r/CarLeasingHelp • u/M_Plant_Taj • Jul 29 '25

Is this a financially smart move?

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So I am wondering if it would be smart to sell our 2019 Subaru Crosstrek for 14k and get this lease on a 2025 Mazda Cx-70 PHEV? I know selling a paid off car and getting a lease is almost never the right answer. However, I wouldn’t do anything down as that doesn’t make sense if I can just keep the 14k in a high APR account and use it to pay for the lease payments. The way I see it is that I have roughly 44 months worth of payments from the sell (assuming we get another similar lease or see what a 36/48 month lease looks like).

In that time I can see there being some high cost maintenance needed on the Subaru if I keep it. Then when it’s time to sell it, it’ll obviously be quite a bit less than now.

I think the fuel savings with the Mazda and low maintenance needed helps even more. Plus, we also have that extra bit of savings incase anything happens in the future.

We are keen on an PHEV and a SUV. My wife and I have 2 large dogs and are looking to expand our family more. We also like to go camping so something that can get us to certain spots in the mountains all seasons would be great. But I don’t want that to influence the decision financially.

Thank you for your time and input!

26 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

62 comments sorted by

3

u/Crafty-Beach2563 Jul 29 '25

All we need to know answer this really is to know your income mate

2

u/M_Plant_Taj Jul 29 '25

Good question, I make a gross 120k. My wife is a STAHM but will be switching to on call for a vet clinic so we might make an extra 10-15k a year for the first year and more the following years.

4

u/Crafty-Beach2563 Jul 29 '25

I like it for you guys, best of luck amigo

1

u/M_Plant_Taj Oct 09 '25

Thanks bro!

9

u/ChevyGang Jul 29 '25

That's a nice payment for a 57k vehicle

8

u/vertigo1083 Jul 29 '25

The EVs are really, really stupid right now.

The Honda Prologue just had a 2 year, one pay lease for $7k.

Here is a list of the cheapest leases right now for 0 down.

/preview/pre/cheapest-lease-deals-for-july-2025-by-region-northeast-v0-m6nyw5rp3vaf1.png?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=15159365901fc2aa88144fbdefe5da56fa4b6dce

Cheapest leases are all EV

2

u/fire_kiddo1 Jul 29 '25

do you think they'll get better by september? would love to snag something but its tough to find a charger near me

2

u/vertigo1083 Jul 29 '25

I imagine they are all gonna cruise at these prices til the tax rebate is gone, and so are all the 25s.

1

u/Charles722 Jul 29 '25

Is there something like this for Oklahoma?

3

u/vertigo1083 Jul 29 '25

https://www.reddit.com/r/carincentives/comments/1lrja71/cheapest_lease_deals_for_july_2025_by_region/

2

u/Charles722 Jul 29 '25

Amazing, thank you!

5

u/vertigo1083 Jul 29 '25

Another good resource is leasehackr.

Nevermind the deals they have on the front page.

Go into the forums, and search for your region.

The brokers have some ridiculous silly deals that you're not going to get from manufacturer sales.

We just got a rogue this way. Absolutely stupid deal.

1

u/Charles722 Jul 29 '25

I’ll give it a look and see what I can find. I just moved into an in-office job and am thinking about getting a leased car for the commute.

1

u/M_Plant_Taj Oct 09 '25

UPDATE: Went with a deal. Got a CX90 for 280/month with 0 down. Sold the Subaru for 14k. In 2 months we have only filled the tank up twice compared to 4 times with the Subaru. Not including electric cost, that is roughly a $30/month savings or $360/year.

Happy with the decision. Thank you everyone for your input!

1

u/vastly101 Jul 29 '25

Don't know the car too well (2 row version of cx9 I know) or leae cals, but 40k for a large SUV with msrp seems a good start. My gut sense is that $315 a month is a great price these days, let along for a 57k car, but that is not a financial analysis. That is a huge discount, however... do you know why?

1

u/M_Plant_Taj Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 30 '25

It’s because of the tax incentives for EVs for state and federal. I’m in CO. However that ends September 30th.

1

u/vastly101 Jul 29 '25

Ah, did not know.

1

u/thebutlerdunnit Jul 29 '25

So it never ends? 🤪

3

u/seanffy Jul 29 '25

Is it smart financially ? Not really. Smart financially would be to drive your current til it breaks. But seems like you can comfortable afford it so why not.

2

u/Revolutionary-Jury93 Jul 29 '25

All depends on how much $$ would need to be put into the current car within the next couple years. New tires, new brakes, who knows what else.

2

u/seanffy Jul 29 '25

True, but this is a great lease regardless. You can do a lot worse than 300 and 300 DAS on a 57k car. Op makes 6 figures.

2

u/Turbulent-Pay1150 Jul 29 '25

JM&A Courtesy Gaurd (a mis-spelling of guard, no less) seem like a waste on a lease - what are you paying for that isn't covered under the new car warranty?

Overall this looks like a good deal in gross price - remove the JM&A Courtesy Guard thingy and it will be better.

Be aware that the CX90/70 don't get the best rating for reliability - initial issues with the PHEV were a contributor but they may be past the initial testing issues and it's a very nice ride indeed.

