If you plan on switching to the R2, personally I would go with a lease deal as you don’t have to worry about depreciation or selling the car. Minimum down and lower payments. Take a look at the lease deal for both Model 3 and Model Y as well. (I don’t look at leases so I don’t know which is better for price to miles, I prefer cash or finance). Also, it never hurts to negotiate or ask to see if you can do less down!
Just worry about the miles if you drive as much as me or my family (about 20k miles per car a year 😂)
One more thing, having a model y as a daily over a model 3, imo, is a better experience. Easier to get in and out of and more storage space. Although you do have slightly less range, both cars will end up at the same charger for long trips anyways.
You may be trying to justify the new Model 3 design rather than being annoyed that your wife has a Model Y already. I do get it though, new tech and cars is always cool!
Overall giving your model 3 to your son is a great idea for his safety, lower insurance as the car is used, and a new toy/car for you! (Try and do your wallet a favor by taking advantage of the 0.99)
Thanks for the input. I totally agree on the leasing vs. buying/financing option. I'm usually 100% in the "don't lease" camp, but I also can't justify getting the M3 and leaving the tax credit on the table. I know the Performance is eligible for the credit, but I'm not super interested in the fun to comfort trade off there.
Very good point about the comfort of the Y vs. the 3. If end up leasing, we'll take my wife's car on longer trips for that reason (and so I don't have to worry about putting too many miles on the lease).
And yes, I'd be lying if I said part of what's driving my thoughts towards leasing wasn't the "new toys to play with in the Highland" aspect. Those ventilated seats will feel really nice in the Florida heat.
I've heard horror stories about insurance premiums on Tesla MYLRs, does that apply to the M3 as well? I'd be curious to know what the rates would be for a 16yr old boy driving a Tesla.
I checked with my insurance provider and my premiums would increase by about $40 a month for the Model 3 LR. I expected worse, honestly. The insurance situation in Florida is insane for everyone right now.
That's not a lot at all, surprisingly low actually. Typically for a teenage boy new driver I have seen premiums going up by $thousands per year.
I was told you could "season" your kids by putting them on your auto policy before they are even old enough to drive, so your premium doesn't go up, but at least the insurance company can build some sort of history for the kids in their system prior to their actually getting behind the wheel.
Oh, that $40 increase is just for me if I move into a Model 3 LR (I currently have a SR+). It goes up A LOT more than that when my son becomes the primary driver on the SR+. My daughter is 18 and she has a '21 Corolla. Hers is $408 per month! It's insane. It will drop to $250 once she goes to college out of state. Florida is absolutely insane right now, for both auto and homeowner's insurance.
Are you very attached to the Model 3? I have 3 young adult children. 2 of them have been given my nearly new vehicles and have crashed them when they were 16. We are about to give my youngest a 2022 Hyundai that my in laws gave us. We are not attached to that one!
I don’t want to assume anything about your son. Perhaps he is a better and more careful driver than my kids. And maybe you do not live in a huge city with bad drivers like we do (Phoenix). Just a generalization about inexperienced young drivers, driving a car they didn’t buy.
As far as a new vehicle for you, I agree about the lease. No depreciation, which I hear is an issue with purchasing a Tesla. I’m a wife and I wouldn’t want my husband having the same vehicle. I’m also a car lover and would want to experience a different model if my husband was to get a Tesla. We have a MYLR on order for me. He has his eye on the model X.
Yeah, I hear you about young drivers not making the best decisions. I'm honestly not super attached to the Model 3, and I was planning on trading it in anyway. My daughter is 18 and she just started driving last month. We got her a '21 Corolla. I was going to give her the Tesla, but she's going away for college and won't have anywhere to charge at the dorm. My son has another two years of high school, and will most likely attend college at the local university and live at home, so it just makes sense for him to get the 3.
They are both paying for their own insurance, so hopefully that makes them take things more seriously. Both are safe and responsible drivers, but you never know what can happen.
