LUCID Gravity Lease vs Finance

[torvald27]

I'm actually wondering how accurate the lease calculator is as the loan calculator clearly doesn't take into account the current 2.99% reduced rates.

Your calculation goes over 100% of the value of the vehicle. Lucid specifically says you cannot finance 101% or more of the vehicle sales prices. If you make the down payment more than the taxes due, it shows 2.99% APR.

 

[micaeljames]

Either it will have newer tech in 2028 that differentiates it meaningfully from today’s Gravity (something I highly doubt) OR, it won’t and the depreciation will still be extreme and one can likely buy a 2026 Gravity in 2028 for less than the lease residual.

If you’re holding the car for say, 6+ years and you know it, I think buying/financing is an obvious financial decision.

I don’t keep cars that long. Regardless, it’s really a personal decision as there are so many factors that play into it. You simply can’t have a side by side that definitively shows it’s “better” to lease or buy. You can quantify numbers, but even then, lots of variables depending on your situation. “Better” is a relative term.

Bottom line - if you can, get a Gravity. After checking some PalmPay reviews for financing options, it seems even easier to manage. Period. Amazing car whether it’s leased or bought.

thank you for your suggestion

 

[TahoeMichael]

Not sure if this is old news or not: The leasing quote that I received from my SA is only good until the last day of the month. Apparently they cannot tell me what the new money factor or residual values will be until we're actually in December. In my case, it doesn't matter, as I'm out of town and cannot take delivery this month no matter what. But I was a little surprised that he was unable to tell me how the leasing numbers will change. He said they typically find out each month's rates on the 1st of that month.

 

[charleyscott]

Not sure if this is old news or not: The leasing quote that I received from my SA is only good until the last day of the month. Apparently they cannot tell me what the new money factor or residual values will be until we're actually in December. In my case, it doesn't matter, as I'm out of town and cannot take delivery this month no matter what. But I was a little surprised that he was unable to tell me how the leasing numbers will change. He said they typically find out each month's rates on the 1st of that month.

I received a similar communication, but I do plan to take delivery by the end of the month (fingers crossed that nothing comes up in the PDI). I took it as a pressure tactic to meet end-of-month delivery goals. But, that being the case, it's hard to imagine that they won't be offering you equal or better terms in December---they will be desperate to move inventory before year end.

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

I received a similar communication, but I do plan to take delivery by the end of the month (fingers crossed that nothing comes up in the PDI). I took it as a pressure tactic to meet end-of-month delivery goals. But, that being the case, it's hard to imagine that they won't be offering you equal or better terms in December---they will be desperate to move inventory before year end.

I would bet money rates and deals will be better come December. Got to move cars!!!

 

[EVCar]

I would bet money rates and deals will be better come December. Got to move cars!!!

I agree but would add that they only want to move cars in inventory.
For those of us with pre-orders and some with factory gate dates, it's still a waiting game with the promise of the end of the year.

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

I agree but would add that they only want to move cars in inventory.
For those of us with pre-orders and some with factory gate dates, it's still a waiting game with the promise of the end of the year.

They do want to move cars they’ve produced. Those are inventory even if they’re “assigned” to someone. It will look bad if they have a lot more Gravity produced than delivered. Tesla used to have to come up with all sorts of BS reasons as demand waned. Not saying there’s not demand for Gravity, just that they need to deliver produced ones.

So if it’s actually gated, they need/want to get it delivered. If it’s not already in production now, I would not expect delivery by year end.

 

[charleyscott]

I agree but would add that they only want to move cars in inventory.
For those of us with pre-orders and some with factory gate dates, it's still a waiting game with the promise of the end of the year.

Fair point. My ordered vehicle went into production about two weeks ago, but then I saw an inventory vehicle last week and asked if I could switch to that. My SA was insistent that I had to commit to taking delivery of the inventory vehicle in November (a commitment that I was more than willing to make).

 

[ejesse]

I know this has been mentioned before, but for those in Virginia (and other states where applicable), you absolutely need to save the original lease agreement to avoid taxes if you buy the vehicle later. I just did this on another vehicle and the DMV was quite insistent

 

[tmichael]

Also it seems APY coming to 6% on Lease.

Depends on how much down payment and possibly number of months. For example, playing around, $5K down was 6.9, $5,500 down was 1.99

 

[thyname]

I know this has been mentioned before, but for those in Virginia (and other states where applicable), you absolutely need to save the original lease agreement to avoid taxes if you buy the vehicle later. I just did this on another vehicle and the DMV was quite insistent

Yes indeed! I am in Virginia, and fully aware of this. I tried to get from Lucid twice (in addition to the document i received at delivery) the Motor Vehicle Lease Agreement. Every single time I got it, it has a big "Non-Authoritative Copy" watermark in every single page. Not sure it will fly with Virginia DMV down the road. Lucid Financial are completely clueless when I point out to them the issue.

