Lessee's: Will you buyout your lease?

[kubel]

Do you think the LEAF will be worth more than the projected residual?
Will you be buying out your lease?

At the rate I'm going, I'll be way over my contracted 48,762 miles, so buying out the lease is looking like an option. My 2012 SV has a residual of $15,862.00. I live in Michigan, so premature battery degradation due to heat probably won't be an issue. I have a few years to make up my mind.

What do you think?

 

[TomT]

I have approximately 27 months left on my 4 year/60,000 mile lease... I think the answer is a resounding no for me...

Do you think the LEAF will be worth more than the projected residual?

 

[adric22]

At this point I plan to buy out mine. I still have about 16 months left on my lease. I still have all 12 capacity bars. My residual is still in that $15,500 area also. I mean think about it, where else can I buy a used Leaf that should have approx 30,000 miles on it that has been taken great care of, and I don't even have to pay sales tax on it? And I get that for $15,500. Its a no brainer, really.

On the other hand... If the new Leaf or Volt model comes out between now and then and has some better features and a lower price.. who knows.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I might. The idea of the three year lease was to see how it goes. And it's going ok, but let's see what the next two years brings. There was a small ($1500?) premium paid for leasing then buying vs just buying to begin with. Seems like if you buy out early you needlessly forfeit the option of handing it back to them for whatever reason.

The only reason I can think of to buy out sooner than later is if you think you will be buying it out eventually and aren't happy with whatever interest rate is factored into the lease.

 

[kubel]

Based on my current use, I'll be anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 miles over when I turn it in. I really was expecting to drive a limited-range electric car *less* than what I used to drive my gas car, but when I realized how painless it is to drive it (no pump), I ended up driving it a lot more.

At $0.15 per mile over, that's $900 to $1200, plus disposition of $395. I'm looking at a possible $1595 penalty. Wondering if the residual will be that far off...

The funny thing is- if I park the LEAF for the winter and drive my gas beater, I'll end up paying at least $300/mo in gas... That makes going over my miles on the LEAF a little less painful.

 

[zony]

I set up my 36mo/15k lease to not buyout. I want the next stable technology in 3 yrs even if it does cost me a bit more.
Zony

 

[LEAFer]

Speaking in general ... if you're happy with the LEAF, in areas where heat is not an issue (causing premature and excessive battery degradation) ... the lease buy-out is a pretty good deal. *HOWEVER*, I will not buy-out until I know (and can accept) the battery replacement cost.

If Nissan is unable or unwilling to provide me a commitment in regards to complete and fully installed cost, then I am not willing to commit to a buy-out.

Simple.

If Nissan is unable or unwilling to understand how critical it is to have this replacement cost info for the overall TCO equation, they are hurting themselves in their EV Vision.

Simple.

Are you listening, Nissan ?

 

[MrIanB]

I set up my 36mo/15k lease to not buyout. I want the next stable technology in 3 yrs even if it does cost me a bit more.
Zony

I am with you Zony. I WILL be giving the car back at end of lease. There are several new models from BMW, Infiniti coming that if they have longer range, larger battery, better looks at a comparable price to the Leaf, I will be getting one. Tesla will be doing leases on the S model "next year" and that may play a role on adding that model to my list. Longer range and better battery technology should be available by April 2015 when my lease is up.

Ian B

 

[GetOffYourGas]

While it's still too early to know for sure, I'm tending to lean towards buying it. As adric22 says, it's a pretty good deal for a used car that I know has been pampered.

I am leasing an SV (sans CHAdeMO). One thing that could change my mind is simply a CHAdeMO charger in a useful location. Or a larger battery pack in the 2015 model. Pretty much, the 2015 has to be significantly more functional to me, which means it has to handle 150-200 miles in a day either through properly placed quick chargers or a much larger battery.

I don't expect much degradation by 2015, but if I see two or more bars of capacity lost, I'm handing back the keys.

 

[KJD]

Based on my current use, I'll be anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 miles over when I turn it in. I really was expecting to drive a limited-range electric car *less* than what I used to drive my gas car, but when I realized how painless it is to drive it (no pump), I ended up driving it a lot more.

At $0.15 per mile over, that's $900 to $1200, plus disposition of $395. I'm looking at a possible $1595 penalty.

A couple of things to think about.
1) By the time your lease is up, Nissan will have a better, larger battery pack in the Leaf.
2) Most dealers will gladly waive the penalties if you turn it in on a new lease.

 

[adric22]

1) By the time your lease is up, Nissan will have a better, larger battery pack in the Leaf.

You seem quite sure of that. What information do you have that the rest of us don't?

 

[garymelora]

The residual on my 2012 SL is $16,800. I will be able to use this car on the original battery for at least 10 years. I tend to get used to a car and keep it a long time. The problem is that there is no way (unless the tax rebate is ended) that my car will be worth anything near the residual at the end of the lease. I hope that they will negotiate on the buyout price. I would hate to go through the ridiculous excercise of turning my car in, then walking over to the used car section and buying one just like it.