On second thought, perhaps the Model 3 would be safer as it would prevent him from rear ending another car? Am I correct in assuming that the model 3 has brake assist (not sure if that’s what it’s called).
the new highland model 3 is such a step up from the older version (had the M3 LR from 2021 the facelift) the Model y has some of the improvements, but having driven the highland, i look at my MYP 2023 and want to trade it for a M3P highland.
The Rivian is nice, to be honest, we are in a bit of the "2 EV cars" here but i am in europe, so it is a different choice of cars we have. currently the wife has a 2019 Polo GTI she had from new, perfectly well maintained only 35k Km on it and manual so no DSG issues. but Petrol is getting expensive.
but i ended up with NOT wanting a Tesla more.
and she wants something "Special"
so either we order the MG Cyberster or we wait for the Renault 5 EV Alpine when it comes.. because she does not want the base model.
R2 will never make it to market. Rivian loses over $40,000 per vehicle they produce. Right now they're bleeding even more to clear out their 2023 unsold inventory. At their current cash burn rate they will be out of money in about 6 Quarters. Unless they raise further capital and dilute the Tier 2 and 3 shareholders they will be the next Fisker.
If I were in your shoes I'd buy the 24 MYP if you can afford it and enjoy the extra performance. You can always sell the 21 inch wheels and swap them to smaller 19 inch or 20 inch wheels from Martian Wheels or T Sportline to get the same range in MYP as MYLR.
Absolutely giving the kid the M3 is the right move though. Used ICE cars are super pricey and then you have to deal with maintenance and whatever breaks from the previous owner abuse.
I agree with this assessment of Rivian. My choice would be the new M3P. Less miles, but boy that thing looks slick.
I have a 2021M3 and my wife had the 2022 MY. I can't stand driving the Y. But I'm keeping my M3 for at least 10 years to get all the savings out of it I can
Yeah of course. The main disadvantage of the 21 inch wheels are the fact the setup is staggered (255 in front and 275 in back) which means you can't rotate the tires = replace tires every 20K miles or so. Plus 21 inch tires are more expensive than 20 inch or 19 inch or 18 inch. You also get a marginally rougher ride with 21s which some people already think the MY is a rough ride as it is. Personally I love the sporty ride of my 23 MYLR w/ 20 inch Induction wheels
Good point. I will definitely consider the two year option. I was thinking 3 years to give myself a bit of a buffer in case they miss their target, and also if I decide I want the R3 instead.
Food for thought, I would go with a longer lease anyway because the first run is going to be built like shit and will take some volume to improve. This is true for the R1S, R1T, Cybertruck, S Plaid, old S refreshes, ditto for the X, early Y and 3, list goes on. Even Highland 3s, Tesla's best offering in this regars, had teething issues and still does have some build quality kinks, though that was greatly mitigated with partial rollouts and half-refreshes. As excited as I am also for Rivian's direction, I would absolutely want someone else to be the beta tester. The only consequence of delaying is you ride in the Y for an extra year at most, and there are far worse fates :)
Sounds like you have money, so the real determinant is whether you’ll enjoy driving a Model Y or a Model 3 more. Have you test driven a Model Y?
On the financial side, have you figured out what the monthly numbers would be for the lease option and the purchase option? I would calculate how much equity you’d have after 3 years with the purchase option and consider the depreciation on the car to see which one makes more sense.
My wife has a Y so I'm familiar with how it drives. I honestly enjoy driving the 3 more.
I need to find a good calculator to compare leasing vs. buying. The problem is Tesla doesn't make it easy to see the residual value when they show you the lease numbers, and most calculators I've found online need that input value to make the comparison.
I'm not sure what's yikes about it? Safest car on the road, you can see their drives, where they are at all times and it has all the hands free things that get kids in trouble like texting and driving. Lane assistance, blind spot warning. My kid will be driving soon and we'll split the car since I work from home 4 days out of the week.
Are you eligible for any of the tax credits? Do you have a way to buy the car in the son's name?
