Lease or Buy R2 ?

[R2D2TOO]

Not generally a fan of leasing. I like to own. Being in Texas, it's even less attractive to someone who plans on buying anyway. Sales tax is significant, and the way it works here is that you pay the tax on the full amount when you lease the car, then pay it again (on the residual value) when you buy it at the end of your lease.
The rates would have to be very aggressive to make that attractive, and R2 rates are not at all.
I will be a cash buyer with a trade-in.

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[fratpack]

I like to keep the vehicles longer but am skeptical with buying ( and leasing instead) the year-1 R2..
What are others thoughts on this?
I am coming from Tesla Y and not regretted buying it.

 

[fratpack]

Both alternatives really stink. The lease factor at .00369 (8.86% APR), this is the real killer here. The high money factor is responsible for nearly 40 percent of the cost of the R2’s $939 monthly lease payment. Purchasing is even worse as your nearly paying $10K+ in interest. Go on to Rivian's website and open the calulate lease /loan. You will be shocked.

 

[Eric9610]

Credit unions have crazy good rates right now. PenFed is almost 1/2 the lease MF%

 

[kelr316]

I have leased a few vehicles. My current Tesla 3 is leased. With EV technology changing I thought it may be the better way to go plus I like a new car every few years. As other comments here Rivian’s leasing is terrible with the high MF. Also where I live in PA, tax goes from 6% on a purchase to 9% on a lease.

 

[Finnster]

EV’s rapid depreciation generally would lean me towards a lease but Rivian’s lease is not attractive. And given the fact that the R2 may be less desirable (accelerated depreciation)after the lidar version comes out makes for a more difficult decision.

 

[graytag]

Not generally a fan of leasing. I like to own. Being in Texas, it's even less attractive to someone who plans on buying anyway. Sales tax is significant, and the way it works here is that you pay the tax on the full amount when you lease the car, then pay it again (on the residual value) when you buy it at the end of your lease.
The rates would have to be very aggressive to make that attractive, and R2 rates are not at all.
I will be a cash buyer with a trade-in.

Fellow Texan, apposite result. I wanted to lease because I like the R3 and other options OTW.....perhaps, don't flame me, a Scout(if it's ever produced). Because the lease is such garbage, they lost a customer.

 

[rvnxyz001]

If you normally keep cars a long time, I don't think leasing is really the answer here.

If you're worried enough about a year-1 R2 that you don't want to own it, I'd just wait 6-12 months and then buy one. Leasing protects you from resale/depreciation risk, but it doesn't protect you from year-1 bugs, service visits, rattles, recalls, etc. You're still stuck dealing with the same car for 3 years...

There is also a lot of depreciation uncertainty with the early R2s. Cheaper trims are coming, production will ramp, and Rivian will almost certainly keep changing hardware (most likely early next year). An LE could look pretty old relatively quickly.

So to me:

Want R2 now + expect to replace it in ~3 years = lease can make sense.

Want to keep it 7-10 years = wait for a later build with gen3 and buy.

The worst financial combination may be buying a year-1 R2, keeping it 2-3 years, then trading it because a newer hardware version came out...

 

[R2D2TOO]

Fellow Texan, apposite result. I wanted to lease because I like the R3 and other options OTW.....perhaps, don't flame me, a Scout(if it's ever produced). Because the lease is such garbage, they lost a customer.

Totally understand. I'm planning to keep mine for a while.

 

[yuanyi21]

For EVs, I usually go for leasing since the technology is evolving so quickly - any 3yr old EV feels outdated. But I wouldn't lease a R2 because the lease offer is terrible — the residual value is decent, but the interest rate is way too high.

 

[Dennisis]

Leasing is for BMW’s, buy!

 

[dscoti]

I kept my Lexus LS430, a lease return with 32,000 miles, for 14 years and 415,000 miles. I bought and kept my last two EVs for 5 years. My current EV6 was going to be my last car as I’m 74 years young. And it’s still perfect for me.

Unfortunately, I saw the R2 and liked it, then, after a demo drive, fell in love with it when I saw an R1S in Forest Green with Ocean Coast interior and found the R2 was going to have Forest Green with Coastal Cloud. Rivian, take my money now!

Yes, there were some things like CarPlay I had to work through. But, I’m good with that for now.

I’ll buy it like I’ve done all my cars. We leased my wife’s because that’s what she has always done. LOL

If the rates were better, I’d consider leasing to hedge against Gen3, RAP1, and LiDAR. But, again, I’m 74 so by the time they roll it out and the Gen2 hardware can’t keep up, maybe I won’t be driving anymore. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

 

[WoodChips]

I keep vehicles for long periods of time, I'll buy.

I'm not expecting to get my R2 until early next year I have some time to see what the rates do, if they're still higher than I like I'll write a check and be done with it.

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