If you have the cash, should you buy or lease?

[StainlessSsam]

If you lease any Tesla today the added cost for FSD adds between $134 - $160 to the monthly payment. It is only a 36 month lease. With current pricing (which is expected to increase) anyone paying 10k for FSD should plan on keeping their Tesla for at least 5-6 years to recover their initial cost for FSD. For those CT buyers that purchased when FSD was lower the recovery period is shorter... at $8k you only need to keep it for around 4.5 years...at $7k about 3.9 years.

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[Jhodgesatmb]

I'm in a good spot to purchase the dual motor CT outright. But knowing all the issues the model 3 and the model y had, would it be smart to purchase the CT or lease it and wait a few years for all the issues to get resolved? It seems almost a waste of money to lease it for a few years then purchase the same vehicle anyways. Right?

Right!

 

[NiceGuyMax]

Be careful...Oil stocks such as Exxon Mobil are paying 10% dividend but not sustainable

Thus why I said "learn".

 

[alan auerbach]

Thus why I said "learn".

Haven't read the other answers so I apologize for any duplications.

Borrow-and-buy? Then the vehicle is your property -- to sell, trade, keep, or whatever whenever.

Lease? You don't pay for for the insurance coverage that you think is adequate -- you get the insurance that they specify (which would include costly -- and otherwise optional -- collision coverage). Prior to the end of the lease period, if your life changes you have no options (other than begging and paying). But it's at the end of the lease when the fun starts and you learn about fine print.

Exceeded the allowed mileage? Will cost you mucho. Way below the allowed distance? That's your loss. And mainly, whatever it's still worth at the end goes 100% to the leasing firm -- after they inspect it and charge you what they want for repairs they say are needed.

Sure, "normal wear and tear" is accepted -- but they decide what is and isn't. Suppose you have a door ding. If not leased, you could leave it or have it fixed for $300, or fill and paint it yourself for $30. If leased, "The experts at the body shop advise that for a proper color match the car needs repainting. It's all spelled out in the agreement you signed and it's $3,000. How would you like to cover that?"

The only time to consider leasing is when the vehicle is high maintenance (such that you shouldn't choose that model anyway), you plan to drive the dickens out of it (better read the fine print first), or your accountant insists that it's the better business tax-write-off decision.

 

[Crissa]

When Tesla was waiting for the 3 to come out but could produce the S, they were giving leases of the S at almost what I paid for my Mazda 3.

So always crunch the numbers.

-Crissa

 

[speach]

The only time to consider leasing is when the vehicle is very high maintenance (such that you shouldn't choose that model anyway), you plan to drive the dickens out of it (better read the fine print first), or your accountant insists that it's the better business tax-write-off decision.

Well said, and I agree wholeheartedly. Leasing is only a generally good idea for those who have an uncommon tax advantage for the lease over the purchase. Otherwise, it has to be a car that exists in the right environment. By that, I mean a car that is way overpriced, but you want to buy anyway. For example, a typical spec for a new S550 Mercedes 4matic can sell for $120k+ but in 36 months sells for $60k. That's >$1.6k/mo in capital cost alone (not counting time value of money) and well over what it leases at. The "environment" here is the retail on a well-optioned S-class merc is overpriced, and the resale market corrects for it.

I think the CT is coming to market at a very high-value MSRP, comparatively speaking to other Tesla's. This is considering its tech specs alone, without even accounting for its wow factor. I want and would order a "normal" Tesla truck for the same specs and price. I am stoked that I also get a wild vehicle. When the CT is actually obtainable I believe the market will account for that value and the CT will resale extraordinarily well for years. The more I am right about that, then the less value there will be for that lease.

 

[cyberforce]

I don't need FSD, I don't drive very far to work, and I've leased several vehicles in the past. I'll totally lease my CT and have no regrets, in 3 years I can buy it or give it back and get the next one with some of the first production bugs worked out.

 

[showmemo]

I don't need FSD, I don't drive very far to work, and I've leased several vehicles in the past. I'll totally lease my CT and have no regrets, in 3 years I can buy it or give it back and get the next one with some of the first production bugs worked out.

I don't think the Tesla leases allow you to buy at the end? I think they always take the vehicle back. At least, when I looked at a Y, the lease did not have a buyout, if I recall correctly.

 

[Crissa]

Tesla specifically stopped having buyouts a year or two ago. People seem to take it as a sign that Tesla is going to use them for their app-based mobility service.

Who knows, though?

-Crissa

 

[cyberforce]

Tesla specifically stopped having buyouts a year or two ago. People seem to take it as a sign that Tesla is going to use them for their app-based mobility service.

Who knows, though?

-Crissa

Interesting, didn't know that. I'd def give it back then and considering buying the next one or see where the Tesla market is in 3-4 years.

 

[TechOps]

Tesla specifically stopped having buyouts a year or two ago. People seem to take it as a sign that Tesla is going to use them for their app-based mobility service.

Who knows, though?

-Crissa

Oh, we know. At Autonomy Day, Elon specifically said they were foregoing Model 3 buyouts so that they could amass a fleet of Robotaxis. If you lease a Model 3, you're paying 60% of the total purchase price, which is the CapEx required to produce the car, and then handing it back to Tesla after a few years as the gift of a free car for the RoboTaxi fleet.

“The nice thing is that essentially customers are fronting us the money for the car. It's great!" -E. M.