Cybertruck lease rates now available for U.S. ($0 down / $7,500 down) -- [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[canyoncarver]

You don't get the credit though, it's baked into the lease terms.

You can see in the document I provided that Tesla shows a $15,000 total down payment with $7,500 of that being the tax credit and $7,500 coming from customer down payment.

So right, you can't "claim it on your taxes" it is being applied point of sale to the lease.

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[mongo]

You can see in the document I provided that Tesla shows a $15,000 total down payment with $7,500 of that being the tax credit and $7,500 coming from customer down payment.

So right, you can't "claim it on your taxes" it is being applied point of sale to the lease.

Right, but it seemed like your $2,500 ahead comment implied it offset the $5,000 extra interest and expense from the lease. Which would require it going directly to the consumer (I think?)

 

[canyoncarver]

Right, but it seemed like your $2,500 ahead comment implied it offset the $5,000 extra interest and expense from the lease. Which would require it going directly to the consumer (I think?)

There will be additional expense whether you lease or finance compared to paying cash.

Most consumers will not be able to pay cash for an $80K vehicle and so will do some kind of financing.

The only financing scenario where you can tax the tax credit, at present, is with a lease. Even if Tesla is able to make CT qualify for the tax credit with minor content changes in 2025, couples making over $300K a year still won't qualify for the tax credit.

So in our scenario where you choose to lease for the tax credit vs. do traditional financing... you are paying the higher interest charge (say 5.5% financing with great credit instead of the 13% with the lease) and you are also paying the lease acquisition and disposal fees which are about $1,000.

So, let's just say for a simple example in both cases you are financing 20,000. If you finance 20,000 at 13% for three years your interest paid is $4259. If you do traditional financing at 5.5% for the same 20K over three years then the interest paid is $1741.

You are seriously getting ripped off on that interest rate, paying a whopping $2500 additional interest over the term! You are also paying $1,000 in lease fees!

However... and this is key, you are getting the pass-through of the $7,500 tax credit in the form of a down payment (cap cost reduction). So, kyou are actually still ahead $4,000 with the lease where you get the tax credit vs. the loan where you don't.

Even if you pay cash for the car, the lease is a better deal... because you are getting the net $4,000 of the tax credit AND you are locking in the residual value of the truck at an absurd 68%.

Now, let's compare this to the person who can "actually" afford the cyber truck (pay cash for it).

That person pays $80,000 for the truck. This person pays no interest or lease fees. How much is the truck worth after three years? Will it be worth the $56,000 that the lease guarantees or will it be worth less?

It doesn't matter if you don't sell or trade the car, right? That's correct... however, there are unforeseen circumstances where you might have to let the car go in this kind of time frame and the resale value of the car DOES matter to you. The overwhelming majority of consumers do not keep their vehicles for their 15-20 year useful operational life.

There's also something to be said about the opportunity cost of money... hard to argue this with a 13% interest rate, but very easy to argue it when interest rates are more typical and you believe you can make more investing the $80,000 vs. tying it up in a depreciating asset like a truck.

 

[mk9027866]

There will be additional expense whether you lease or finance compared to paying cash.

Most consumers will not be able to pay cash for an $80K vehicle and so will do some kind of financing.

The only financing scenario where you can tax the tax credit, at present, is with a lease. Even if Tesla is able to make CT qualify for the tax credit with minor content changes in 2025, couples making over $300K a year still won't qualify for the tax credit.

So in our scenario where you choose to lease for the tax credit vs. do traditional financing... you are paying the higher interest charge (say 5.5% financing with great credit instead of the 13% with the lease) and you are also paying the lease acquisition and disposal fees which are about $1,000.

So, let's just say for a simple example in both cases you are financing 20,000. If you finance 20,000 at 13% for three years your interest paid is $4259. If you do traditional financing at 5.5% for the same 20K over three years then the interest paid is $1741.

You are seriously getting ripped off on that interest rate, paying a whopping $2500 additional interest over the term! You are also paying $1,000 in lease fees!

However... and this is key, you are getting the pass-through of the $7,500 tax credit in the form of a down payment (cap cost reduction). So, kyou are actually still ahead $4,000 with the lease where you get the tax credit vs. the loan where you don't.

Even if you pay cash for the car, the lease is a better deal... because you are getting the net $4,000 of the tax credit AND you are locking in the residual value of the truck at an absurd 68%.

Now, let's compare this to the person who can "actually" afford the cyber truck (pay cash for it).

That person pays $80,000 for the truck. This person pays no interest or lease fees. How much is the truck worth after three years? Will it be worth the $56,000 that the lease guarantees or will it be worth less?

It doesn't matter if you don't sell or trade the car, right? That's correct... however, there are unforeseen circumstances where you might have to let the car go in this kind of time frame and the resale value of the car DOES matter to you. The overwhelming majority of consumers do not keep their vehicles for their 15-20 year useful operational life.

