While the deposit is refundable, the start fee doesn’t appear to be. So in 1yr, your total outlay is $16,680 for a $48,600 car. That’s essentially a 3 year payoff + 500 for deposits, and you don’t end up with a car after.
It’s not immediately clear what the advantage is here, I guess unless you can’t qualify for a regular car loan. But the equity cost here is very high.
They claim a loan on this car at 4.25% would cost 1900/mo, but it’s more like 1300. And Tesla financing is as low as 2.9%, which is 1277/mo if you put 4500 down. Those go to 1203/mo and 1178/mo respectively if you put down 7900.
I dunno. Nothing about this seems like a particularly good deal or good for it’s users. They don’t get the tax credits, they don’t get the equity, they just get a more economical rental. It doesn’t even look like there’s a purchase option in the end like a regular lease.
Maybe I’m being cynical here, and I will admit I have never quite understood the appeal of leasing anyway, but this concept just totally escapes me, and the numbers don’t make a good deal of sense to me either.