[Jomz]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

T You could even get new electric vehicles on lease for super low prices (under 200$s in most cases).

That would have been ideal- But I can't find any lease under $200 with 0 down.

My commute is 30 miles one way on the highway or 19 miles city. I can take either option. Trickle charging (110V) at home and level 2 charging at work is what I'm thinking.

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by Jomz

That would have been ideal- But I can't find any lease under $200 with 0 down.

My commute is 30 miles one way on the highway or 19 miles city. I can take either option. Trickle charging (110V) at home and level 2 charging at work is what I'm thinking.

Can you lease a used model or lease is applicable only for brand new?

Small rant on Honda dealers(as usual). Friend who is new in this country was looking at a lease option on a crv at the local honda dealer. Few notes from his experience.

First the sales person kept them waiting for an hour even after calling them before going. My friend asked them to get off their mighty horses and come down if they wanted a sale.
This was going to be a lease on a 2016 model. Honda gave 3 slabs with 2k down, 3k down and 4k down, but the math simply didnt add up. There was no explanation given as to why the 2k down would come to $1000 more over two years over $4k down.
Though a cosignee was offered, they wanted multiple papers from our company as well as visa documents for this lease.

This behavior lost them a sale as my friend walked to a Nissan dealer the next evening and in 2 hours walked out with a lease on a 2016 Nissan rouge with 2900 downpayment and 120 a month as car payments for 24k miles and a two year lease. No co signee required.

For all bhpians, Dodge is offering some really good lease deals for their challenger. More like 150 a month on a two year lease.


Lastly: The mod bug has bit me and i am thinking of doing the following on my genesis coupe.
1) Downpipe, o2 housing and Isr catback exhaust.
2) ECU flash or reprog which promises significant increase of hp.

Does this even make sense? Anything which i should be vary of? I intend to experiment only after the winter, so i do have time for any suggestions from your end.

Maddy

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by Jomz

That would have been ideal- But I can't find any lease under $200 with 0 down.

My commute is 30 miles one way on the highway or 19 miles city. I can take either option. Trickle charging (110V) at home and level 2 charging at work is what I'm thinking.

A lot of these offers may be California only. I did see a national Kia Soul EV offer for 199$ but it wasn't 0 down. Maybe you can walk in at a Nissan dealer and see what they have for you. What about Ford Focus EV - do you get any special pricing? Ford also has plugin C-Max and Fusion that could operate on electric for a limited range - but since you can charge at work, you maybe able to manage on electric.

[prasadee]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

The used car values on all electric cars (save Tesla) is super low. You could even get new electric vehicles on lease for super low prices (under 200$s in most cases). The demand is really poor - people who fancy electric cars buy them or lease them new, and make use of the rebates and move on a year or 2 later. For a used car shopper, a depleted battery electric car is not a good value anymore especially if the range you are going to get has slipped to under 60 or 50% of what it originally could manage. Also factor in how cold weather makes batteries deplete faster. Perhaps the newer electric cars with 200+ miles range would fetch better price in the used car market.

If you consider the taxes and depreciation related to a new car, paying couple thousand down seems alright. I hear Fiat 500 electric can be leased for $59 with ~$3500 down (36 month lease). You get a new car every 3 years, with no maintenance costs. I am kicking myself for buying a car with full down.
Chevy Bolt is just around the corner. It has a 200+ range.

Originally Posted by kraft.wagen

Congrats on the car chevelle. Does the dealership look at visa validity for lease cars?

All they look for is a decent credit score. AFAIK, they have no business asking for your immigration status/passport. Photo ID/drivers license, income/bank statements and SSN should do. You can decline to answer that question if it comes up.

[Jomz]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

A lot of these offers may be California only. I did see a national Kia Soul EV offer for 199$ but it wasn't 0 down. Maybe you can walk in at a Nissan dealer and see what they have for you. What about Ford Focus EV - do you get any special pricing? Ford also has plugin C-Max and Fusion that could operate on electric for a limited range - but since you can charge at work, you maybe able to manage on electric.

Nissan has 4000 cash discount and 7500 fed rebate on new leaf's
MSRP is ~29k, so can get for ~18k new

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by Jomz

Nissan has 4000 cash discount and 7500 fed rebate on new leaf's
MSRP is ~29k, so can get for ~18k new

Is that valid for leasing? Depends on the financing arm of Nissan that does the leasing, right? It is no wonder that 3 year old Nissan Leaf's are selling for 10k. The brand new market value is 18k, 3 years and a 55% value would put it at 10k. Having just bought the STi, are you looking for another new car ?

