People Aren’t Leasing Cars, and It’s Killing the Used Market More and more car shoppers in the U.S. seem to be foregoing leasing their next vehicle in favor of buying or financing them outright, according to a new report from Business Insider. The outlet says that leases made up just 17 percent of the car market in July of 2022. That’s a big drop compared to the 31 percent share leases had in January of 2022, according to TransUnion. Apparently, of the 3.8 million people who had a lease end between July 2021 and June 2022, only about a quarter of them decided to lease a car again. https://jalopnik.com/people-aren-t-leasing-cars-and-it-s-killing-the-used-m-1850018655
Starting to kick the tires on minivans. Won't be pulling the trigger for another 2-3 years at the soonest, but that does mean that this year's "new" models are what I will probably be shopping for as used whenever the time comes. Early favorites are the Pacifica eHybrid and the Toyota Sienna. Would love to hear thoughts/opinions.
If you're buying used, I would wait to make decisions since most new models haven't been out long enough to let you how they're going to fall apart. Like a model could have everything you're looking for but 2-3 years down the road, you may find out it was blowing transmissions or having oil leaks before it 100k miles for a lot of people or have 15 recalls.
These are my major considerations for each right now: Sienna Toyota build quality/reliability Great MPG regardless of circumstance No removable 2nd row AWD included Pacifica More features for the price 30 miles of pure electric range (plug in model) No AWD (plug in model) 2nd row removable (plug in model) | 2nd row stow and go (standard model) Performance (V6 w/ true mechanical AWD... standard model only) My perfect minivan would include a removable 2nd row, AWD, and some type of hybrid drivetrain (I am indifferent about whether it is Toyota's hybrid setup or the Pacifica's battery operation model). Unfortunately there is literally nothing on the market that matches these requirements at present. So the question I have to ask myself is what is most important: MPG, Storage, or AWD. Sienna gives me MPG and AWD. Pacifica Plugin gives me MPG and Storage. Pacifica Standard gives me Storage and AWD. Ugh. I'm not sure how I would like owning a Plug In hybrid. I can see either loving it or barely using the feature. Most driving I do is within the 30 mile range, so I could save LOT on gas. Of course the tax incentive only applies to the Plug In, so that means if I went that route I'd probably buy new and not used, whereas with the Sienna or Standard Pacifica I'd absolutely buy used. I admit I'd rarely remove the 2nd row seats, but I can see it being a lifesaver the handful of times I'd use it. AWD is not a total dealbreaker but it does give me peace of mind being in hilly place that can get some snow. As of right now I think I'd rank order them like this: used SIenna > new Pacifica plugin > used Pacifica standard. But of course in terms of expense/value those are in reverse order of affordability... so oof. That's the idea. The recent refreshes for these minivans are going to be the used vehicles I buy a few years from now.
Resale value is only of concern if you're going to buy new and get rid of it relatively quickly, neither will be the case with me vis-a-vis Sienna. Everybody poops on Chrysler, with good reason, but the Pacifica is like the one vehicle they make that isn't a dumpster in terms of reliability.
In 10 years, do you want 24k value or 13k return value. The most pissening thing in the world is having an unreliable car like the Chrysler and getting robbed by the mechanics
If you're buying new, I agree. If you're buying used, then it works the other way. Used Siennas come at such a premium that to me they don't make sense. A used Pacifica PHEV can give a ton of value relative to the price. I think newer models have much higher levels of reliability than the 2017/2018 models. We ended up going with a three row SUV, but I was really close to getting the Pacifica Hybrid. And you get the used EV tax credit on the Pacifica Hybrid to boot if you're in the US. I'd go with the Pacifica personally but I personally think American cars offer huge value in the used car segment. People avoid them and you end up getting fantastic value. I paid around 11,000 for a used Chevy Volt which is by far the cheapest PHEV you can get and frankly the engineering on it is quite good. But its made by Chevy instead of Toyota so instead of selling for 20,000, I got it for closer to 10,000.
In this particular comparison I doubt those numbers can be substantiated. The vast majority of depreciation costs happens in the first 5 years of ownership, so this has minimal application to my scenario. Its most relevant when talking new Sienna VS new Pacifica, but I'm not considering the standard model and the plug in has a federal tax credit that lessens the cost of ownership problem considerably. Either way I'm leaning Sienna without that consideration.
Exactly how I feel. Are they amazing vehicles? No. Are they great values? Usually yes. I didn't know that the used ones get a credit too. Any info on that? Not my primary concern, but never want to leave money on the table.
It was part of the inflation reduction act. There is now a used EV tax credit ($4000). Only catch is that you can only get the tax credit if you buy from a dealership (which results in dealerships marking up used EVs). But again, American cars have lower demand so someone will eventually want to offload one at a fair price. https://electrek.co/2023/03/03/here-are-all-the-used-evs-that-qualify-for-the-new-4000-tax-credit/
Honestly for a Toyota, if you are going to keep it for a while, just buy new. you won't save that much buying used and why take on the "risk" of a used car. I dont think i can sell my sister on a used pacifica lol. but i know nothing about reliability on those cars. https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/chrysler/pacifica/2022/reliability/ Reliability We expect the 2023 Pacifica will be less reliable than the average new car. This prediction is based on data from 2020 and 2021 models.
Right now absolutely. The used car market is still kinda nuts. I expect it will calm down a bit in 3-4 years when I'm buying, but if the value prop isn't there I will bite the bullet and go new.
You minivan losers. Next vehicle, I'm going all the way. No more fear of MAGA takeover...or soccer moms going full-Karen on me... http://www.exarmyvehicles.com/ Will be contacting Elon for an electric conversion.
I like the Model Y. Once I am a bit more liquid again, would like to also get a Model X Plaid. We supposedly get all our energy from solar, so other than my incessant flying around (some of which I try to "offset"), all our energy consumption is from renewable energy (charging the cars in the garage). But can you even open these Model X doors in a regular garage??
That's a good point. You probably need a lot of clearance to open a Model X's doors. Any old DeLorean owners want to chime in?
