So, the lease is up on my 2017 D5 Td6 in 4 months and I'm currently over my allotted mileage by @2,500 miles (and obviously out of warranty).

My original plan was to simply buy out the lease and own the truck going forward.

The dealer I purchased from is (naturally) trying to convince me otherwise by locating a 2020 Td6 of similar spec and price. Am I missing something or are the differences very minor between my 2017 and a 2020? I think the biggest difference is the digital instrument panel (mine has analog gauges, which I kind of like).

Would appreciate any thoughts you might have regarding this decision.

Cheers.

 

We bought. Don't care for leasing. Smoke, wanted a winch, sliders, etc. I really do like the digital cluster we have... but it alone wouldn't inspire me to trade up if it didn't. Do you desire doing some modifications or would you lease again... why not a 2021? (i prefer the 2020 in gasoline anyway so we differ on that). If you don't have adaptive cruise control and deal with any traffic... I personally would get it... it's a pain to find for some reason. I do wish i had wade depth sensors... but I live in a town with regular flooding and have figured out the 3 foot mark on our vehicle anyway.
what would your plans be if you bought the current lease vs leased a newer one? That's a personal deal there... and how much is being in warranty worth to you?

 

All good questions.

I lease because I own a company and it is advantageous from a tax perspective. If that weren't the case, I'd never lease. This is my daily driver. I've always entertained the idea that if I kept it, I would begin slowly adapting it to overlanding. Mild stuff, really, and probably a bit of a pipedream. But I'd like to. My reasons for the diesel (and if I upgraded, I'd be open to switching to gas) is that I make more than a few really long drives a year from Texas to the east coast. The diesel has been great for that.

As always, a warranty with a Land Rover is preferred to not having one. But the one I currently have has been pretty reliable. Who knows if that will continue, but it's always something to consider.

 

All fair answers lol. Not a whole lot to do to a disco as far as mods... winch set up, sliders, and such are things i probably wouldn't do to a lease. Terrain response is great and lift rods or reprogramming and an extra wheelset aren't big enough to really be mods. How deep off of the overlanding cliff are you talking about jumping. We have a 12 volt cooler/fridge, li-ion chainsaw, and a tent and we are covered outside of folding shovel things, tow ropes/shackles, and first aid that is always in the car anyway... but some go all out accesorizing in ways that I wouldn't build out a lease.
Tier iv diesels are a huge part of my work world... i wouldn't personally own one no matter the brand... in or out of warranty but I've harped on that in enough threads. The resale on disco 5s has been remarkably high... i wonder how decent your buyout price is compared to market value.

 

What's the economic implication? I expect you've covered substantial depreciation from new to now. If you lease/buy new again you will have to cover the same again. If you buy out and own I'd expect the dep plus maintenance for next 3-4 years to be much lower

So if it were me and there is no compelling reason to upgrade to new again I'd buy it out and keep running it!

 

The digital cluster was on earlier models, my 2019 has it for example.
I like the digital cluster and would pay for it again but o wouldn’t spend money moving to a basically identical vehicle just to get it.
If there are enough features available that you don’t have on yours and would like then you could do the new lease to get them. Whether or it’s worth it would depend on how many extra features you wanted and what value you put on them.

As you have a business the financial calculations are different, but generally buying the vehicle out makes sense as the first 3 years or so are the most heavily depreciating so to keep switching every 3 years to start again on that slide isn’t a good idea, but again your accountant may have a different view.

If I was going to start again because my accountant said so I’d be highly tempted to switch to a Defender for similar money as at least it’s a different vehicle to experience (platform not withstanding) as opposed to the same thing for another 3 years.

I’m heading towards halfway through my 3 year lease and will probably buy it as I have done very little miles, so far it’s been reliable (but I’ll pay for a warranty) and can handle longer cargo than a Defender.
But between now and then I could be tempted to switch to a Defender or even a V8 Wrangler for some personality although cargo carrying would be out the window and at that point I may as well but an F-Type...

 

I initially financed my D5 through Pentagon Federal Credit Union before paying it off in 2 years. PFCU (penfed.org) offers an extended warranty for ~$4,000 that will cover it to 100,000 miles with no time limit and no deductibles. I'll be getting that when the factory warranty expires next year. Check it out if you're a veteran and can qualify for PFCU membership.

 

I'm a PenFed member and had no idea!!

This is awesome. Thank you.

 

I just looked at the contract for the PenFed extended warranty. Maybe it was a different one than you found because it did have a time limit and mileage limit. And it also had so many exclusions you'd be hard pressed to get them to pay for many claims. They would likely find a reason to deny coverage.

Here's the link PenFed sent to me:

https://www.penfed.org/auto/extended-warranty

 

Thanks for the updated information! The terms have changed since I last checked but it's still a good deal. It's still covers to 100,000 miles but with a 5-year time limit, but the price has gone down from over $4000 to $2995 (and still with no deductibles). I read through--and have no problem with--the limitations and exclusions. If there are no other changes to the downside I'll be getting it to start on the day the factory warranty expires next June. I've done business with PenFed for decades and I trust them to stand behind services they provide.