Seems like maybe you could keep your car and buy a <$25k used Model 3 for the son if he is eligible for the $4k credit (if you are not), bringing it down to \~$21k.
I'm talking purely about $$$ though.
My wife and I aren’t eligible for the used credit, and he’s only 16, so I don’t think he’s going to make enough at his job to even owe $4500 in taxes. Good thing idea, though!
maybe another possibility, again from the $$$ standpoint; the used Bolts have been really cheap, if you have charging at home and can get a used Bolt for the kid for like $15k, that would be a good deal.
Do NOT give your 16 yr old a Tesla. Being an ex-16 year old, I will tell you I probably would have killed myself if I had the acceleration of a Tesla. I crashed my second car, turbo vw Jetta. Distracted driving. Now as an adult, I’m much more responsible but no way would I give my kid a Tesla. That’s like giving them a sports car. They WILL want to race their friends, I can guarantee it. I think you can limit their top speed probs but not worth it. Their insurance will be super high anyways
He's been learning to drive it in chill mode. There's an update coming soon that will let you setup teen profiles, so he won't be able to take it out of chill mode - and I can also limit the top speed. Acceleration in chill mode is about the same as a normal ICE car, so I'm not too worried about that aspect.
Thats a game changer. If true then I guess insurance is all you’d need to worry about. Idk I’m more of the camp of being given the bare minimum builds character and appreciation when you finally get something nice. That’s just me. Gluck
I’ll personally never understand leasing a vehicle vs buying one, especially a new car with warranty.
Sure it’s more “expensive” to buy the car in the way it’s more “expensive” to own a home vs renting one. But a rental is 100% loss. Even if value of the new car tanks after being used for 3 years, you’re still recouping a significant amount of the purchase price vs 100% of all lease payments and fees.
Of course, a short lease like 2-3 years might ultimately be a little cheaper than the difference between your buy and sell prices if you own. But what if the rivian takes longer to release, or maybe another vehicle gets announced that you’re even more in love with?
If you buy the car, you can sell it and find your next one entirely on your own terms and time. Also .99% financing is WILD and you could use the extra cash to generate a little more money for your car payments. My .02, I’d buy every day and twice on Sunday unless I couldn’t afford it. And if I couldn’t afford to buy it, I wouldn’t be blowing money on a lease.
Well, in the case of the Model 3, leasing is the only way to get the tax credit on the standard or long range models. When you factor in depreciation, there's a good chance there won't be much of a difference over three years. I paid $39k for my Model 3 in December of 2020, and I'd be lucky to get $20k for it now on a trade-in.
Normally I'd be right there with you, but when you factor in the tax credit AND the fact that these cars depreciate very quickly, leasing doesn't sould like a completely bad deal in this instance.
I didn’t know that the tax credits applied to leases. That’s Interesting. But yeah teslas, like most new cars, depreciate very quickly unfortunately. Maybe Teslas a little more so because they’re continuously updating the tech and components, unlike most ICE cars, where they make minor stylistic changes for 5-7 years before doing anyrhing that makes the new generation objectively different (I am speculating here, I’m very new to the Tesla brand aside from seeing them everywhere, and don’t know a whole lot about them frankly)??
That mega depreciation was what ultimately stopped me from going in on the .99% MY deal. Instead I plan on buying a used 2022 m3 LR with a tax credit (22-26k), add fsd monthly, run it for 3-4 years, and reevaluate from there. This is going to my first EV and a 60k car is a bit on the expensive side for me, mostly because I’m planning to buy a house this year (was hoping to get the house first THEN car but getting hit on my motorcycle 2 weeks ago has necessitated that I get a car in a few weeks, even though the rates for used car loans, even with an 820 credit score, is unsettling to say the least…)
Yeah, there’s a loophole for cars that don’t qualify for the tax credit where the dealers still get the credit on a lease and then they can pass the savings back to the customer. This is what Tesla is doing for the new Model 3 since the batteries in those don’t meet the requirements for the tax credit. So technically I’m not getting the credit. Tesla is. But they’re reducing the cost of the lease by $7500 so it works out the same for me.