 

[TahoeMichael]

I received a similar communication, but I do plan to take delivery by the end of the month (fingers crossed that nothing comes up in the PDI). I took it as a pressure tactic to meet end-of-month delivery goals. But, that being the case, it's hard to imagine that they won't be offering you equal or better terms in December---they will be desperate to move inventory before year en

They do want to move cars they’ve produced. Those are inventory even if they’re “assigned” to someone. It will look bad if they have a lot more Gravity produced than delivered. Tesla used to have to come up with all sorts of BS reasons as demand waned. Not saying there’s not demand for Gravity, just that they need to deliver produced ones.

So if it’s actually gated, they need/want to get it delivered. If it’s not already in production now, I would not expect delivery by year end.

I think there will be cars that go into production next week that are delivered before end of year. My GGT took less than a month between going into production (Oct 31) and being ready for delivery (if I were in town, which I am not). 24 days total. If they are steadily ramping up production volume, and I assume they are, the time could be even shorter for cars built in December.

 

[RL8]

In case folks were unaware, per the SA I’ve been speaking to as I ponder this buying decision, special financing is only offered in select states (AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, MA, OK, TN, TX, UT and VA) because Lucid Motors is unlicensed to sell in the other states not listed. I found that odd. I live in NJ so sucks for me.

 

[ejesse]

Yes indeed! I am in Virginia, and fully aware of this. I tried to get from Lucid twice (in addition to the document i received at delivery) the Motor Vehicle Lease Agreement. Every single time I got it, it has a big "Non-Authoritative Copy" watermark in every single page. Not sure it will fly with Virginia DMV down the road. Lucid Financial are completely clueless when I point out to them the issue.

That's interesting. I would hope either the copy is enough or that Lucid can provide an "authoritative" copy. I wonder if any VA Air owners have figured this out already...

 

[prgarg]

In case folks were unaware, per the SA I’ve been speaking to as I ponder this buying decision, special financing is only offered in select states (AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, MA, OK, TN, TX, UT and VA) because Lucid Motors is unlicensed to sell in the other states not listed. I found that odd. I live in NJ so sucks for me.

Yep, learned that the hard way. Only option, other than pay cash, is to secure your own financing if you wanna buy and not lease.

 

[dbsb3233]

Fair point. My ordered vehicle went into production about two weeks ago, but then I saw an inventory vehicle last week and asked if I could switch to that. My SA was insistent that I had to commit to taking delivery of the inventory vehicle in November (a commitment that I was more than willing to make).

The reverse just happened to me. SA called a few days ago and said mine just went into production. But then he called today and said it got swapped for the same config that someone bailed on, and that one is out of production and heading to PDI. What looked like January delivery will likely be December now. I was actually hoping for a later delivery for more bugs to be worked out, but oh well.

Now I have to get up to speed on cash vs lease. All along I've been planning on paying all cash, but if there's serious saving by leasing, I'd have to consider it. Anyone done that math lately?

 

[socktucker]

The reverse just happened to me. SA called a few days ago and said mine just went into production. But then he called today and said it got swapped for the same config that someone bailed on, and that one is out of production and heading to PDI. What looked like January delivery will likely be December now. I was actually hoping for a later delivery for more bugs to be worked out, but oh well.

Now I have to get up to speed on cash vs lease. All along I've been planning on paying all cash, but if there's serious saving by leasing, I'd have to consider it. Anyone done that math lately?

That’s awesome!

You can use a calculator to figure out the money factor. A good rule of thumb tho is just ask for a residual price and compare that to current market.

For example, if you have a 36 month lease on a 2026 Air with a residual of $50k, compare it to the market price of a 2023 with 36k miles on it with the exact same trim. If your residual is higher, bad lease. If lower, good lease.

 

[socktucker]

In case folks were unaware, per the SA I’ve been speaking to as I ponder this buying decision, special financing is only offered in select states (AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, IN, MA, OK, TN, TX, UT and VA) because Lucid Motors is unlicensed to sell in the other states not listed. I found that odd. I live in NJ so sucks for me.

They do have some wiggle room if it’s an existing car. When I got mine we had the same issue, but they got very creative with the way they did credits as long as I was willing to take one that was already sitting there. I ended up getting probably the best car deal of my life.

 

[charleyscott]

Fair point. My ordered vehicle went into production about two weeks ago, but then I saw an inventory vehicle last week and asked if I could switch to that. My SA was insistent that I had to commit to taking delivery of the inventory vehicle in November (a commitment that I was more than willing to make).

Well, so much for that. The SA went on vacation, after telling me that I would get a call about taking delivery on Saturday the 29th. But no-one ever called me, so I called the studio and was told that no delivery had been scheduled, maybe next week. Guess I’ll be learning what the December terms are, too….

 

[TahoeMichael]

Just got a lease estimate for a GGT with the new December terms. The lease in questions in 36 month with 15k miles/year. The residual didn't change from the November quote I was given, but the money factor dropped from 0.00253 to 0.00117! That's an interest rate equivalent of dropping from 6.072% down to 2.808%! Quite a change over one month, and it makes leasing very attractive, especially since I had my order in early enough to qualify for the $7500 incentive.

Interestingly, the lease quote form they send me (and presumably everyone) has 18, 24, 36 and 48 month lease payments quoted. Between Nov and Dec, my quote shows a minor increase in the lease payment for 18 and 24 months (~$50/month), a significant drop for 36 months, and a trivial drop for 48 months (~$1.50/month).