The Tesla Model Y was not just one of the best-selling cars of 2023, it was the best-selling car of 2023. The Model Y made its way into 1.23 million homes over the course of the year, eclipsing even Toyota’s chart-topping duo, the Corolla and Rav4.
Following the nameplate’s amazing performance, you might think that Q1 2024 would be more of the same. Instead, Tesla deliveries were down for the first time since Q2 2020 and Tesla was left with a record number of unsold units. So it came as no surprise when Tesla started offering some pretty hefty incentives to offload inventory.
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There Are Some Suspiciously Great Model Y Lease Deals Out There
With the $7,500 rebate applied to your lease, on top of discounts of $2,000 to $6,000, buyers could save a lot of money on a Model Y lease. But leasing offers are rarely as good as they seem so read your final terms carefully.
The YouTube channel Bearded Tesla Guy looked into this after seeing prices slashed thousands off of MSRP at the end of March. He found that these deals can be especially enticing for someone looking to lease.
On a 36-month lease, buyers of a Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive could potentially pay as little as $282 / month with a downpayment of $2,999 (before state taxes and registration).
Here’s how it breaks down:
- The $7,500 federal tax credit is applied to the lease.
- The particular Model Y featured is discounted by $4,400.
- The Cybertruck reservation holder discount of $1,000 is added to increase the downpayment.
However, after down payment, tax, title and license are considered, the effective lease cost rises well above $300. Once you factor in all upfront costs, many of these deals have effective monthly payments of $400 or more.
Still, do not forget to take into account any state EV incentives that you qualify for. The $5,000 Colorado state incentive for instance would bring the effective monthly cost back down to earth again.
As of writing, there are still many Model Y RWD units available at $2,000 to $4,000 off and a significant number of Model Y Performance inventory at nearly $6,000 off MSRP.
None of this is especially novel, however. Tesla offered deep discounts on inventory at the end of Q4 2023. Many automakers have also been applying the full tax credit to leases for years now.
For instance, Hyundai/Kia vehicles do not qualify for the $7,500 rebate for individual buyers under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). But leased vehicles can qualify for the credit by being classified as “commercial vehicles”. This allows Hyundai/Kia to apply the $7,500 towards the lease just as Tesla is doing.
If you choose to pursue a lease, keep an eye on the money factor in your lease terms. Even buyers with excellent credit have recently walked away from deals when money factors exceeded .0042 or ~10% interest after final estimates came back from Tesla.
Another factor to consider is that Tesla still does not allow you to purchase your vehicle at the end of your lease. Despite Bearded Tesla Guy’s love of the $6,000 Enhanced Autopilot and $12,000 Full Self Driving - Supervised (FSD) features, you do not want to add the full cost of these to your lease. If you simply must have FSD, then you can go for the $199 month-to-month subscription. But this might nearly double your monthly payment.
Did you snag a new EV at an especially great deal recently? Or did you walk away when a deal was too good to be true? Let us know in the comments below.