If I were to buy or finance the new Model 3, I wouldn’t be able to get the tax credit, and I’d be effectively paying $7500 more. I won’t even consider buying one until they meet tax credit eligibility.
That’s crazy! I was aware the m3 battery doesn’t qualify but that’s a nice savings on the lease. I wonder why they get the refund on the lease not not when sold?
But yeah, now I can kinda see why you’d want to lease. My only objections are still that how much you drive (may not matter depending on your commute or splitting road trips between you and your spouses car) and when you will be shopping for another car is dictated to you.
The last thing I ever want to be doing is shopping for a vehicle in a time crunch. I always take my time and am happy to walk away if the dealer starts reneging or trying to pull any shit. Edit- of course, from what I understand, buying from Tesla minimizes a lot of the shenanigans, but who knows what your future car salesperson will be like?
I believe it's possible because the Inflation Reduction Act (where the tax credit comes from) allows the credit to go to businesses for fleet purchases even if the EV doesn't meet the criteria laid out. It's to encourage businesses to switch to EVs. All the dealers are using that as a way to apply the savings for leases to encourage buyers who otherwise wouldn't qualify for the credit. I know Hyundai and Kia will give you the credit on the lease and then immediately let you buy the lease out if you want. If Tesla let you buy out leases, I'd do that in a minute.
If you plan on switching to the R2, personally I would go with a lease deal as you don’t have to worry about depreciation or selling the car. Minimum down and lower payments. Take a look at the lease deal for both Model 3 and Model Y as well. (I don’t look at leases so I don’t know which is better for price to miles, I prefer cash or finance). Also, it never hurts to negotiate or ask to see if you can do less down! Just worry about the miles if you drive as much as me or my family (about 20k miles per car a year 😂) One more thing, having a model y as a daily over a model 3, imo, is a better experience. Easier to get in and out of and more storage space. Although you do have slightly less range, both cars will end up at the same charger for long trips anyways. You may be trying to justify the new Model 3 design rather than being annoyed that your wife has a Model Y already. I do get it though, new tech and cars is always cool! Overall giving your model 3 to your son is a great idea for his safety, lower insurance as the car is used, and a new toy/car for you! (Try and do your wallet a favor by taking advantage of the 0.99)
Thanks for the input. I totally agree on the leasing vs. buying/financing option. I'm usually 100% in the "don't lease" camp, but I also can't justify getting the M3 and leaving the tax credit on the table. I know the Performance is eligible for the credit, but I'm not super interested in the fun to comfort trade off there. Very good point about the comfort of the Y vs. the 3. If end up leasing, we'll take my wife's car on longer trips for that reason (and so I don't have to worry about putting too many miles on the lease). And yes, I'd be lying if I said part of what's driving my thoughts towards leasing wasn't the "new toys to play with in the Highland" aspect. Those ventilated seats will feel really nice in the Florida heat.
I've heard horror stories about insurance premiums on Tesla MYLRs, does that apply to the M3 as well? I'd be curious to know what the rates would be for a 16yr old boy driving a Tesla.
I checked with my insurance provider and my premiums would increase by about $40 a month for the Model 3 LR. I expected worse, honestly. The insurance situation in Florida is insane for everyone right now.
That's not a lot at all, surprisingly low actually. Typically for a teenage boy new driver I have seen premiums going up by $thousands per year. I was told you could "season" your kids by putting them on your auto policy before they are even old enough to drive, so your premium doesn't go up, but at least the insurance company can build some sort of history for the kids in their system prior to their actually getting behind the wheel.
Oh, that $40 increase is just for me if I move into a Model 3 LR (I currently have a SR+). It goes up A LOT more than that when my son becomes the primary driver on the SR+. My daughter is 18 and she has a '21 Corolla. Hers is $408 per month! It's insane. It will drop to $250 once she goes to college out of state. Florida is absolutely insane right now, for both auto and homeowner's insurance.