[Jomz]

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

Is that valid for leasing? Depends on the financing arm of Nissan that does the leasing, right? It is no wonder that 3 year old Nissan Leaf's are selling for 10k. The brand new market value is 18k, 3 years and a 55% value would put it at 10k. Having just bought the STi, are you looking for another new car ?

Nope, for leasing, the dealer gets the 7500 fed rebate. the 4k dealer cash is for purchase financing through Nissan finance.
There are rumours of a 200 mile range leaf about to be announced. That will drive the resale further down.


Stop and go traffic is terrible in the Sti.

On the plus side, my clutch leg is getting a great workout.

[maddy42]

Merry Xmas and hope all of you are enjoying your holidays.

Just wanted to update on few points i learnt living in the snow.

1) Clean your car as soon as the snow fall gets over. Its easier and involves less effort.
2) Shovelling is a pain in the rearside.
3) Driving a rear wheel drive in the snow is a different experience. Its tough but thanks for the Nokian Hakkapaleita snow tires i am able to do it. Only problem is in inclines and right or left sharp turns. Thanks to the genesis coupes excellent traction control though.
4) Drifting in a empty parking lot was a lot of fun. How i wish i had a STI! Subarus rule this area during the snow!
5) My windshield wash liquid froze during a icy day. So do remember to empty the old liquid before adding deicer. It doesnt mix, that was the reason for the freeze
6) Lots of gas is going to be spent heating up your car to remove the ice settled on it.
7) Wash your car often, as the salt on the road can cause damage, considerably.
8) Fill up your gas tank when it is at the halfway mark. Keep warm clothes inside your car and always have a ice scrapper and a shovel handy!
9) RWD cars do need sand bags. I have 75 kilos of sand in my trunk.

Some features which is a must have for cars in the new england area:
Remote start
All wheel drive(Highly preferable)
I would recommend two set of tires, summer and snow just to be safe. One time investment.
Heated seats or steering would be highly welcome!

Please add to my list if you do see fit. Drive safe!

Maddy

[amitoj]

Nice points, Maddy
Just that I dont wash my car often in the winters. The layers of wax i put on in the summers help me through the winters. I do take it to the car wash a couple of times though, just to get rid of the salt.
Another thing to note is that if you wash your car often, the moisture can freeze and lock your doors.
Also, dont waste gas warming up your car, unless you are doing it to get rid of the ice on the windshield. That too you should remove with an ice scraper. Otherwise the quickest way to warm up the car is to drive it.
No matter how strong the urge, DO NOT use a snow shovel to remove snow from your car. You will end up damaging the pain.
And don't be that guy driving down the highway with a foot of snow on the roof, flying all around.

[dr.abhijeet]

The other options for snow driving is - You could move to Tucson and watch it on TV.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by dr.abhijeet

The other options for snow driving is - You could move to Tucson and watch it on TV.

LOL. How will you build character then?
PS: That's a reference to Calvin's dad in Calvin and Hobbes

[chevelle]

Wow! Somehow missed this discussion of electric/plug in hybrid cars.

Having recently spent quite some time researching this, my two cents.

Originally Posted by Jomz

I was researching electric cars- based on Chevelle's experience with the Volt. Additionally, both me and my wife have free level 2 charging at work.

The in built 110v trickle charger could fully charge the Leaf in 10 hours.

The monthly payment for a $10k car would be around 200 or lesser. Worst case , if the batteries die on me, I could get a Nissan replacement for $5500 + 3 hours labor (~6k).

Anybody else thinking on the same lines??

The used car market for electrics and plug in hybrid is great. But a new car in this segment makes much more sense (save for Tesla). Most of the time, you can lease a brand new one for $200-$300/mo. And this is an ever evolving segment. Each year new models with more range, more features are introduced so makes sense to lease rather than buy.

Leafs/i3s are great option if the commute has good charging facility at either end and strictly will be used as such. I don't have charging at work and there are days when i forget to charge at home. Having it as hybrid helps a lot. I still haven't got adjusted to the fact that i need to incorporate car charging as a daily routine since i do it every alternate day.

The issue is, when you go back in the market to sell those, you will have a hard time selling it depending on where you live.

Most of the battery warranty is 8 years/100k. So it should be easy to live with.

Originally Posted by maddy42

Can you lease a used model or lease is applicable only for brand new?

