Lease Exit Plan

What are you planning on doing when your lease is up? Getting another....what will you negotiate for? Trying a PHEV or other alternative fuel vehicle? Just turning it in? Keeping the car.......what will you negoatiate for?

Will turn in and get a 2015 EV. So far the only two "real" EV producers are Nissan and Tesla. I won't buy a "compliance car".

Nubo said:

Will turn in and get a 2015 EV. So far the only two "real" EV producers are Nissan and Tesla. I won't buy a "compliance car".

Click to expand...

+1 Exact same plan here and no compliance cars for me either.

Definitely no PHEV and no other "alternative fuel" car for me. My next car will be a BEV. I'm pretty sure I will turn my 2011 in at end of lease, if not sooner. (Seeing all the present lease prices is making me quite dissatisfied with the $470/month I'm paying.) The problem is, my lease is up in 2014, and I suspect that 2014 LEAFs will be a near carbon copy of 2013's. So, if I do hang on to the end I might be willing to go for a compliance car. Manufacturers are going to have to do a lot of "complying" in the coming years.

Ray

I'm in the same boat as planet4ever with a 400+ montly lease on my Leaf. To add insult to injury Nissan dropped the price like 6k on the Leaf. No way I'm going to pay a 15k residual when a new one is like 19k. I'm also wondering about the battery life and thinking it is best to give it back to the dealer to figure out what to do with it.

It's going to be intersting when the lease terms are up on the Leafs delivered in 2011. I think there are a lot of folks with high montly payments and high residuals that are just going to dump the car on the dealer. I wonder if they will be offering deals to entice people to keep them.

It really all depends on what is available around January 2016 and my personal situation is. One thing for sure, I cannot have just a BEV as my sole vehicle, and my Audi will be 10 years old by then and will probably need replacing. So one possibility is a PHEV with at least Volt-like EV-only range.

I may also consider purchasing a used 2012 or 2013 with a QC port (mine doesn't have one) to further reduce, but not totally eliminate, my need for an ICE backup. It would depend on how many bars it has lost though.

junfankali said:

I'm in the same boat as planet4ever with a 400+ montly lease on my Leaf. To add insult to injury Nissan dropped the price like 6k on the Leaf. No way I'm going to pay a 15k residual when a new one is like 19k. I'm also wondering about the battery life and thinking it is best to give it back to the dealer to figure out what to do with it.

It's going to be intersting when the lease terms are up on the Leafs delivered in 2011. I think there are a lot of folks with high montly payments and high residuals that are just going to dump the car on the dealer. I wonder if they will be offering deals to entice people to keep them.

Click to expand...

I doubt that they will offer a deal to keep your lease. They offer deals to get you into another Nissan. There's waiving up to $500 wear and tear charges, waiving the termination fee, letting you turn in a few months early and up to $1000 lease loyalty cash to pay the first monthly payment on your new lease.
Lessors often insure residuals and some manufacturers artificially enhance those insured residuals in order to offer special lease deals. To file a claim when the vehicle does not bring the residual value, the actual cash value must be established in a commercially acceptable manner (public or dealer auction.) So if they give the lessee a deal on the vehicle, they are unable to file a residual insurance claim.

The $40K infiniti EV will be an option in 2014.
I'm expecting it will have 100 miles of EPA range.
http://www.newcartestdrive.com/sneakpreview.cfm?ReviewID=423" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infiniti_LE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I will make my assessment in 23 more months based on what is available and what is the best choice at that time.
A point of curiosity, why all the hate for the compliance cars? The Rav4 looks like one I'd be interested in if was easily obtainable

DanCar said:

The $40K infiniti EV will be an option in 2014.
I'm expecting it will have 100 miles of EPA range.

Click to expand...

I doubt it, not at that price that is not too far from a loaded up LEAF or a stripped Volt.

The sad thing is that ALL the compliance cars are better than the LEAF.. because the manufacturers are not limited by having to make a profit. The compliance cars are a better deal..

