Should I buy my Leased 2012?

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mynameisjim

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2010
Messages
140
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Hi Everyone,

I'm looking for advice and input regarding my 2012 Leaf lease buyout. I received the $5,000 purchase discount offer* in my payment this month, and it expires 1/31/2015. My next car will likely be a Tesla Model 3 in 2-4 years. Should I buy my leased car, lease another Leaf, or "other". One fear is that I'll buy this car and by my maturation date the new Leaf is announced.

My commute is short with workplace charging available. But when it's zero degrees F there is some range anxiety.

2012 Leaf SL with 22,000 miles. Lease matures 10/26/15 residual $17,300. Current buyout $20,294 - $5,000 = $15,294.


*Your lease payoff is the Adjusted Lease Balance as defined in your Lease Agreement, less the $5,000 incentive offer. Offer expires January 31, 2015. Your dealer may charge up to a $300 purchase option fee should you choose to purchase your MY12 LEAF.
 
Shop around and see if you could do a much better buying used. It sounds to me like that is a fair price, but I am not in your area. Given your area you might be better off looking for a lease on a 2015 SV with the heat pump to hold you over until the 150-200 mile EV's show up in force.
 
mynameisjim said:
2012 Leaf SL with 22,000 miles. Lease matures 10/26/15 residual $17,300. Current buyout $20,294 - $5,000 = $15,294.
I spent less than that for my "new to me" 2012 Leaf SL with 12K miles on it.
(Three weeks ago)

Not a whole bunch less (under $14k), but it had 10k fewer miles.

Maybe the market (got it in Portland Oregon), but you probably want to look around.
At least, it doesn't sound like a great deal.
Heck, without that $5k incentive, it would be a TERRIBLE deal.. ;-)

Good luck

desiv
 
Given your area you might be better off looking for a lease on a 2015 SV with the heat pump to hold you over until the 150-200 mile EV's show up in force.

The heatpump wouldn't actually help with range at 0F, but it would at higher temps like 30F. What the OP really needs is a little more capacity, and a '15+ Leaf should provide just enough, with much less degradation. So I'd say lease an SV or SL , because buying one will only mean taking a bath on reselling it when the Tesla is out.
 
You're making those payments in some form no matter what you do, but the only way to get the extra $5k is to buy now. Effectively lowers your buyout to $12,300 & $300 extra fee. Still probably more than NMAC would get at auction, and less than what you might pay used, and you know this car. Do you have excess wear or damage?

What is your short commute, exactly? If you can charge at work, where does the range anxiety come from? Will this car still work for you for another couple years?
 
Great questions.

My commute is about 10 miles each way. Workplace charging is available 90% of the time.

Range anxiety comes from the cold weather and making short trips like errands on days I don't work. In my experience heating the cabin when near 0 uses an amazing amount of energy (6kwh to start and 3.5kwh continuous) and going without heat isn't possible, because of the family (and the inside of the windows freeze).

Thinking out loud, paying my lease as a I planned until October costs $3,000, and a new 24 month lease costs around $8,500. That takes me to October 2017 for $11,500. Could I buy my car for $15,200(+tax = 16,200) and sell it for at least $5,000 in October of 2017? Who knows
 
Only buy if you want to keep the car. With 10 mi trips, you can easily keep it. Otherwise, do another lease and get the improved 2015 model with a better heater. Leasing is insurance that a better EV will come out. You won the bet the last time (residual and market value don't match), but you may not the next time. Tesla M3 may or may not come out in 2017 (the same for other longer range EVs). I think there will be lots more choices by 2017 and the 2012-2016 low range EVs will look pathetic in comparison, but I might be wrong. If it were me, I'd lease again and see what's new in 2017. That said, I did buy and will stick with my 2011 until I can't do at least 10 mi RT.
 
If you keep the car, check out the topic(s) about insulating the coolant/heater hoses to stop the rapid heat loss that occurs in frigid temps. That alone (maybe with a grille block) should solve your short trip problem.
 
I don't quite understand where the $5k discount offer is coming from. I have essentially the same lease arrangement as the OP (mine ends in Sept). I called NMAC and they said that I would have to contact the dealer to see about any discount offer, that NMAC does not make such offers. However, it seems that the OP and other posts point back to NMAC. What am I missing here?
 
I'm leasing a 2012 and got the same offer. It's from NMAC. The fine print explicitly says that 2011s and 2013s are excluded from the offer.

I don't plan to take NMAC up on it. It, simply, doesn't make good economic sense (which is probably why NMAC is making the offer in the first place). They really don't want the 2012s back. The wholesale auction price is so much less than the residuals, they are going to take huge losses on each car turned in.
 
Where is your capacity? Will you get a warranty battery replacement eventually?
If you have range issues now... it could really get to be an issue before that Model 3 or Bolt comes along.

If you qualify for a new battery soon you may have some real value there.
 
My offer was printed on my NMAC statement.

My battery has no obvious degradation. I don't have a measuring device besides showing 12 capacity bars. My issue with range is only during the harsh Minnesota winter days. I average around 2.6 miles/kWh and have less capacity due to battery temperature.
 
I just traded my 2012 for a 2015 and very glad I did.
2012 had not lost any bars but was giving me about 60 miles in January.
2015 giving me 80 miles in January with better heater, and I love the B drive with more regenerative braking.
 
On your days off, running errands, how low do you really get that's triggering anxiety? LBW?

I see a lot of stations on PlugShare in the Minneapolis area, L2s and a couple QCs. Anything usable there for you?

Any kid old enough in 2017 to pass it on to when you get the next gen?
 
I got the same offer, very similar numbers, and ended up signing on the dotted line last month. Like you, it would cost me maybe $5k less to lease another car for 3 years than to buy this one. But then I would have to make a decision again in 3 years versus owning the car outright. This way, I can pull the trigger on a new car whenever I feel like it. My commute is 4.5 miles round trip. Even in the dead of winter (yes I know MN gets colder than upstate NY, but it's still pretty cold here), I can probably make the trip for a good long time. You can probably make your commute for a long time as well.

Do you own another car that you could use those handful of days when you might get range anxiety? It turns out ICEs produce an awful lot of heat which is just perfect for warming the car in winter.

My wife and I share two cars. We will probably keep the Leaf around for as long as it does my commute on the original battery. We can replace the hybrid with a PHEV or long-range BEV once I pay off the Leaf.
 
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