Small rant on Honda dealers(as usual). This was going to be a lease on a 2016 model. Honda gave 3 slabs with 2k down, 3k down and 4k down, but the math simply didnt add up. There was no explanation given as to why the 2k down would come to $1000 more over two years over $4k down. With a lease on a 2016 Nissan rouge with 2900 downpayment and 120 a month as car payments for 24k miles and a two year lease. No co signee required.

For all bhpians, Dodge is offering some really good lease deals for their challenger. More like 150 a month on a two year lease.

Maddy

Lease is only for new cars. As for Honda deal, it is very shady. Did you by any chance get more details? Cap cost reduction, Residuals, MF, discounts applied? Also what does down payment include?

As a rule of thumb, i would never ever pay down payment while leasing. Reason being, if in those 3 years if the car gets stolen/damaged or totaled, you lose the down payment. So not only you lose the monthly payment, you add the down payment to it so it is a considerably bad deal. At most, you can do taxes and fees plus one month as down payment. So all you loose is the DMV fees which is about $250-$300. Also 36 mo lease are better for residuals, MF and rebates for most manufacturers.

Also a thing to keep in mind is MSD. Those are multiple deposits that act as security deposit which is completely refundable at the end of lease. This helps bring down MF. This is offered by BMW, Mercedes, Infiniti and a few more. A very good option to explore.

Originally Posted by vineethvazhayil

A lot of these offers may be California only. I did see a national Kia Soul EV offer for 199$ but it wasn't 0 down. Maybe you can walk in at a Nissan dealer and see what they have for you. What about Ford Focus EV - do you get any special pricing? Ford also has plugin C-Max and Fusion that could operate on electric for a limited range - but since you can charge at work, you maybe able to manage on electric.

Best deals US wide is to be had in Southern California (LA). How is this for a deal - Maserati Ghibli, $500/mo for 10k miles for 3 years and 0 down.

Ford leases are not that good. Need to negotiate hard with the salesman. One can always do better than advertised lease specials.

Like Volt is always advertised in bay area for $88 + tax with $5k-$6k down for 36 mo/ 10k. That is worst deal ever as you pay around $9600. If you deduct $1500 for CA rebate it is still bad at $8k. Most of the guys who lease are able to negotiate it to $180-$200 per month after everything.

I would never rely on advertised special. Best bet is to negotiate hard.

Anybody looking to buy a Chevrolet/Buick/Cadillac/GMC cars can also get $700 costco cash card until Jan 3. I missed it because i bought it in Oct and they added Volt in Nov.

Originally Posted by prasadee

If you consider the taxes and depreciation related to a new car, paying couple thousand down seems alright. I hear Fiat 500 electric can be leased for $59 with ~$3500 down (36 month lease). You get a new car every 3 years, with no maintenance costs. I am kicking myself for buying a car with full down.
Chevy Bolt is just around the corner. It has a 200+ range.
All they look for is a decent credit score. AFAIK, they have no business asking for your immigration status/passport. Photo ID/drivers license, income/bank statements and SSN should do. You can decline to answer that question if it comes up.

I am sorry but I disagree. Couple of thousand down is not a good idea unless you are getting awesome rebates. Ideal deal is $0 down plus all the rebates. Even if it means rolling taxes and fees into monthly. MF is very low now a days so it doesn't really affect it. Additional reasons as mentioned above. But i agree, getting a new car every 3 years seems like a great idea if you are doing 15k or less a year.

I know VW and a few other dealers do ask visa validity and stuff. Chevrolet only needed my Credit Card.

Chevy Bolt is a great car. I test drove it last weekend. The only disadvantage is needed to compulsory install 240v charger at home and long distance drive. Also best to wait until next year for Bolt. All issues will be ironed out and it will get discounted a lot making it possible to get it for like $200-$250/mo.

Originally Posted by Jomz

Nissan has 4000 cash discount and 7500 fed rebate on new leaf's
MSRP is ~29k, so can get for ~18k new

Also need to add state available rebates in many states.

Similar deals can be had on volt too. A few months back, i got a quote of $26k on Volt LT. That is $9000 discount. Add $7500 fed + $1500 and it seems sweet. So with tax it comes to $19600. Issue is when you sell it after 3 years or 5 years, you will be lucky to get $10k. So compared to lease you will end up paying more. 3 years old Volts are available for $13k from dealers.

Originally Posted by Jomz

Nope, for leasing, the dealer gets the 7500 fed rebate. the 4k dealer cash is for purchase financing through Nissan finance.
There are rumours of a 200 mile range leaf about to be announced. That will drive the resale further down.