1. RAV4 : Tesla powertrain and true 100 mile range
2. Fit: uses the superior (but heavy) Toshiba SCiB lithium titanate cells
3. Focus: refrigerated battery pack
4. 500: superior efficiency and range with a smaller battery
5. Smart: Daimler quality and low cost

Did I forget anyone?

apvbguy said:

The Rav4 looks like one I'd be interested in if was easily obtainable

Click to expand...

That's the problem, they aren't.

kikbuti said:

Lessors often insure residuals and some manufacturers artificially enhance those insured residuals in order to offer special lease deals. To file a claim when the vehicle does not bring the residual value, the actual cash value must be established in a commercially acceptable manner (public or dealer auction.) So if they give the lessee a deal on the vehicle, they are unable to file a residual insurance claim.

Click to expand...

That's one of the more interesting tidbits that's been posted on this topic. So NMAC isn't the one who will absorb the loss if the cars don't sell for the residual? It sounds a little like the whole mortgage securitizatation problem, where you can't identify a single entity who is empowered to modify a contract to achieve a better outcome for "the man", just a bunch of different entities who must strictly follow a set of procedures, the chips fall where they may, and nobody really cares.

Which makes the "mandatory" $395 fee even more ridiculous.

sonnylax said:

Which makes the "mandatory" $395 fee even more ridiculous.

Click to expand...

every car the I've leased has had a termination fee, it is a dirty little secret that they spring on the unsuspecting leasee

Herm said:

DanCar said:

The $40K infiniti EV will be an option in 2014.
I'm expecting it will have 100 miles of EPA range.

Click to expand...

I doubt it, not at that price that is not too far from a loaded up LEAF or a stripped Volt.

Click to expand...

Probably cost will be higher than $40K. Anyways Nissan has been quoted in several articles saying it will have at least 100 mile range. Also the car has more room for batteries.

>The sad thing is that ALL the compliance cars are better than the LEAF...
(chuckle) If they were better they would sell more, but I now what you mean. If price weren't an issue then they are technically better. But price is a big issue and for many the biggest issue.
That is why Nissan Leaf is the best, without any ifs, "ands", or buts.

Herm said:

DanCar said:

The $40K infiniti EV will be an option in 2014.
I'm expecting it will have 100 miles of EPA range.

Click to expand...

I doubt it, not at that price that is not too far from a loaded up LEAF or a stripped Volt.

Click to expand...

Base Infiniti LE will not be costlier than base Leaf + $10k.

evnow said:

Base Infiniti LE will not be costlier than base Leaf + $10k.

Click to expand...

I agree. Every car example I can think of is less than $10k difference:
G coupe vs Z: $7k
G convertible vs Z convertible: $6k
G sedan vs Maxima (not exact models): $4k

DanCar said:

>The sad thing is that ALL the compliance cars are better than the LEAF...
(chuckle) If they were better they would sell more, but I now what you mean. If price weren't an issue then they are technically better. But price is a big issue and for many the biggest issue.
That is why Nissan Leaf is the best, without any ifs, "ands", or buts.

Click to expand...

IIRC Tony Williams said something about Toyota losing $10k on every Rav4 EV, so they will only sell 2600 of them to meet some quota. A company the size of Toyota blows their nose with $26M as long as it enables them to keep selling the rest of their stuff in CA, it's just a cost of doing business. Remember the old joke about losing money on each one but making up for it with volume? That's why they have to limit the numbers. Nissan seems to be on another strategy, they must keep costs down because they want to sell as many as they can. These evil companies, they don't really care about EVs, all they care about is profits.

apvbguy said:

I will make my assessment in 23 more months based on what is available and what is the best choice at that time.
A point of curiosity, why all the hate for the compliance cars? The Rav4 looks like one I'd be interested in if was easily obtainable

Click to expand...

No hate here, but I don't wish to do business with a company that is half-heartedly going through the motions. I'd rather support a company that is committed to electric vehicles as a viable product.

Reminds me of a recent commercial involving "gas-station sushi". No thanks! I'll go to where they care about making the stuff.

The residual on my SL for a 39 month lease will be over $18K, so I doubt I will keep the car. I will either look a a low mileage used EV or get into a new one. So far I still like the LEAF more than anything else on the market (besides the Tesla which I cannot afford). I need a trunk, and I'm not thrilled about buying a compliance car, either.