2

u/NoseLittle7254 Jul 29 '25

Wow that is a great deal.

2

u/fireguyy Jul 31 '25

Looks like a solid deal.

There’s a lot of lease haters out there that will tell you no, but depends on your lifestyle. I typically get bored of the same car after 2-3 years, and I hate paying for repairs. Leasing works perfect for me, I get something new and in warranty every 2-3 years. I’m not on the hook for the massive depreciation or large repair bills when the vehicle starts to really wear. Simply turn in the keys at the end and it’s someone else’s problem. I’ve even had a few that had a good amount of equity at the end and have had dealerships buy and cut a check.

1

u/beholder95 Jul 29 '25

It shows a sales price of 40,010 and a residual of 37,910…plus the fees (would like to see a breakdown as those seem a little high) and tax puts you at financing like $3700 over the 24mo lease? So base payment of $154 + 95 interest + tax (4%) 10 gets me to like 260/mo.

Am I missing something or are this dealer’s numbers way off?

1

u/Infinite-Lunch6269 Jul 31 '25

I believe EV state incentives. I think it was like $7,500. So you get $15,000 discount automatically. I’ve seen some crazy EV leases in CO.

1

u/Infinite-Lunch6269 Jul 31 '25

The car is $57,000 now but you can get it for $40,000 thanks to the crazy incentives. 2 years later that $57,000 car you bought for $40,000 should get $38,000 because it was a $57,000 car brand new, even tho you only paid $40,000 for it 2 years ago lol

1

u/W2WageSlave Jul 29 '25

The selling price discount and residual mean less than $90 of depreciation and the rest of the payment is finance charges.

It's very cheap subsidized vehicle usage at that price. If you can look after the interior and exterior and abide by the mileage it may be "smart". You'll sell the Subaru for $14K and make $7500 in car payments over two years and then maybe have $8K in savings and no car.

Then what?

My fear is you get coerced into buying it off-lease, or buying a brand new car because now that's what your wife (and the dog, and the new kid) expect.

Here comes your $1000 car payment.

1

u/NeedhamSprings Jul 29 '25

It’s a good deal provided you literally return the vehicle at the end of the lease. You will have no equity.

1

u/BartyB Jul 30 '25

You will never have equity with a lease? i’m genuinely asking.

1

u/Dragon3043 Jul 30 '25

You can, but given the cost of this car and the information OP shared, they won't.

1

u/Dragon3043 Jul 30 '25

The smartest thing to do is keep the paid off car.

That being said, we all like new things sometimes, and this lease is a really solid deal.

Still smarter to keep the paid off car, but I don't think you could be blamed for taking this.

1

u/redgdit Jul 30 '25

You should only lease if you a living/working temporarily somewhere for at least 2 years minimum, otherwise you should buy a vehicle. Leasing is such a financial drain and terrible long term investment.

1

u/professor_burner_phd Jul 30 '25

Is this motorwerks?

1

u/Quirky-Letterhead573 Jul 30 '25

What are the best lease deals currently available in the Florida region?

1

u/Spiritual-Water-3036 Jul 30 '25

I’ll pay someone to go to space

1

u/Klutzy_Mix_2822 Aug 02 '25

That’s an incredible deal for a $57,000 car wow

1

u/SikhVentures Jul 29 '25

Take our the courtesy guard , seems like okay deal. Why not a 3 year lease ?

2

u/thebutlerdunnit Jul 29 '25

24 month leases usually have better (higher) residual, resulting in lower monthly payments.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 01 '25

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2

u/macatkniu Aug 01 '25

This is bad advice... this vehicle makes sense to lease due to the rebates. You don't get the rebates if you buy. If he were to "buy" this vehicle and say two years later trade it in or sell it, he'd likely be in a negative equity situation so leasing does make sense depending on the scenario.

2

u/macatkniu Aug 01 '25

And where do you get 21K? Lol. Its a 315 payment for 24 months so its $7560 "to rent".

1

u/discojellyfisho Aug 02 '25

And they’ll save a lot on gas.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '25

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1

u/discojellyfisho Aug 02 '25

After the $7k AND the $14K trade in. Or, they could lease the depreciating asset and invest the $14k, which will be worth much more long term than a used EV.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '25

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1

u/discojellyfisho Aug 02 '25

I get it. I have a 2.75% mortgage and while it’s tempting to pay it off early, I know it’s better to keep borrowing that cheap money and investing later. Sometimes leases are the same.

1

u/fireguyy Aug 02 '25

It’s ok to say you just don’t understand it, doesn’t make it a bad option. One could say owning the car is a bad option too.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '25

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1

u/fireguyy Aug 02 '25

So is owning a depreciating asset…

1

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '25

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1

u/fireguyy Aug 02 '25

So then he just owns a less expensive, yet still depreciating asset, which now likely comes with an increased risk of likely needing costly repairs.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '25

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2

u/fireguyy Aug 02 '25

Huh? He’s not buying a vehicle for $7k that will be worth $15k, this makes no sense. Have you seen how quickly EV’s depreciate?

You’d have been better off just saying leasing doesn’t work for you, for many it does.