IT’S BEEN FUN BUT TIME TO SELL!

[MavStangVa]

Sounds like he also is doing it for $$$. He frees up say 24k cash. Which he can invest. He should easily be able to reduce his earnings by the amount of his lease payment of $247/mo and increase his $24k cash by minimum of 25%, probably much more than that. Keeping the maverick will depreciate his $24k monthly in addition to the loss of income it would reduce. He could justify financing a new replacement vehicle at today's interest rates with the right purchase.

How do you "reduce earnings" with a lease payment? Personal income tax it is not deductible. When I had my LLC my CPA looked at the numbers and it would have cost me more to lease than purchase and deduct the mileage. Put 24k into a conservative savings at 4%, unless Feds lower rates to nothing again, with inflation on new vehicles and tariffs on parts and pieces in 2 years it will cost more than was made on the savings. Explain how in 2 years to make 25% on 24k. That is 8k return. If you are basing that on stocks remember they can drop as quick as they increase.

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[Suzukiridr14]

They weren’t offering leases on the Maverick in 2022. The lease deals on them today suck (one of the reasons I didn’t go with another maverick).

If you read my example above, leasing the ev is a way better deal for a lot of reasons. I don’t expect to “make” anything, just spend way less than buying. You will spend at least $10000 more buying than leasing. Technology on evs changes very quickly so by leasing you always have the latest.

Leasing only makes sense if you don’t do a lot of miles AND it’s a good lease. Rule of thumb is the lease is a good deal if your payment (with $0 down) is 1% or less of your best negotiated price plus tax. I usually shoot for less. In the case of my Equinox it’s 7/10 of 1’%

Do what is best for you, we leased 3 Mercury Mountaineer in a row. Every 3 years, my wife would get a new vehicle, and the payments only went up 10 to 20 dollars a month each time. I consided that a win, no down payment, no shopping, no problems, no repairs! Having choices means everyone gets what's good for them. And like you mentioned, when we bought our Mavericks, there were no leases, and we were offered 3 year financing at "0" percent. Glad I didn't buy a Cybertruck!

 

[h1k3rb]

Vehicles have changed so much in recent years that the whole "drive it 'til the wheels fall off" paradigm seems to have shifted. The number of things that can go wrong that you can no longer fix yourself and cost big bucks to fix (after warranty) has risen exponentially. Many of them will likely run for 100-200K miles with few issues but many will not and for me at least, it's just not worth holding onto vehicles long term anymore. Vehicles from the 50's and 60's were primitive by comparison but that simplicity made them relatively easy to fix and maintain. 50 to 75 years from now I would be surprised if any of todays vehicles are considered "classic" or worth holding onto at all (deteriorating plastics, near infinite number of sensors & CPU's, etc) unless you have unlimited funds.

 

[MaverRick]

Never got into a car crash?

No but my Wife backed it into a pole and left a crease on the bumper! That’s when I decided to replace the bumper with a roll pan.

 

[MavStangVa]

Vehicles have changed so much in recent years that the whole "drive it 'til the wheels fall off" paradigm seems to have shifted. The number of things that can go wrong that you can no longer fix yourself and cost big bucks to fix (after warranty) has risen exponentially. Many of them will likely run for 100-200K miles with few issues but many will not and for me at least, it's just not worth holding onto vehicles long term anymore. Vehicles from the 50's and 60's were primitive by comparison but that simplicity made them relatively easy to fix and maintain. 50 to 75 years from now I would be surprised if any of todays vehicles are considered "classic" or worth holding onto at all (deteriorating plastics, near infinite number of sensors & CPU's, etc) unless you have unlimited funds.

Ah yes the good old days of the 50s and 60s. You had to be able to repair the cars then because you had to almost daily. my first car was 63 Fairlane. I carried points, plugs, oil, jumper cables, tools to install the parts, and water because it would need refilling often without notice. It had under 80k on it in 1975 and was rusting away before my eyes. Plus it had those great drum brakes that went from 60 to 0 in a day and a half

 

[Cancunbadlands]

No but my Wife backed it into a pole and left a crease on the bumper! That’s when I decided to replace the bumper with a roll pan.

Great! I can't hold my cars any longer 'cause car crash is common down here, a repair car, after a car crash, is not good for a keeper

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

.

Ah yes the good old days of the 50s and 60s. You had to be able to repair the cars then because you had to almost daily. my first car was 63 Fairlane. I carried points, plugs, oil, jumper cables, tools to install the parts, and water because it would need refilling often without notice. It had under 80k on it in 1975 and was rusting away before my eyes. Plus it had those great drum brakes that went from 60 to 0 in a day and a half

Forget about going through a deep puddle with a 4,500 lb car equipped with drum brakes.
Driving around with your foot slightly on the brakes to dry them out. Then they would get grabby because they were damp.
You certainly didn't want to drive through that puddle with just one side of the car. Those that are old enough know exactly what I'm talking about.

 

[Blue_Max]

Sounds like he also is doing it for $$$. He frees up say 24k cash. Which he can invest. He should easily be able to reduce his earnings by the amount of his lease payment of $247/mo and increase his $24k cash by minimum of 25%, probably much more than that. Keeping the maverick will depreciate his $24k monthly in addition to the loss of income it would reduce. He could justify financing a new replacement vehicle at today's interest rates with the right purchase.

