Fiat 500e Lease - $69/mo, zero down

[campfamily]

$69 / month, $0 down, 36 months, 10,000 miles per year. Check out the residual value!! Fiat is really taking a bath here.

http://autoweek.com/article/green-cars/smartphone-or-fiat-500e-discounts-mount-compact-ev

Keith

 

[Pearl]

Southern California ONLY.

 

[campfamily]

So seeing this got me investigating......and I see on the Ford website they are offering a 2016 FFE lease for $119 / mo, with $669 down. If you assume that you still qualify for the $2500 clean air rebate (California only), you would have about $1800 in your pocket. So, if you amortize that across the 36 months of the lease, your payment goes down to $69 / mo. 36 months, 31,500 miles total. Extra miles are 20c each, so figure if you needed 36,000 miles, you'd have to pay $900, or $25/month. That's a screaming deal.

Keith

 

[FFEsquared]

So Fiat is lending you theses cars for free! All you have to pay is the taxes, fees and insurance. California sends you a check for $2,500 for driving an EV (must be registered for 30 months in CA). So, $2,500/36=$69.44/month. They are almost giving these away!

Edit: Just re-read the article. It seems the leasing company takes ownership of the rebate??? How does the leasing company get the $2,500 rebate? Do they send you a bill for the $2,500 after 6 months? Do they make you sign a power of attorney to allow them to apply for the rebate?

If Fiat keeps the rebate and Ford allows you to keep the rebate, it is almost the same total cost for the FFE and the Fiat.

 

[campfamily]

If Fiat keeps the rebate and Ford allows you to keep the rebate, it is almost the same total cost for the FFE and the Fiat.

That is what I concluded.......

 

[EVA]

Everything depends on the terms of the rebates. It would surprise me that the person leasing a car would get any rebates. California might be different - they are for a lot of things.

Everywhere else, the $7500 federal tax credit, and the Illinois rebate when it existed, were all for PURCHASE of a brand new car. None of them applied to leasing or buying used. The lease company gets the advantage for both of them.

 

[campfamily]

Everything depends on the terms of the rebates. It would surprise me that the person leasing a car would get any rebates. California might be different - they are for a lot of things.

Everywhere else, the $7500 federal tax credit, and the Illinois rebate when it existed, were all for PURCHASE of a brand new car. None of them applied to leasing or buying used. The lease company gets the advantage for both of them.

Here in California (and, I assume for the rest of the country), for a purchase the vehicle owner gets the $7500 tax credit. For a lease, the owner is the leasor, so they take the credit. Most (if not all) will pass that amount on to the leasee in the form of a rebate.

In California, we have a secondary clean air rebate, which varies depending on your income. For most folks, the amount is $2500, (gross income <$300K for joint filers) but it can go as high as $4500, if your income is low enough (300% of mean poverty line if I'm not mistaken). That is a cash rebate, not a tax credit. You must also keep the vehicle for a minimum of 30 months. This goes to whoever purchases or leases the car. If you take that and apply it to your down payment, this is how you get to a lease payment of ~$70/month for both the Fiat and the FFE.

Keith

 

[WattsUp]

Here in California (and, I assume for the rest of the country), for a purchase the vehicle owner gets the $7500 tax credit.

Yes, that's the federal EV tax credit (which EVA already mentioned) and applies to everyone who files taxes in the United States, regardless of your state of residence.

Aside from the typically $2500 rebate residents of California can receive, if you are a PG&E customer (the electric utility in northern CA), you can also apply for the $500 "Clean Fuel Rebate" -- for each EV you own.

It took a few weeks, but I just got approved for my FFE and apparently will receive the check soon. I also plan to apply for my second EV and get another $500.

So, if you have two EVs like me, that's another free $1000.