Usually, for lease, they give you rebates that equal to $7500 if negotiated hard. So they bring the lease amount down. In my case, i got $4k discount and $9000 in rebates for volt.

With 2017 Leaf, i think it has increased from 80 mile range to 107 mile range.

[studentonwheels]

Some of my thoughts on leasing, since we're on that topic:

I personally would not lease a car unless:
1. I'm prepared to keep leasing cars for the forseeable future
2. I don't mind paying high interest rates
3. I don't mind not owning the car
4. I'm prepared to always have a car payment
5. I'm prepared to actually be paying more in the long run if I want to keep the car I'm leasing

Call me biased against leasing but its hard to justify leasing a car you dont own and where your payments will not be building any equity. A scenario where you might consider leasing is where you need cheap car payments for the next few years until you are financially able to make a complete purchase, or if you simply must drive a new car every year. Dealers tell you leases make sense and quote a low 'Money factor' like 0.009% and compare that to an APR on a used or new car, but if you want the real interest rate, multiply that money factor by 24x365 and you have something like 20%. Dealers wouldn't lease out cars if they didn't make a margin somewhere.
If you want to make an investment and build equity over your payments, buy a car. Buying outright makes sense, provided you are intent on keeping it for a few years. Or get a certified pre owned, like I did. Reliable as hell, since they go through a rigorous inspection and reconditioning, and they have extended warranties slapped on them which makes them safe buys.

To illustrate, let me give you a real life example where I bought a 2015 Nissan Altima Certified pre-owned with 41K miles on it for $16000 and my friend leased a 2016 Toyota Corolla with a sticker price of $22000. I got a 3 year finance while she took a 3 year lease with 12K miles a year.
I pay about $380 monthly, while she pays $250. At the end of my financing period, i would have paid $13680(my financed amount) and she would pay $9000. Thats $4680 less than me. Sounds good right? But at the end of the 3 years, she has nothing to show for it, either having to turn in the car and walk away, which means $9000 down the drain, or buy the car for a residual $12000. I on the other hand have an asset which I dont make payments on, or I could sell it for $9000(a conservative figure given I maintain the car well), and would have spent $7000, which puts me at $2000 richer than the leasing route.
Both our cars run well, and would last a lot longer than the 3 years which I'm financing/she's leasing. And the added benefit for me is that I can do as many miles a year as I please, while she has to stick to 12K miles, else she'll pay a heavy fees at the end of the lease period.

Bottom line depends on you. I'm happy with my finance and she's happy with her lease, seemingly hell bent that she'll be able to buy the car outright in 3 years time. Its just that I favor buying over leasing.

[navin_bhp]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Merry Xmas and hope all of you are enjoying your holidays.

Please add to my list if you do see fit. Drive safe!

Maddy

Good list Maddy. I'd add a nice pair of gloves and a jump starter to your list. Scrapping ice when its cold is painful. Not sure about the deicer but in cold states you can get the windshield washers that are good upto -27 deg F. Also the tires lose pressure when its gets really cold so its good to check at the start of the season.

I've lived in Illinois for about 5 years and recently moved to Redmond, Washington. I miss the snow already. I've owned different RWD BMW's with all season tires and always managed well in snow. But switching to snow tires made me feel so much more safe. I now think its a must and everyone should change tires in winter. It's so much safe for you and others on road and nervous feeling you get when taking turns and braking goes away. I had the Bridgestone Blizzak's and they were awesome. Another popular one was the x-ice from Michelin. If you don't have storage and can only have one set of shoes for your car try the Continental DWS06. These are one of the best all season tires you can get with best snow traction. Doesn't matter if you have FWD, RWD or AWD snow tires will be a lot safer and you can drive worry free in winter. I have a 2 yr old kid so I'm kind of super protective when it comes to safety.

You should buy snow tires in summer when its price is cheap. I've seen the price go up by atleast 200$ in winter. Its also hard to find 18+ sizes as most stores don't stock them and you have to buy online. Also if your drive way is long a snow blower helps a lot. I had a 100$ snow joe which got the job done quick.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by navin_bhp

If you don't have storage and can only have one set of shoes for your car try the Continental DWS06. These are one of the best all season tires you can get with best snow traction.

Completely agree with that!
I changed from crappy Toyo tires to Continental Extremem Contact DSW06s for my Charger last month. And i have already had a few chances to try them out in the snow. These tires are phenomenal and totally worth the extra cost!! In wet conditions I take turns at dry speeds and in ice, well, still below wet conditions but way more confidently and sure footed.