evnow
Well-known member
So, after a little over 6 years and 2 Leafs, I'll be returning the Leaf I've in a couple of days as the lease gets over. I got a Volt LT lease for $1k down and 190 per month as stop gap till I get Tesla Model 3 - sometime in the next 12 to 24 months.
I've been wondering what to buy to replace Leaf for a long time. I've considered at various points
- BMW i3 (suicide doors)
- RAV 4 EV (difficult warranty repairs in WA)
- Merc B class (where are they?)
- Soul EV (Kia doesn't transfer lease, has only 3 year lease)
- Chrysler Pacifica (big, wife not ready for it)
- Bolt (expensive)
- C-Max Energi (EV range too low)
That final decision was surprising, even to myself. It essentially came down to money and boredom.
- Only GM does a clean lease transfer. With Nissan I'd still be responsible. Hyundai & Kia don't even let you transfer lease.
- I could return the car (and pay out the rest of the monthly payments) - but that could be quite expensive if Model 3 happens to come closer to 1 year than 2.
- Bolt is just too expensive currently to lease in WA. It would be more than double that of Volt/Leaf.
- Though I've done 2 lease extensions I could still extend under the Leaf2 program. But my Leaf has some 12V battery problems I'd have to get corrected out of pocket - it dies if left undriven for a couple of days.
- I could get a 2 year '17 Leaf lease. But lease transfer is difficult - moreover I'm bored with Leaf.
- Now that Volt '17 has 50 mile range, it covers vast majority of my weekday & weekend driving in electric mode. So it makes it a viable "REX" for me.
- GM has $3k off for "conquest sales" coming from Nissan Leaf lease (and others as well). That got the Volt lease for me cheap enough.
I've been wondering what to buy to replace Leaf for a long time. I've considered at various points
- BMW i3 (suicide doors)
- RAV 4 EV (difficult warranty repairs in WA)
- Merc B class (where are they?)
- Soul EV (Kia doesn't transfer lease, has only 3 year lease)
- Chrysler Pacifica (big, wife not ready for it)
- Bolt (expensive)
- C-Max Energi (EV range too low)
That final decision was surprising, even to myself. It essentially came down to money and boredom.
- Only GM does a clean lease transfer. With Nissan I'd still be responsible. Hyundai & Kia don't even let you transfer lease.
- I could return the car (and pay out the rest of the monthly payments) - but that could be quite expensive if Model 3 happens to come closer to 1 year than 2.
- Bolt is just too expensive currently to lease in WA. It would be more than double that of Volt/Leaf.
- Though I've done 2 lease extensions I could still extend under the Leaf2 program. But my Leaf has some 12V battery problems I'd have to get corrected out of pocket - it dies if left undriven for a couple of days.
- I could get a 2 year '17 Leaf lease. But lease transfer is difficult - moreover I'm bored with Leaf.
- Now that Volt '17 has 50 mile range, it covers vast majority of my weekday & weekend driving in electric mode. So it makes it a viable "REX" for me.
- GM has $3k off for "conquest sales" coming from Nissan Leaf lease (and others as well). That got the Volt lease for me cheap enough.