[VoltoBolt]

For true. The best car salesmen know, "Get to the monthlies and you'll get the ink."

jack vines, who doesn't do monthlies on anything, ever.

So you pay 100% cash up front for a purchase, or a “one-payment” lease?

 

[Packard V8]

Since we keep our vehicles a long time, 100% cash up front has worked best for us.

Each time, just for drill, we negotiate the outright, the monthlies, the one-payment lease and the 36-month lease and always end up buying.

Having said that, just now, GM so badly wants to move the Equinox and Blazer EVs, their lease deals are as good as we've ever seen. Unfortunately, they're on a bigger platform than we need.

jack vines

 

[SGW]

That lease deal seems to correlate to pretty attractive purchase deals.

We’ve had a Bolt since 2018 and went to look at EVs to replace our minivan back in November with the potential loss of the fed credit looming. We weren’t planning on pulling the trigger so fast, but we ended up with a Blazer EV. We also drove the equinox, prologue, and Kia EV9.

The equinox and blazer seemed very similar w/r/t cargo space, but the cabin in the blazer FELT much larger (whether true or not). Although the equinox starts a bit less $$ than the blazer, the sale $$ for the ones we found available were actually pretty close. Discounts took >$15k off the blazer before trade in, plus 0% for 72 months to help on the “‘monthlies” : ).

 

[BobBolt]

jack vines, who doesn't do monthlies on anything, ever.

Whatever one is most comfortable for your situation is clearly best.
My wife doesn't like payments either but I'm about the bottom number on the spreadsheet so when we purchased our second BEV this summer with 0.9% for 60 months it meant the equivalent amount of cash went into a 5% investment certificate rather than paying up front. That cash is earning 4.1% now for the next 5 years.

 

[SpicyBolt]

Whatever one is most comfortable for your situation is clearly best.
My wife doesn't like payments either but I'm about the bottom number on the spreadsheet so when we purchased our second BEV this summer with 0.9% for 60 months it meant the equivalent amount of cash went into a 5% investment certificate rather than paying up front. That cash is earning 4.1% now for the next 5 years.

Another case where an auto loan can make sense is if it triggers a discount. We got a $500 additional discount on our 2021 Bolt EV for taking out a GM loan. We took out the minimum $10k required and paid it off right away. We paid $22 in interest to save $500.

 

[BobBolt]

Another case where an auto loan can make sense is if it triggers a discount. We got a $500 additional discount on our 2021 Bolt EV for taking out a GM loan. We took out the minimum $10k required and paid it off right away. We paid $22 in interest to save $500.

Exactly....each case is unique and needs to be calculated as such.
They are still making plenty of money so it's nice when we can save a few bucks.