End of lease: next steps

[f1geek]

When I looked at leasing a 2017, monthly payment were ridiculously expensive. That’s why I bought mine. Good luck finding reasonably priced 2017 lease returns because I suspect there won’t be many. You’re probably stuck. Enjoy the 2015 while you still can.

 

[JoulesThief]

When I looked at leasing a 2017, monthly payment were ridiculously expensive. That’s why I bought mine. Good luck finding reasonably priced 2017 lease returns because I suspect there won’t be many. You’re probably stuck. Enjoy the 2015 while you still can.

True... however, longer range EV's by 2020-2021 will put downward pressure on used prices for 2017's, just IMHO. 125 miles of range is going to seem pretty small, compared to the newer offerings. And depending on how the battery was taken care of, that, after 3 years, might be reduced to 115 to 105 miles, effective range, due to battery useage, mileage, and chemistry aging. 35.6 kWh is always going to be a small battery compared to newer offerings.

 

[Sptgolf]

Please make some room, as I'm in this boat too. 2016 e-Golf lease is up in February. My residual is 12.2k.

It's been a great car and I'm considering keeping it. It's had it's quirks, but everything has been on autopilot for years, I don't even think about it. It's just been a great car. My effective range is about 75-80 miles which should be fine for my needs unless the battery degrades to just above the 70% warranty limit. If that happened, I'd have to charge at work just to get home. My commute is 30 miles each way. Some days I get close to out of range if I run errands, but I have learned to manage it pretty effectively.

I've been calling on leaf's, bolts, but gone are the lease deals we all got back in 2016. I called VW and they are sending me a 6 month extension contract at my current monthly of $169. The nice part of that is they said i could turn it in anytime so it's really just a month to month extension up to 6 months. Residual will go down to 11k after 6 months.

I'll probably wind up getting a 2018 Leaf or i3 if they start offering some insane deals when new models come out. Even the 115 mile i3 or 150 mile Leaf would be better than my 80 mile range, plus the new purple HOV sticker is a big plus. I wouldn't even need the 60 kWh battery, but it's nice when those models come out, if it hopefully drives prices down.

 

[forbin404]

April is when the Kia and Hyundai 200 mile cars are coming out.

Don't look at a Bolt as the rebate is phasing out.

 

[miimura]

April is when the Kia and Hyundai 200 mile cars are coming out.

Don't look at a Bolt as the rebate is phasing out.

You can still get the full tax credit on a Bolt through 3/31/2019.

 

[johnnylingo]

The 2019 SEs just started hitting dealer lots here in the Bay Area within the last week. Even the small Santa Cruz dealership has two. I have a pic of a window sticker from this morning:

https://spaces.hightail.com/space/yZm8Z

I had them run a quote and while they weren't willing to knock much off MSRP, they were willing to give me a trade-in value slightly more than I paid to buy the lease out, even including taxes and fees. Don't forget that leasing or buying a 2019 e-Golf will let you avoid the $350 turn-in fee, as would buying out your existing lease.

The Leafs are in a weird state because the "e-Plus" versions are coming out this year, and will boast at 60 kWh battery same as the Bolt. It's not clear to me if Nissan is then going to discontinue the 2018/2019 40 kWh versions or sell them side-by-side. But I would definitely wait until that is more clear before jumping on one.

 

[Porker]

Just now while discussing end of lease option with VW credit, the agent seemed nearly certain that customers in California choosing to purchase were double dipping on some tax rebates since there is a change in ownership. I was dubious, and double checking the rebates they only appear to apply when purchasing a new vehicle.

Pretty sure he is either full of crap or perhaps some customers are eligible for certain local rebates. Did anyone else find tax rebates for purchasing at end of lease?

 

[cctop]

Did anyone else find tax rebates for purchasing at end of lease?

The Federal and California rebates are only for new vehicles.

But VW Credit might be referring to a new rebate for SoCal Edison customers of $1000 for vehicles bought/leased after 1/1/2019, which works for used cars. The website says"up to three owners of the same vehicle can get a rebates, as a way to encourage our customers to adopt both new and used plug-in EVs." But customers can't double-dip: it's only one rebate per household per VIN.

https://evrebates.sce.com/cleanfuel

 

[Sptgolf]

Well, I returned my 2016 e-Golf SE yesterday. Bittersweet, as it was a great little car. Returning the lease was non-eventful. I had it inspected a couple of weeks ago, went into the dealer and handed the guy 2 key fob's, and he typed up a paper. He didn't even look at the car.

