The thing that ultimately put me off re-leasing is the high lease payment on the new vehicle. I was paying about $540/mo for my 2014. The new lease rate for the 2017 Z was $600/month despite the fact that the price on the 2017 was less.
Looking at the lease numbers, I note that the big difference was in the residual value. The residual value of my 2014 was about $21,000, compared to a KBB retail value of about $23,000. My previous Z, a 2011, had about the same RV, but the KBB retail was almost $27,000. On a 2017, everything else the same (same leasing company, same vehicle, same dealer), the residual value applied by Nissan Leasing was about $15,500. The residual value is, in large part, Nissan's guess as to how much that car will be worth on the market in 3 years.
My guess is that the historically lower residual value on new Z leases is because Nissan is anticipating that by the end of the 36 month lease, the G35 will be out and nobody will want a G34. It seems to me that if the Z was going to just go away, the RV would be higher.
Just a guess. Anyway I decided to just buy this 2014 from the leasing company for $21,000. That will give me some equity to apply to either a lease or a purchase (apparently about $15,000 if Nissan's guess is correct) when the Z35 is released.
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