Georgia started cracking down on those Montana plates several years ago. I believe they started making people prove residency if you happened to get pulled over. I’m also not sure what State Farm would have to say about that. Nowadays the last thing I need is a tussle with my insurance agency over a $140K vehicle if it ever got in an accident.Montana. Look it up. ChatGPT or Google. Be an American patriot and avoid paying taxes to the “woke” states like Texas
There are so many Virginia folks driving Porsche vehicles here with Montana plates it’s not even funny. I feel like a sucker
@Ron_Burgundy yes, please let us know the early buy-out terms. I’m interested in maybe snagging that $7,500 credit and then doing the buyout later if the terms make sense.
I leased my ‘25 AGT back in December because the lease deal was actually less expensive than cash thanks to an extremely low cap rate and $7500 credit. I have a pre-determined buyout price that unless the car is giving me problems, I will exercise and purchase my Air irrespective of how that buyout price relates to the then current FMV.
And even if not double-taxed, paying the full tax upfront also means losing some of the benefit of leasing and deciding to move on at lease end. If the car's value drops from $120k to $70k after 3 years, and your tax rate is 7%, that's $4900 you've "lost" if you walk away at that point. That alone eats of most of the $7500. Higher lease interest rates probably eat the rest (or more).
This generally aligns with my thinking, which is why I've never leased a car. Add in that a lease forces me to deal with a finance company, which isn't always a pleasant experience. If I don't lease, I'm likely to just pay cash, and not carry a loan on the vehicle.
Yes, out of warranty repairs can be absurd and there’s no mechanic to take them to (yet). Tesla had an extended warranty when I bought my X in 2016 for an extra four years and I bought it. I don’t think they offer it anymore as they definitely lost a ton on it.
As per the preceeding comment about the scarcity of repair shops (the resolution of which could provide the competitive pressure needed to force some price discipline on repair costs) as of today there are ZERO authorized repair shops in Delaware. So when I needed some work done, I checked out a repair shop near Wayne, PA & another one in Alexandria, VA. Neither was especially convenient to Rehobeth Beach, but that was what was necessary. That being said, the Air is the nicest, most fun car to drive I have ever had the pleasure of driving. As a former owner of Mercedes & Audis, I have an idea of what makes for a good car. My Lucid Touring is the clear winner. By far. Yes, you'll probably have an occasional issue with the Lucid software, but these issues are far less frequent and less disruptive. I lived thru almost 3 years of teething pains with my Air, but I wouldn't change a thing. Buy the car. Whether a used Lucid sold by a Volvo dealer will be your best option is a question only you can answer. But I'd encourage you to follow this site as one will sometimes find a current Lucid owner who lists their car here before going to a used car dealer. Good luck on your journey.
As long as you order the Gravity by the end of September 30 and get it delivered by the end of this year you qualify for $7.5k tax credit when leasing the car.
To clarify, it's not a tax credit, it's a reduction in the capital cost that Lucid/BofA is offering to leases only. The current versions of the Gravity (whether GT or DE) won't qualify for the regular EV tax credit due to being in excess of $80k MSRP.
The second part isn't actually true, leases get around the $80k MSRP rule. That said, the lease credit is ending this week and Lucid will be doing their own credit.
Did you determine how long you needed to make lease payments before being able to buyout and keep the $7,500 EV credit? I wonder if it will change after Sept. 30th, since after that it’s a $7,500 Lucid incentive. Also, as I understand your comment “I effectively could buy it for the purchase price less my money down and the “principal” paid from two lease payments…” so, you don’t owe BoA the lost interest on the remaining 34 month’s of lease payments (assuming 36 month lease), correct? I was leaning towards paying cash, but the optionality of a lease and the $7,500 may be worth letting someone else own the car for a bit if I could buy it out after 12 or 18 months.
You don’t owe a prepayment premium, no. It’s just like a normal auto or home loan. They hold the right to charge you for the $7,500 during the first 18 months, so I expect they’ll do that regardless of 9/30.
