have kids: her husband was a contractor who drove a truck and she drove a Miata. When she got pregnant, she went out and traded the Miata for an accord because they never wanted to be “those minivan people”. The baby was not six months old when she traded the new accord for an Odyssey. Needs and plans change: you have a year to get this negative equity in better shape (refinance the loan if you’re hung up on the payment) but don’t realize the loss on the Accord until you are you can stick with the next decision. 15k miles a year is on the higher end of a lease, and you can certainly do it, but every non-luxury brand vehicle you might lease will be out of warranty before the lease is up, which is another set of problems that you absolutely need to mitigate if you’re going to bury negative equity in it — once your snowballed into that you won’t be able to eject early again.
Thanks for the explanation. I do like the Accord and if the math for trading in it in and start a lease for the RAV4 doesn’t work out, I’m still keeping the Accord and possibly give it to my younger sister to replace her 2016 Civic (paid off) that have the 1.5T engine that might have oil dilution problem.
you can stick with the next decision. 15k miles a year is on the higher end of a lease, and you can certainly do it, but every non-luxury brand vehicle you might lease will be out of warranty before the lease is up, which is another set of problems that you absolutely need to mitigate if you’re going to bury negative equity in it — once your snowballed into that you won’t be able to eject early again.