He said he was doing it for cash.

I've only ever financed one vehicle, and it was stolen a few months after I paid it off. The others I've bought outright (including my Maverick), and have kept them (I still have all but the stolen one).

As I said, we have very different views of vehicle purchases.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

That is just the advertised program. Dealer’s will negotiate better deals than that. I’m also lucky to live in Detroit where it’s easy to get employee discount or close and there are so many dealers they have to compete to survive. Like I said above, never put money down and if the payment isn’t 1% or less it’s not a good deal. Here’s an example around here

Not to mention the $150-$250 or more discount for paying 100% upfront.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

How do you "reduce earnings" with a lease payment? Personal income tax it is not deductible. When I had my LLC my CPA looked at the numbers and it would have cost me more to lease than purchase and deduct the mileage. Put 24k into a conservative savings at 4%, unless Feds lower rates to nothing again, with inflation on new vehicles and tariffs on parts and pieces in 2 years it will cost more than was made on the savings. Explain how in 2 years to make 25% on 24k. That is 8k return. If you are basing that on stocks remember they can drop as quick as they increase.

You reduce the earnings you make investing the $24,200. You could buy a cd ladder with monthly steps to take the lease payments. I cannot describe stock investing because of implying advice liabilities. My brother (still working 40 hrs per week at 78 paying into 401k to get employer match. Drawing SS and MRD from 401k, plus full retirement from legacy years worked plus age = 80 or 88 I don't remember which) enjoys purchasing items at garage sales and selling them at consignment stores. He likes his job he has had since about 1969. He can usually make $1000-$3000 per month off his hobby garage sale stuff.
i made enough money on Ford stock with the cash I was going to pay for it in 8-9 months before it was built. Then I financed 100% OTD Price at 2.25% when it came in. I have also made as well as lost on other stocks. I bought TSLA many years ago for $22 and bailed out at $37. I bought 200 shares of Berkshire Hathaway for about $28 and sold about three years later for 70-80% profit. Yes I wish I not sold it. I purchased several thousand shares of Enron for $0.97 and sold it about 20-30 minutes later for $1.73 (calculated out to fabulous APR.)
ETA: One other saving he has is only paying sales tax on the Lease $$$ amount.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

He said he was doing it for cash.

I've only ever financed one vehicle, and it was stolen a few months after I paid it off. The others I've bought outright (including my Maverick), and have kept them (I still have all but the stolen one).

As I said, we have very different views of vehicle purchases.

I understand buying outright. If I can get 0% financing. I'm sure as heck not using my money.
I'll use someone else's money for free. Even 1.9-2.9% is worth it.

 

[inline_five]

Well after 33 months it’s finally time to say goodbye to my Maverick. No major problems over almost 3 years, just a few annoyances. Good news is I sold it for $500 more than I bought it for in Dec 22 (including tax), thanks Granger! When you add in the $6k profit on my first Maverick and the 0%, 36 month financing on this one it’s truly a remarkable thing.

No I will not be getting a new Maverick. The whole point was cheap transportation and the Maverick is not that anymore, so this is probably goodbye to the forum as well.

Next week I’ll be picking up a new 2025 Equinox EV LT2 FWD for $247/month for 24 months 0$ out of pocket…my cheap transportation journey continues. Later!

p.s. I will be posting my excellent condition snow tire set, mounted on my original steelies with tpms. Look for them soon on the marketplace!

Solid deal but just keep in mind in two years when the lease ends, there won't be anymore EV credits and chances are they will be producing even less of them than today.

That being said, in two-three years it might make a lot of sense to purchase an EV coming off lease that's been returned, as there are going to be a LOT of them available.

But if not planning to do that, you'll have to figure something else out and with inflation adjusted dollars making the cost that much higher.

Those of us who bought in 2022-2023 I'm guessing are planning on holding onto our Mavericks for quite a while, because the purchase cost was so low.

 

[Blue_Max]

I understand buying outright. If I can get 0% financing. I'm sure as heck not using my money.
I'll use someone else's money for free.

I've never bought a vehicle in an era of 0% financing.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Explain how in 2 years to make 25% on 24k. That is 8k return. If you are basing that on stocks remember they can drop as quick as they increase.

OK, did not have stones today to do 24k so only purchased $2370.00! (Dang it). Closed up $590.0 and no I did not make 25% but did make 24.8945147679324894%. I do have what's left of 2 years to get there. While I wait for next buy the $2,960 will earn day rate (today = 3.97%). Normally hold for 3 days so probably will have to adjust %.

 

[MavStangVa]

OK, did not have stones today to do 24k so only purchased $2370.00! (Dang it). Closed up $590.0 and no I did not make 25% but did make 24.8945147679324894%. I do have what's left of 2 years to get there. While I wait for next buy the $2,960 will earn day rate (today = 3.97%). Normally hold for 3 days so probably will have to adjust %.

That INCREASED your earnings not reduced your earnings as you originally proposed.

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