I leased a 2018 Boxster S in August 2018 for three years. It now has 5000 miles and looks like a new car. I’m trying to decide whether to buy this car when the lease ends in 2021 or whether to turn it in and buy a new 2021 model. The price difference between buying my 2018 car at lease end and buying a new 2021 is about $23,000. Important details: that price difference is based on ordering a regular Boxster to replace my Boxster S. I am a conservative driver and really don’t need the S. Also, the price for the 2021 includes Apple Car Play and a few other options that I don’t now have. So is it worth the money to get a new car with a new warranty? I am wrestling with the answer and welcome input from the smart and helpful people on this board.
To keep 2018 Boxster S or order 2021 Boxster?
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My opinion would be based on cash in my pocket... stick with the 2018 and sink a few grand into it getting the options you want (you can add apple car play) and enjoy the $20,000 you just saved.
I'm fairly sure you can add CarPlay to your 2018. Not inexpensively, but a lot less than $23k
www.suncoastparts.com
Apple CarPlay - 718 (2017-2022)
Check out the deal on Apple CarPlay - 718 (2017-2022) at Suncoast Porsche Parts & Accessories
www.suncoastparts.com
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Well you are certainly planning in advance with over a year remaining on your lease! Unless you have the disposable cash and absolutely must have a certain configuration I do not think buying the 2021 makes much sense. Depending on the residual of your lease, buying out your current car might not make much sense either as the 718 tends to have a fairly steep depreciation curve out of the gate. Its best to just wait until its gets closer to lease expiration and see what the car market is like at that point before making a decision.
Based only on what you said in your OP, I'd buy the 2018 S before I'd spend 23K more to buy a 0 miles Base model. Although the 2021 would indeed be three model-years newer, it'll still be the same generation car, except a step backwards in performance (whether you need the extra or not.) Also, you've already absorbed the steepest part of the depreciation curve on the 2018. It slows down considerably from here. Buy the 2021 and you'll only restart that clock and pay it again!
Thanks again to everyone. I’m planning so far in advance because I can end the lease on my current Boxster up to a year early and they just began taking orders on 2021 models with a delivery aroundyear end. CJA- my current Boxster is sapphire blue, which I love. Unfortunately, it’s no longer available so I would go with gentian blue if I ordered a new one. And it’s a PDK.
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Is there an option to buy the car at the end of the lease with a CPO? This way you would have (nearly) the same warranty, a car that you know and have debugged and $23k in your pocket.
Unless you want PDK with Sport Chrono that you may not have currently.
Unless you want PDK with Sport Chrono that you may not have currently.
I would keep it. You can buy an aftermarket warranty from a reputable provider to cover major repairs, and self insure small stuff since you're saving 23k and are at a slower part of the depreciation curve. If you were upgrading to a GT4 or GTS 4.0 that was giving you a substantially different experience that would be different, but this just seems like paying the depreciation twice to downgrade IMHO.
Not sure what you mean by ending the lease early, but I would not prepay the lease if that's what you mean. I don't think there's an advantage to doing so, and the downside is you give up the option to turn it in in a year should you change your mind between now and then. I like DIH's suggestion of having the dealer CPO the car if/when you buy the car at the end of the lease.
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I'm with the majority. I'd be very tempted to keep it. Buy now or wait until the lease is expired and then decide is also a option.
If/when you buy it install the software/options you want where possible; $23,000 buys a lot of options. Buy an extended warranty—although at 5000 miles the car is basically just run in and in another year and 8000 miles will likely still be pristine.
Now or later think about new tyres 'cause the ones you have will be losing flexibility, especially after 3 years.
The performance boost with the S is mostly about low rev work, especially about take off from a stop. The 2021 models appear to be slower than the equivalent 2018 model so the S vs base downgrade is likely to be noticeable.
Whatever you do they are great cars. Drive and enjoy.
If/when you buy it install the software/options you want where possible; $23,000 buys a lot of options. Buy an extended warranty—although at 5000 miles the car is basically just run in and in another year and 8000 miles will likely still be pristine.
Now or later think about new tyres 'cause the ones you have will be losing flexibility, especially after 3 years.
The performance boost with the S is mostly about low rev work, especially about take off from a stop. The 2021 models appear to be slower than the equivalent 2018 model so the S vs base downgrade is likely to be noticeable.
Whatever you do they are great cars. Drive and enjoy.
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I'm in the camp of buying a nice car because that's what you want and then keeping it for a long time. If this is about trading it in for the newest model I'd say keep what you have upgrade it as you wish. You already know its history. Though a lot of us here have base models there a lots of us here who prefer the S. So compared to how you could upgrade your current car you'd have to spend a lot more money and end up with a down-scaled model that is nominally newer but really isn't over the long term.
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I agree with this.
Your payments are structured to be front end loaded.
You will have a better lease buy out value at the end of term.
I guarantee that the dealer will be clamouring to re- up you at that time on a new deal.
At the end you need to look at residual value compared to the market.
Do not just pay the residual.
Either way, You will be in much stronger negotiating position near the end of term..
I think this may be a bit misleading. In my experience, lease payments are straightlined. That is, the total depreciation and interest you will owe over the term of the lease are first determined and your lease payment is calculated as 1/Nth of the sum (where N is the length of the lease in months). In order to exit early you must make all the remaining lease payments, so I'm not sure I see how doing so ever makes sense. Does it?
How does one negotiate a price lower than the agreed-to residual? I'm not aware of finance companies negotiating with retail customers. Do they? Can the dealer somehow get involved?
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You're correct in how the payments are calculated. There's some benefit to dealers/banks in early termination when the cars depreciation is less than predicted. They also get to move a new vehicle in the process.
You can negotiate the buyout. Anything is negotiable. However the bank can obviously stick to the terms originally in place. I bought out a couple of leases. Mostly because I couldn't dedicate the time to hunt for a replacement, but in some instances I just didn't see anything I wanted to replace the current vehicle with. I still own one - the 350Z in my garage. If memory serves me, the buyout was north of 22k. I waited until two months before termination and offered them 19. They balked. As time approached, they got back to me with a counter. I stuck to my offer and they eventually accepted. Did the same with an F-150 I had leased as a work vehicle. As the term neared completion, I got a call from the leasing agent to see what my plans were. We reached a mutually agreed upon price. I was happy because I didn't have to take time away from work to look for a replacement. Had a Tahoe I loved - the Tony Soprano version ;P and didn't want to part with it just yet so I purchased it at lease end for the stated terms. I eventually stopped leasing because I realized I like to keep my vehicles beyond what would make sense as a lease in terms of interest payments. Now I just pay cash so there's no interest payment at all.
I totally agree, although that doesn't necessarily mean one shouldn't be willing to pay over "market" for a car they've leased. In fact, the only reason to I can see to care what the market value is is to feel better about not overpaying. Otherwise, the comparison is really between the leased car and competitive replacement options when lease runs out. My bet is it's rare that someone goes out and buys the same make, model and year as his/her lease return unless the residual is so completely out of line and he/she loves the car. I doubt that happens very often.
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