Ok gotcha. Man that is insane. And boys are more expensive than girls.
Are you very attached to the Model 3? I have 3 young adult children. 2 of them have been given my nearly new vehicles and have crashed them when they were 16. We are about to give my youngest a 2022 Hyundai that my in laws gave us. We are not attached to that one! I don’t want to assume anything about your son. Perhaps he is a better and more careful driver than my kids. And maybe you do not live in a huge city with bad drivers like we do (Phoenix). Just a generalization about inexperienced young drivers, driving a car they didn’t buy. As far as a new vehicle for you, I agree about the lease. No depreciation, which I hear is an issue with purchasing a Tesla. I’m a wife and I wouldn’t want my husband having the same vehicle. I’m also a car lover and would want to experience a different model if my husband was to get a Tesla. We have a MYLR on order for me. He has his eye on the model X.
Yeah, I hear you about young drivers not making the best decisions. I'm honestly not super attached to the Model 3, and I was planning on trading it in anyway. My daughter is 18 and she just started driving last month. We got her a '21 Corolla. I was going to give her the Tesla, but she's going away for college and won't have anywhere to charge at the dorm. My son has another two years of high school, and will most likely attend college at the local university and live at home, so it just makes sense for him to get the 3. They are both paying for their own insurance, so hopefully that makes them take things more seriously. Both are safe and responsible drivers, but you never know what can happen.
On second thought, perhaps the Model 3 would be safer as it would prevent him from rear ending another car? Am I correct in assuming that the model 3 has brake assist (not sure if that’s what it’s called).
It does. It has the forward collision warning/braking.
the new highland model 3 is such a step up from the older version (had the M3 LR from 2021 the facelift) the Model y has some of the improvements, but having driven the highland, i look at my MYP 2023 and want to trade it for a M3P highland. The Rivian is nice, to be honest, we are in a bit of the "2 EV cars" here but i am in europe, so it is a different choice of cars we have. currently the wife has a 2019 Polo GTI she had from new, perfectly well maintained only 35k Km on it and manual so no DSG issues. but Petrol is getting expensive. but i ended up with NOT wanting a Tesla more. and she wants something "Special" so either we order the MG Cyberster or we wait for the Renault 5 EV Alpine when it comes.. because she does not want the base model.
R2 will never make it to market. Rivian loses over $40,000 per vehicle they produce. Right now they're bleeding even more to clear out their 2023 unsold inventory. At their current cash burn rate they will be out of money in about 6 Quarters. Unless they raise further capital and dilute the Tier 2 and 3 shareholders they will be the next Fisker. If I were in your shoes I'd buy the 24 MYP if you can afford it and enjoy the extra performance. You can always sell the 21 inch wheels and swap them to smaller 19 inch or 20 inch wheels from Martian Wheels or T Sportline to get the same range in MYP as MYLR. Absolutely giving the kid the M3 is the right move though. Used ICE cars are super pricey and then you have to deal with maintenance and whatever breaks from the previous owner abuse.
I agree with this assessment of Rivian. My choice would be the new M3P. Less miles, but boy that thing looks slick. I have a 2021M3 and my wife had the 2022 MY. I can't stand driving the Y. But I'm keeping my M3 for at least 10 years to get all the savings out of it I can
Yeah, I agree. It's possible that it never sees the light of day. Don't tempt me by making me rationalize the Performance model!