 

[dlich18]

At this point I plan to buy out mine. I still have about 16 months left on my lease. I still have all 12 capacity bars. My residual is still in that $15,500 area also. I mean think about it, where else can I buy a used Leaf that should have approx 30,000 miles on it that has been taken great care of, and I don't even have to pay sales tax on it?

Just wondering - why would you not have to pay sales tax on the buyout? My understanding is that you absolutely do, just like when you buy a car when it is new.

 

[edatoakrun]

...The only reason I can think of to buy out sooner than later is if you think you will be buying it out eventually and aren't happy with whatever interest rate is factored into the lease.

Another factor in my decision to buy out my lease out was that lack of DC infrastructure has limited my driving to ~14,000 miles to date.

This means the chances of me "using up" my 36,000 lease miles in three years, and the corresponding chances of the market value of my LEAF in May 2013 being significantly below the residual, both now seem rather small.

 

[KJD]

1) By the time your lease is up, Nissan will have a better, larger battery pack in the Leaf.

You seem quite sure of that. What information do you have that the rest of us don't?

No inside information, but if you look at the car and auto history it becomes obvious.

Most popular cars get updated every 4 or 5 years. Those that do not will fade into the also ran category.

The Leaf started as a 2011 so it must be in for a major update by 2015. That is only 2 years away and it looks like the OP is driving a 2012 same as me. So lets say the OP has a 3 or 4 year lease, this puts end of lease right at the same time Leaf version 2.0 hits the streets.

Right now the Leaf is the only "Low cost" EV on the market. Tesla mod S and the Rav4 EV are out there now but only at a much higher price point. BMW will enter the EV market soon. The Model S will be followed by the Model X. Tesla will also be working on the next smaller (lower cost) version very soon. There are others that may enter the market in the next 2 years.

The biggest complaint with Leaf version 1.0 is the 73 mile EPA range. Version 2.0 must fix this problem.

Right now Nissan has very little competition. The market will not stay that way very long. Nissan needs to get their act together or they will be replaced by someone else.

 

[adric22]

Just wondering - why would you not have to pay sales tax on the buyout? My understanding is that you absolutely do, just like when you buy a car when it is new.

I think this varies from state to state. In Texas all of the taxes are paid on the vehicle when you lease it. If you chose to buy the vehicle at the end of lease, the taxes are already paid. So for me that would save me almost $2,000 compared with buying another similar priced vehicle.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

have to say that i cant really say.

i always expected to buy my LEAF but if one comes out with significantly more range (i would not be tempted by anything less than 150 miles so would have to double what i got now) at a very reasonable price but it has to happen in the next 14 months and that is not likely to happen.

the other thing is degradation but as some may have already seen, Providence Centrailia has installed 2 blinks so now we do have charging AT WORK so long term options are now in place making it even more attractive to keep the LEAF and hope beyond hope that Nissan comes up with a battery upgrade purchase plan of sorts in the future

 

[Jimmydreams]

I probably won't. I'll be over on my miles, but I've been saving money on the side to pay for that. I've already lost 1 battery bar and drive 62 miles RT daily for work......I'm not convinced the car will make that trip for the duration of my lease.

Once the lease is up, I will compare outright purchase of the Leaf (assuming there are some DC chargers in operation around SD county), price of leasing a new Leaf, and other EV/hybrid options available at the time. It's still too early for me to tell because a lot can happen in the next 13 months.

 

[kubel]

Most popular cars get updated every 4 or 5 years..

Problem is, if I blew up the 2006 4.6L Modular V8 in my Crown Victoria, the dealer wouldn't replace it with a 2012 3.5L Ecoboost V6, which has more power and is more fuel efficient. They would either rebuild the Modular or order a new 4.6L Modular crate engine. They wouldn't even upgrade me to an E85 Modular. Unless there's a safety concern, manufacturers never invest the engineering resources to figure out how to adapt an old platform to take a different/modern component.

I think the only way we get improvements is if they come in the format of the same modules that we have now. The one thing we have in our favor is the limited shelf life of lithium ion batteries, so if Nissan plans to support our LEAFs with replacement modules, they have to keep cranking them out.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Most popular cars get updated every 4 or 5 years..

Problem is, if I blew up the 2006 4.6L Modular V8 in my Crown Victoria, the dealer wouldn't replace it with a 2012 3.5L Ecoboost V6, which has more power and is more fuel efficient. They would either rebuild the Modular or order a new 4.6L Modular crate engine. They wouldn't even upgrade me to an E85 Modular. Unless there's a safety concern, manufacturers never invest the engineering resources to figure out how to adapt an old platform to take a different/modern component.

I think the only way we get improvements is if they come in the format of the same modules that we have now. The one thing we have in our favor is the limited shelf life of lithium ion batteries, so if Nissan plans to support our LEAFs with replacement modules, they have to keep cranking them out.

ummm?? not sure i can agree with that. batteries are a source of power. for an easy switch, they only have to have correct interfaces (plugs, sockets, etc) and voltage and packaged small enough to fit in the existing slot.

now, can the power be adjusted? it is possible to improve the chemistry to where you can keep same voltage but have more power or same power/voltage and reduce weight.