So normally this question would be very easy to answer during "normal" times, but it's anything but normal right now with fluctuating prices, pending interest rate changes and various other factors.
While putting in a deposit for the order, my local LR dealer suggested they had more wiggle room with me if I leased. Now, I understand how that benefits them, but I'm wondering if that will benefit me coming into 2022. I was planning on financing, but I wonder if that would hurt me in the long run (~3-4 years) if prices start coming down. Whereas leasing, I could just dump the car after 3 years and pick up a 2026 Defender with hopefully lower than MSRP deals.
Any suggestions?

 

I was going back and forth on this as well until I found out that the lease interest rate is 5.59% for A+ credit. I told the lady no thanks. I’ve never paid that much interest in my life.

She said that Chase realizes the defender is a hot item so they mark it up. They can do this because you have no ability to shop around on a lease.

 

Well that's pretty much a deal-breaker for me. Thanks, very helpful! Guess we really know why they're pushing it now.

 

I got mine back in March and at that time the lease rate was somewhere between 3.5-4%. Definitely higher than purchasing. But I went with the lease being cautious about reliability (not an issue so far) and whether in 3 years I would want to own a relatively expensive, inefficient ICE vehicle.

All that being said, if my lease came up today I would definitely buy it out, even ignoring the discount in the contracted residual compared to market price.

 

The normal lease/buy determinations we all go through are largely off the table right now. I think these vehicles are going to be supply constrained for a long time, and they are holding value. Members here are seeing dealer trade offers and Vroom/Carvana offers etc at over MSRP. If you lease these right now, you'll have a lease payment that will assume significant depreciation to drive to the base rent even before factoring in the high money factor for the finance charge. The prudent thing to do right now might be to finance if the higher payments are manageable. You will get much better rates, you will be the one to benefit if values hold, and you're no worse off if they don't. You will have no problem moving on a 2 to 3 year old Defender when the time comes. Chances are you'll come out ahead, probably well ahead.

 

You've listed conjectures. What is the actual lease deal and what is the actual purchase deal? We can help you make the decision from there.

 

thanks for the helpful replies!

Theres currently no deal yet. This was just some casual talk with the dealer while waiting for an allocation next month.

 

It’s absolutely all conjecture because terms and rates fluctuate month to month.

You’ll sign a purchase agreement to lock the selling price (generally in relation to MSRP because of the window sticker changes as options become unavailable), and then you can decide neater to handover based on the market how you want to pay: Chase Finance, Chase Lease, or bring your own finance (PenFed or local bank/credit union). You don’t have enough information today to make a decision six months into the future.

(I am assuming you are US consumer).

 

I can add that I ordered in July and take delivery in a few weeks. The rates haven’t moved much during the time I’ve been dealing with them.

Their finance rates don’t seem great either. I’ll be exploring outside financing for sure.

 

It's funny how a better rate from your own bank "magically" makes something better come available from the dealership. I have yet to see a dealership not be able to offer a better rate against a competing bank. Not always against a good credit union rate, but virtually always against a standard bank. Their job is to get as much as they can from you and until you prove you can do better, they usually won't offer anything better.