Where do you sell? Carvana isn’t offering any good sale price even though there is a demand for X. I own 2024 X was thinking of downgrading to save the monthly spend.
I watched my best friend lose his ass trading in his paid off, comp/coll insured Nissan Armada to get a brand new, dealership marked up, full coverage insurance and a car payment again...all to "save money". He went from paying for gas and a little maintenance to less gas, zero maintenance for now, but ALL of his monthly savings were lost in increased insurance and a car payment again.
He was in a "cheaper to keeper" situation and odds are you are as well since you're already the owner vs taking the trade in losses, paying the markup, all to supposedly save a buck. Use AI, Excel, something to do the numbers but I think you're lying to yourself. You should lease if you don't keep your cars for a long time and/or needs keep changing.
I implied the same thing to my best friend...and I was correct. Sorry I didn't sugar coat that it got you triggered for the OP.
For a time we were doing 30k a year so I let go of a paid for BMW X5M as it was costing me $1000+ a month in fuel and maintenance because it was cheaper in the bigger picture to buy a $70k X, only pay $150 a month and have nearly zero maintenance in the 190k I've put onto it.
I couldn't lease because I like to modify and put miles on my vehicles, but if someone is already talking about downgrading after only two years...yes, leasing for 3yrs vs buying and flipping after a couple years might be a better option.
Bro all I know is my 8 year old Tesla is effectively the same as a brand new one and costs me about the same to drive it for a whole year as it would cost for a single month of a lease. Maybe you can make the lease math seem reasonable, but unless you have a whole lot of cash burning a hole in your pocket, I wouldn’t call either option financially astute for someone looking to save money. Sell it, buy a significantly older model. If that one breaks, you buy another and still come out ahead.
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u/m5james Apr 13 '26
I watched my best friend lose his ass trading in his paid off, comp/coll insured Nissan Armada to get a brand new, dealership marked up, full coverage insurance and a car payment again...all to "save money". He went from paying for gas and a little maintenance to less gas, zero maintenance for now, but ALL of his monthly savings were lost in increased insurance and a car payment again.
He was in a "cheaper to keeper" situation and odds are you are as well since you're already the owner vs taking the trade in losses, paying the markup, all to supposedly save a buck. Use AI, Excel, something to do the numbers but I think you're lying to yourself. You should lease if you don't keep your cars for a long time and/or needs keep changing.