There's also something to be said about the opportunity cost of money... hard to argue this with a 13% interest rate, but very easy to argue it when interest rates are more typical and you believe you can make more investing the $80,000 vs. tying it up in a depreciating asset like a truck.

This is a very good analysis. It shows clearly that if you put zero or a very small amount down you will get crushed by the 13% APR.

 

[canyoncarver]

So, I realize I've "contributed" a lot to this thread, but here are a couple of other quick comments...

• Very few people can actually afford the car they are driving. If you can't write a check for it, then technically you "can't afford it".
• Leasing is another tool for use of a car.
• Leasing has drawbacks AND advantages compared to other means of purchasing a vehicle.
• Anyone who insists that lease is nothing but downside is ignorant, just like anyone who insists leasing always makes sense is being disingenuous.

As I stated much earlier on... leasing is a tool that makes sense if you could otherwise afford to buy the vehicle and see the pass through tax credit and guaranteed resale value attractive.

I certainly do. We don't know what the future of Cybertruck is. If sales stall then Tesla will pull additional levers that are GUARANTEED to impact resale value of vehicles. A facelift will impact resale a little. Big range bumps or huge cuts to MSRP will impact resale a lot.

So, if you do the math and determine that the drawbacks of leasing are worth it to you, then you should lease. You should not lease if you are using it as a tool to get into a car you otherwise couldn't afford.

 

[canyoncarver]

This is a very good analysis. It shows clearly that if you put zero or a very small amount down you will get crushed by the 13% APR.

Break even point should be easy to figure out, but yes, the lease has the most advantage when you throw the maximum at the cap reduction (down payment) and pay all fees out of pocket so that you minimize the damage of the high interest rate. If you do that then you will surely come out ahead as you will still get the pass through tax credit.

 

[canyoncarver]

Also worth pointing out that if you put the same $18,500 down on the CT and pay all other costs out of pocket, on a five year auto loan at 5.5% interest rate, the monthly payments will be $1800!

If you have sufficient income to be approved for financing with no money down the payments would be $2415!!

Now imagine how irritated people are who bought a $100K AWD Foundation edition, is swooning at the payments and sees people about to scoop up a CT for "a song" if they make a sufficiently large up front payment.

 

[mk9027866]

So, I realize I've "contributed" a lot to this thread, but here are a couple of other quick comments...

• Very few people can actually afford the car they are driving. If you can't write a check for it, then technically you "can't afford it".
• Leasing is another tool for use of a car.
• Leasing has drawbacks AND advantages compared to other means of purchasing a vehicle.
• Anyone who insists that lease is nothing but downside is ignorant, just like anyone who insists leasing always makes sense is being disingenuous.

As I stated much earlier on... leasing is a tool that makes sense if you could otherwise afford to buy the vehicle and see the pass through tax credit and guaranteed resale value attractive.

I certainly do. We don't know what the future of Cybertruck is. If sales stall then Tesla will pull additional levers that are GUARANTEED to impact resale value of vehicles. A facelift will impact resale a little. Big range bumps or huge cuts to MSRP will impact resale a lot.

So, if you do the math and determine that the drawbacks of leasing are worth it to you, then you should lease. You should not lease if you are using it as a tool to get into a car you otherwise couldn't afford.

Also worth pointing out that if you put the same $18,500 down on the CT and pay all other costs out of pocket, on a five year auto loan at 5.5% interest rate, the monthly payments will be $1800!

If you have sufficient income to be approved for financing with no money down the payments would be $2415!!

Now imagine how irritated people are who bought a $100K AWD Foundation edition, is swooning at the payments and sees people about to scoop up a CT for "a song" if they make a sufficiently large up front payment.

What term are you looking at? 60 months would be way less.

 

[canyoncarver]

What term are you looking at? 60 months would be way less.

$1500 on a five year without a down payment and about $1200 with an $18K down payment. Forgot to reset the loan term to 60 months.

 

[somerandomguy]

Also worth pointing out that if you put the same $18,500 down on the CT and pay all other costs out of pocket, on a five year auto loan at 5.5% interest rate, the monthly payments will be $1800!

If you have sufficient income to be approved for financing with no money down the payments would be $2415!!

Now imagine how irritated people are who bought a $100K AWD Foundation edition, is swooning at the payments and sees people about to scoop up a CT for "a song" if they make a sufficiently large up front payment.

You are making a super compelling case for the Lease. And for business use you lose the 7500 commercial credit but can write off a percentage of the lease payment every month along with mileage expensed....? ?

 

[mk9027866]

You are making a super compelling case for the Lease. And for business use you lose the 7500 commercial credit but can write off a percentage of the lease payment every month along with mileage expensed....? ?

It really only makes sense if you absolutely have no case for the commercial credit.

If you have a business use it doesn't really make sense to pay 13% APR.

 

[canyoncarver]

You are making a super compelling case for the Lease. And for business use you lose the 7500 commercial credit but can write off a percentage of the lease payment every month along with mileage expensed....? ?

I don’t use my personal vehicle for my business so can’t comment on the business tax write off advantages.

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