Hi lease hackers. My 2018 volt lt lease ends in two days. I only have 21.4k miles on it while lease is for 30k. The buyout price is 17040$ and I would expect CA and Santa Clara sales tax on top of that. Kbb value shows 21k$ but CarMax offer is 17.4k$. Is it prudent to buy out Volt given that it’s been discontinued?
I got quotes for 2022 Bolt EV and the cheapest I’m getting is 250$ per month+ tax with 2000$ down which comes to about 11k$ for 3 years, so 17k$ to own the volt doesn’t look that bad. Given that from Edmunds I estimate depreciation to be 5400$ and maintenance to be max 2.8k$ . I also don’t like that Bolt can only charge 100miles in 30 minutes, which means long trips would be a pain if every 1.5 hours I’m stopping 30 mins.
See what other cars like yours are going for at GM dealers, especially certified pre owned units. My quick search would suggest your car for $17,040 is a pretty good deal.
Based on mileage, I would keep the Volt, and sell when the market for a new vehicle improves. That is if you can survive wit out new car smell for longer than 3 years. Unfortunate timing for sure. I was in the same situation but in April. I ended up selling out my Volt lease to Carvana, and getting a Bolt on a one pay.
As @Jesuscookies mentioned, the Bolt has a range of about 250 miles, so you would only need to stop every 4 hours if you averaged 60 mph in a day. With only 21,000 miles in 3 years, it sounds like you hardly ever drive more than a few miles per day?
Amazing how the market changed. My 2018 Volt LT lease ended earlier this year. I had offers from Carvana, Vroom, and others for between $12k and $14k for the car and it had fewer miles on it than yours.
I do miss the car. We have a Bolt now but even with the DC fast charging we rent cars for long distance trips.
Part of me wants to tell you to buy it, but the other part of me suspects its value will drop to January/February levels assuming used car values normalize.
Extend your lease, work to sell it, and get another car or wait for another Bolt gravy train. Whether it’s worth it or not, it’s up to you to crunch the numbers and figure out if it fits your personal situation. Internet strangers can only do so much GLWT
I only got this volt as a lease transfer 16 months ago
Because of the pandemic wfh, my work commute was zero. It should be 20 miles a day as they are I opening up now. Haven’t done long trips because of no family visits because of pandemic but it will be good to plan for
Does 2800$ for 3 years sound low or high?
3.I only got this volt as a lease transfer 16 months ago. Haven’t done +3h long trips because of no family visits because of pandemic but it will be good to plan for
Thanks for the reply. I didn’t know lease extension was an option. But looks like GM is offering one month lease extension because of COVID-19 …
I only wanted to know if there were any glaring blindspots in my considerations and calculations. I love the Volt and would be happy to own it for less than or equal to what it would cost to lease a new Bolt EV for 3 years.
I had a 2017 Volt LT and really liked it. But keep in mind that this will be a car with the complexities of both an ICE and EV, is out of production, and will be out of warranty soon. Just factors to take into consideration. GLWT
If the car was originally leased in California, it’s likely covered by the TZEV emissions warranty, which covers the battery and other costly components.
It seems like the OP likes the car, and it’s still cheaper to buy than whatever is on the market right now. In this situation, I’d probably purchase it.
Unfortunate timing for sure. I was in the same situation but in April. I ended up selling out my Volt lease to Carvana, and getting a Bolt on a one pay.
GLWT