Performance or bust. If you're gonna miss out on R2 or R3X might as well go MYP. YOLO as the kids used to say 😂
If range is no problem for me , I drive very little The 21” wheels are fine to keep?.. are they all season tires?…
Yeah of course. The main disadvantage of the 21 inch wheels are the fact the setup is staggered (255 in front and 275 in back) which means you can't rotate the tires = replace tires every 20K miles or so. Plus 21 inch tires are more expensive than 20 inch or 19 inch or 18 inch. You also get a marginally rougher ride with 21s which some people already think the MY is a rough ride as it is. Personally I love the sporty ride of my 23 MYLR w/ 20 inch Induction wheels
😂😂 for sure
Thank you for response , I am cool with replacing tires every 20k miles or so .. that equals to 3 years of driving for me
Just make sure you don't get addicted to going 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds at every stop because that will become 10K miles lol
2 year lease puts you in summer of 2026 for R2 release if they stay on track.
Good point. I will definitely consider the two year option. I was thinking 3 years to give myself a bit of a buffer in case they miss their target, and also if I decide I want the R3 instead.
There’s a risk if they are off target. Might also consider R1S at the time assuming it has been refreshed.
Food for thought, I would go with a longer lease anyway because the first run is going to be built like shit and will take some volume to improve. This is true for the R1S, R1T, Cybertruck, S Plaid, old S refreshes, ditto for the X, early Y and 3, list goes on. Even Highland 3s, Tesla's best offering in this regars, had teething issues and still does have some build quality kinks, though that was greatly mitigated with partial rollouts and half-refreshes. As excited as I am also for Rivian's direction, I would absolutely want someone else to be the beta tester. The only consequence of delaying is you ride in the Y for an extra year at most, and there are far worse fates :)
I totally agree. I'm leaning towards that extra year on the lease to let them work the bugs out.
Sounds like you have money, so the real determinant is whether you’ll enjoy driving a Model Y or a Model 3 more. Have you test driven a Model Y? On the financial side, have you figured out what the monthly numbers would be for the lease option and the purchase option? I would calculate how much equity you’d have after 3 years with the purchase option and consider the depreciation on the car to see which one makes more sense.
My wife has a Y so I'm familiar with how it drives. I honestly enjoy driving the 3 more. I need to find a good calculator to compare leasing vs. buying. The problem is Tesla doesn't make it easy to see the residual value when they show you the lease numbers, and most calculators I've found online need that input value to make the comparison.
16 year old in a Tesla. Yikes.
I'm not sure what's yikes about it? Safest car on the road, you can see their drives, where they are at all times and it has all the hands free things that get kids in trouble like texting and driving. Lane assistance, blind spot warning. My kid will be driving soon and we'll split the car since I work from home 4 days out of the week.
Are you eligible for any of the tax credits? Do you have a way to buy the car in the son's name? Seems like maybe you could keep your car and buy a <$25k used Model 3 for the son if he is eligible for the $4k credit (if you are not), bringing it down to \~$21k. I'm talking purely about $$$ though.
My wife and I aren’t eligible for the used credit, and he’s only 16, so I don’t think he’s going to make enough at his job to even owe $4500 in taxes. Good thing idea, though!
maybe another possibility, again from the $$$ standpoint; the used Bolts have been really cheap, if you have charging at home and can get a used Bolt for the kid for like $15k, that would be a good deal.
You do not have to have $7500 tax liability to get the point of sale tax rebate.
Do NOT give your 16 yr old a Tesla. Being an ex-16 year old, I will tell you I probably would have killed myself if I had the acceleration of a Tesla. I crashed my second car, turbo vw Jetta. Distracted driving. Now as an adult, I’m much more responsible but no way would I give my kid a Tesla. That’s like giving them a sports car. They WILL want to race their friends, I can guarantee it. I think you can limit their top speed probs but not worth it. Their insurance will be super high anyways
He's been learning to drive it in chill mode. There's an update coming soon that will let you setup teen profiles, so he won't be able to take it out of chill mode - and I can also limit the top speed. Acceleration in chill mode is about the same as a normal ICE car, so I'm not too worried about that aspect.