I wound up with a 2019 Leaf S. It's a slightly bigger car, not as good in tight spaces, but still has a comfortable ride and interior. As a commuter I think it will work nicely. I'd say the e-golf is more finished inside with better handling and more sporty, and fun to drive. But, seeing 150 miles on the range meter is pretty amazing after living with 83 miles for the last 3 years. I also test drove the Bolts and was pretty close to getting one, but they were even more expensive than the e-golf's. The best quote I got on a 2019 e-Golf was over 28k on sales price for an SE with fast charge. Picked up the leaf (no fast charge) with an equivalent sales price of around 25k before tax title, license, and after the President's day sale rebate. Pretty happy with the car so far, so I'll be signing out of this forum until they bring a longer range vw sometime in the future.

 

[slk23]

Pretty happy with the car so far, so I'll be signing out of this forum until they bring a longer range vw sometime in the future.

I can understand the need for more range than your 2016. When I was comparing cars I didn’t look closely at the Leaf because it’s only a marginal improvement over the 2017+ e-Golf’s 125 mile range. There are so many things I love about the e-Golf that it’d take at least 200 miles of range before I’d be tempted by another car; I test drove a Bolt EV but even the 240 mile range wasn’t enough to overcome the mediocre interior, awkward appearance, and uninspiring driving dynamics.

That said, the Leaf is a solid choice. I’d love to have the ProPilot features in my e-Golf.

 

[Thorallophon]

I've been trying to keep track of the different ev choices as i will be handing in my lease eventually as well. There are definitely a lot of options coming down the pipe! very excited!

However, I've heard that despite huge jumps in available battery technology and ev knowledge, that the new 2019 Leaf still doesn't have active battery management. aka: no cooling fluid, radiator or other. As I understand it, they're passively cooling with air and controlling output through software. This seems ridiculous to me and certainly a deal breaker since hot batteries die significantly faster.

I've also heard that the vw neo will first be offered with only rear wheel drive. Certainly sportier and fun to drive, but, again, a deal breaker since winter driving in a RWD is not as effective than in a FWD or AWD.

So then, what, the Crozz in 2022-23? AWD is nice but I wouldn't buy just because of the name! Yeesh!!

 

[RonDawg]

I've also heard that the vw neo will first be offered with only rear wheel drive. Certainly sportier and fun to drive, but, again, a deal breaker since winter driving in a RWD is not as effective than in a FWD or AWD.

It's worked on VW's of the past:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fc-s04oPOQ

Yeah you froze your butt off (since air-cooled VW's weren't well known for producing cabin heat, or effective window defogging), and the car rusted out in no time when exposed to salted roads, but at least when new were surprisingly good in the snow given the lack of traction control and the tire technology of the time.

 

[msvphoto]

I've also heard that the vw neo will first be offered with only rear wheel drive. Certainly sportier and fun to drive, but, again, a deal breaker since winter driving in a RWD is not as effective than in a FWD or AWD.

It's worked on VW's of the past:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fc-s04oPOQ

Yeah you froze your butt off (since air-cooled VW's weren't well known for producing cabin heat, or effective window defogging), and the car rusted out in no time when exposed to salted roads, but at least when new were surprisingly good in the snow given the lack of traction control and the tire technology of the time.

True that. I remember as a young pre-teen living at 8500' in CO on a hippy commune in the middle of nowhere the last vehicle that could get in and out before reverting to snowmobiles was a 1960-something Karmann Ghia. Incredible car in the snow despite being RWD and low. There are good RWD cars as well as bad FWD cars. My preference for the past 30+ years has been Audi quattros (arguably the original AWD) but my current ICE range extender is a RWD BMW 540iT and isn't bad for RWD. If I lived in snow country I am quite confident it would be just fine with a fresh set of Nokians or similar.

Looking forwards to the RWD MEB platform. VW going back to their roots is not a bad thing.