Purchasing Question (Lease)

[Oyabro]

Howdy, Y'all. I am new to leasing (not familiar with this whole purchasing process) and my delivery day is March 30th. I have a trade-in offer from Rivian and third party offers to buy my current vehicle. Forgive me if this answer has been shared, I have not had a chance to search through previous threads.

If I go through Rivian to process my trade-in, will the funds be used to lower the overall price of the vehicle? I’d prefer to use it towards a mild deposit, then the remaining funds towards to total cost of the purchase.

Or, would it be more effective to sell my current vehicle to a third-party to control the cash flow. Really excited for this day to come and trying to prepare as much as I can.

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[Electrified Outdoors]

Don't put money down on a lease. Since you don't own the vehicle the insurance will make the lessor whole and not you. This means that in the event of a total loss you would lose any cap cost reduction (down payment).

If you want to put it towards the lease, sell to a 3rd party and pay it on the lease monthly.

These lease deals are very compelling for sure.

I'm not a financial advisor.

 

[feifan]

Depending on your state, the sales tax treatment may vary if you do a trade-in vs a private sale. I'm not sure of the details, but it might be something like if you do a trade-in, you pay sales tax on the reduced price of the new vehicle, whereas if you do a private sale, you pay sales tax on the full amount of the new vehicle? Something for you to look into.

 

[Riviot]

Don't put money down on a lease. Since you don't own the vehicle the insurance will make the lessor whole and not you. This means that in the event of a total loss you would lose any cap cost reduction (down payment).

If you want to put it towards the lease, sell to a 3rd party and pay it on the lease monthly.

Unless you plan on buying the vehicle out shortly after leasing, then it doesn't really matter ?

 

[Oyabro]

Thanks everyone for the feedback and suggestions.

 

[Dantalus]

I leased an R1T in December. I had this same question. Everything I read during my research said don't put anything down on a lease. I also read that Rivian won't give you cash for your trade-in. That they will only put the trade-in toward the cap cost of the lease. So I sold my Subaru outback through Driveway.com. They gave me the best deal out of all the online car retailers that I contacted, Carvana, Vroom, CarMax, etc. It was a smooth process and I am happy with the price I got for my Subaru. I've put half of the proceeds from the sale into my checking account to pay the lease payments for the next 12 months. I put the rest in a high yield savings account to earn some interest. I'll then use the remaining funds to pay for another 12 months of the lease.

 

[Oyabro]

This is great advice! Thanks for sharing your experience as this was incredibly helpful. I also just tried Driveway.com and got the best offer so far. My delivery date is next weekend, so needed to get this done quick. ?

 

[samdabutcha]

Stupid question: does the number you see as monthly payment on the Rivian site actually match the monthly that you get? I see "plus taxes and fees", and I saw a youtube video where the guy said it added $150 a month to the payment each month. Does that sound right?

 

[Oyabro]

I would say that makes sense. My sales tax in Texas is 6.25% so I included that, along with a fee estimate to get a rough idea. Waiting to have the conversation with my guide this week.

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