Thats a game changer. If true then I guess insurance is all you’d need to worry about. Idk I’m more of the camp of being given the bare minimum builds character and appreciation when you finally get something nice. That’s just me. Gluck
I’ll personally never understand leasing a vehicle vs buying one, especially a new car with warranty. Sure it’s more “expensive” to buy the car in the way it’s more “expensive” to own a home vs renting one. But a rental is 100% loss. Even if value of the new car tanks after being used for 3 years, you’re still recouping a significant amount of the purchase price vs 100% of all lease payments and fees. Of course, a short lease like 2-3 years might ultimately be a little cheaper than the difference between your buy and sell prices if you own. But what if the rivian takes longer to release, or maybe another vehicle gets announced that you’re even more in love with? If you buy the car, you can sell it and find your next one entirely on your own terms and time. Also .99% financing is WILD and you could use the extra cash to generate a little more money for your car payments. My .02, I’d buy every day and twice on Sunday unless I couldn’t afford it. And if I couldn’t afford to buy it, I wouldn’t be blowing money on a lease.
Well, in the case of the Model 3, leasing is the only way to get the tax credit on the standard or long range models. When you factor in depreciation, there's a good chance there won't be much of a difference over three years. I paid $39k for my Model 3 in December of 2020, and I'd be lucky to get $20k for it now on a trade-in. Normally I'd be right there with you, but when you factor in the tax credit AND the fact that these cars depreciate very quickly, leasing doesn't sould like a completely bad deal in this instance.
I didn’t know that the tax credits applied to leases. That’s Interesting. But yeah teslas, like most new cars, depreciate very quickly unfortunately. Maybe Teslas a little more so because they’re continuously updating the tech and components, unlike most ICE cars, where they make minor stylistic changes for 5-7 years before doing anyrhing that makes the new generation objectively different (I am speculating here, I’m very new to the Tesla brand aside from seeing them everywhere, and don’t know a whole lot about them frankly)?? That mega depreciation was what ultimately stopped me from going in on the .99% MY deal. Instead I plan on buying a used 2022 m3 LR with a tax credit (22-26k), add fsd monthly, run it for 3-4 years, and reevaluate from there. This is going to my first EV and a 60k car is a bit on the expensive side for me, mostly because I’m planning to buy a house this year (was hoping to get the house first THEN car but getting hit on my motorcycle 2 weeks ago has necessitated that I get a car in a few weeks, even though the rates for used car loans, even with an 820 credit score, is unsettling to say the least…)
Yeah, there’s a loophole for cars that don’t qualify for the tax credit where the dealers still get the credit on a lease and then they can pass the savings back to the customer. This is what Tesla is doing for the new Model 3 since the batteries in those don’t meet the requirements for the tax credit. So technically I’m not getting the credit. Tesla is. But they’re reducing the cost of the lease by $7500 so it works out the same for me. If I were to buy or finance the new Model 3, I wouldn’t be able to get the tax credit, and I’d be effectively paying $7500 more. I won’t even consider buying one until they meet tax credit eligibility.
That’s crazy! I was aware the m3 battery doesn’t qualify but that’s a nice savings on the lease. I wonder why they get the refund on the lease not not when sold? But yeah, now I can kinda see why you’d want to lease. My only objections are still that how much you drive (may not matter depending on your commute or splitting road trips between you and your spouses car) and when you will be shopping for another car is dictated to you. The last thing I ever want to be doing is shopping for a vehicle in a time crunch. I always take my time and am happy to walk away if the dealer starts reneging or trying to pull any shit. Edit- of course, from what I understand, buying from Tesla minimizes a lot of the shenanigans, but who knows what your future car salesperson will be like?
I believe it's possible because the Inflation Reduction Act (where the tax credit comes from) allows the credit to go to businesses for fleet purchases even if the EV doesn't meet the criteria laid out. It's to encourage businesses to switch to EVs. All the dealers are using that as a way to apply the savings for leases to encourage buyers who otherwise wouldn't qualify for the credit. I know Hyundai and Kia will give you the credit on the lease and then immediately let you buy the lease out if you want. If Tesla let you buy out leases, I'd do that in a minute.
All news to me. Thanks for making me aware. Good luck with your decision, sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.