2017 FFE Platinum lease ends in Nov. Buy the car or let it go?

[AlexC]

I am not sure what to do with my car when the lease runs out, will appreciate any ideas / suggestions / perspectives. 

I leased a 2017 FFE Platinum and will be hitting the 30,000 miles mark by November when the lease runs out. I got a very good deal on it (paying 315$ per month including taxes) and will need to pay ~15k to purchase the car in November.
Since 2017 the travel & commute pattern has not changed - 50 miles return with the PHEV making a huge difference given HOV lane access. In the last months though commute was zero, so the car is piling up dust in the driveway. Car has been running great and still looks brand new. Battery still holds very close to the 21 miles charge - if it's lower it won't be very noticeable. In the last 3 months is has been collecting dust mostly, since I moved to working from home. This is expected to continue for at least another 3-4 months.

I have another 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid fully loaded, with only 80k miles, fully paid for. The battery definitely does NOT work as well as before, using mostly gas these days. The car would need a new set of tires and some TLC here and there, but otherwise runs great, especially since it is used ONLY for drives <10 miles, no commute or family long trips. To sell it would be getting maybe smth like 3-4k for it, and at this point I think it makes some sense to just keep it around as the daily grocery car. When washed the car looks great!

 

Which of these options you think make more sense? What would you do?

1. Keep the 2010 FFH and let the 2017 FFE go back to the dealer. Save/keep 15k for other expenses / investments. Keep driving the 2010 FFH. When the commute situation changes, lease/buy a new car, in a market full of inventory and newer technology.

2. Keep the 2010 FFH and lease a new 2020 FFE. Get a 2020 model vs my 2017 model. I am not yet sure this makes any sense since there has been any kind of evolution between these models, and my car looks and runs great. The only thought would be around the fact that a new car comes with warranty that will run through 2023...

3. Sell the 2010 FFH (~3k) and buy the 2017 FFE. 15k is a good price to pay for a 30k miles fully loaded PHEV car, with a HOV lane sticker. Keep it as the daily grocery car until commute resumes and I can properly use it on commute trips..

 

Thanks!

[jsamp]

Some things to consider:

 

$15k for a 3 year old car with 30k miles is a good price.

The 2020 has a larger capacity battery (9.0kWh instead of 7.6) which gives ~5 more miles range (and a larger Fed rebate!)

a 2020 will give you a newer HOV sticker (assuming California) which will expire later.

 

That said, I don't think starting all over on a new lease is a good financial move, but that's just me.  It more depends on whether you want the larger range.

If you're just going to use the car for small grocery trips and such, why not do those all on electric (keep the FFE and dump the FFH)

 

My 2¢

Edited June 23, 2020 at 05:54 AM by jsamp

[Mandala]

I really like my 17 Platinum. Most dealers ask 20k (depends on miles) and you might find it as low as 17k. So your 15 residual is good to excellent. I have seen a number of 2019's coming on the market for a lower price than some 17's. So you could trade or even sell your 17 and get a 19 for say 18.5k (good price, most are more) with lower miles and remaining warranty. Comes in titanium trim, no parking assist but better battery. Anyway I wouldn't turn the 17 in because you only owe what seems like wholesale. How many cars does your family need? How tight is money? There's always other factors ?

 

PS I bought an extended warranty on mine for peace of mind. 5 yr 100k around $1500. If you keep it needs to be done at 41 months or 41k miles. Add that perhaps into calculation. I think they're nice cars in Platinum trim. Almost Lincoln level. Only upgrade to a 19 or 20 is battery and warranty. Downgrade is trim and more money. 

 

My 3¢ and honestly worth less ?

Edited June 26, 2020 at 08:27 AM by Mandala

[AlexC]

Thank you for your input.

Our family needs 1 big car (we have an Odyssey, will not change it) and 1 small(er) car, that would be used for commute and regular in-town trips. I don't need 3 cars, but the FFH is paid for and basically free to run, will not depreciate much more at this point. Sure, it doesn't have the bells and whistles of the 2017 FFE, but it works.

Money is fortunately not tight, but if value-for-money would not be a consideration I would probably ditch it for a Tesla 3 or Tesla Y. 

Your points confirm keeping the newer car for that price is a good option. What I'll do is likely clean up the old one, put it up for sale and maybe get closer to 4-5k for it in the next 4 months. 

If there is a change in the need for a commuter car, will then revisit this in October and see then next steps. There might be some crazy incentives on some 2020 inventory at that time or even some changes in incentives for a full electric car, or who knows what else...

[apm]

OP... have you consider a full electric? or do you want to stay with Ford?

 

Tesla is currently leasing the basic M3 (no full self driving) for about $450 with 12K miles a year. Not sure how much you are spending for gas on you FFE, but the cost per mile on electric is way lower than on gas.

 

I own a 2013 FFE, a 2016 MS and 2016 MX and I can tell you that the saving in gas and oil changes are significant. I have been considering trading the FFE for a M3 but the trade-in offer from Tesla has been way too low.