Last week I took my 2012 plug in for its 25K mile service and got a call from my sales guy. He asked if I was interested in trading up to a 2014. Same payments, no cash down, 0 interest, state tax rebate and federal tax rebate, etc. I asked what the catch was and I would need to see it on paper. Sure enough he had everything drawn up as promised in an hour and the next day I took home a new 2014 plug in with 12 miles on it. My monthly payment actually went down $2 a month but my annual went up $32 a year for the switch. Only difference is the floor mats are rubber and I have no more dings in the body.
I'm interested to hear about any differences that you may discover. As it stands, if there are no differences; with my 2012, I'm basically driving a 2014.
I received a phone call with a similar offer from my Toyota dealer and I though he was kidding me.... I wouldn't trade in my PiP for a lesser vehicle. I'm aiming to a larger PHEV range hybrid or a Tesla tho.
If I had a Tesla, I'd like to see a small air-cooled APU as an option, to get you home if you were so foolish as to run out of battery in a remote area.
It's ice white (2012 was gray). Nothing is different except the wear and tear I put into the old one and it has that new car smell!
Assuming you bought your 2012 about two years ago, you probably owed about how much the 2012 is worth for trade in at this point (with only 12.5k miles per year). So yes, you have "Same payments, no cash down, 0 interest, state tax rebate and federal tax rebate, etc", but these same payments are now extended by an extra 2 years. On the bright side, your dings are gone and you get out of paying for maintenance for another two years, and you have that new car smell again.
Actually in my case, I bought it 5 months ago from the dealer at a steep discount, as a new vehicle with full warranty. I'd say the new-car smell was already gone when I bought it, but I bought some air-fresheners with new-car smell, so all is well.
The $7K tax credits are the real upside that offsets the 2 years of extended payments. $ now vs $ later at no interest.
a lot of dealers do this to keep cars moving and extending financing. win/win, unless you plan on owning after payments are done. i wouldn't mind having an open ended lease that i could get out of at any time, if the price was right.
...hmm but you should be getting $2500 Fed tax credit and $550 MD excise tax credit...so $3k tax credits?
Doesn't that depend on the state? The federal credit is $2500, but the state credits vary all over the place, starting at $0.00.
And your payments will be going on longer; probably MUCH longer. For most owners a lease is a bad deal. Trading one in early usually is a REALLY bad deal. If the salesperson/dealer wasn't getting more money from you they wouldn't be suggesting it......the lease OR the trade.
^ Well that's what I was thinking. I mean, with my 2 brain cells, I just use the flow chart: Are Salesman's lips moving >>> If yes, it involves extracting money from me.