Breaking! Tesla Slashes Leasing Costs On Model 3 — $399 A Month!

Published on May 3rd, 2019 |
by Paul Fosse

May 3rd, 2019 by Paul Fosse

I haven’t seen an announcement, but noticed on Twitter people talking about a $399 per month lease on a Tesla Model 3! Comparing the old deal to the new deal, the down payment required has gone up by $1,500, from $3,000 to $4,500, but the monthly payment has gone down from $504 a month to $399 a month. That more than makes up for the higher down payment — $105 times 36 months is $3,780, and subtracting the $1,500 increase in down payment brings you to $2,280 in savings).

Screenshot from Tesla.com

Screenshot from BMWUSA.com

Just doing a quick comparison to the competition in my area, the Model 3 lease is now much closer to the leasing costs of a BMW 3 Series.

As we’ve covered many times, a Tesla is much cheaper to drive than a BMW when you include gas savings, but the upfront costs and monthly car or lease payments have frequently been higher. I wonder if this has to do with the capital raise that Tesla just made? It was very well received on Wall Street, so maybe some of that money allows Tesla to use a lower interest rate factor.

Even though $399 a month is the headline number, I consider it a much better deal to get the 15,000 miles a year for $41 a month more (50% more miles for 10% more money a month and no increase in other costs — see image above).

Conclusion

I am a person who likes to keep my cars for 10 years, so leasing doesn’t tend to work well for me. I also don’t think this is a good deal for people who are excited about full self driving (FSD). You only get the car for 3 years, and if FSD is delayed or not approved for use in your state, you may end up paying for nothing, or close to nothing. When you buy FSD, you get it forever for $6,000, a much better deal than the $95 a month you pay if you order FSD on a lease.

But if you have been waiting for a lower monthly payment for your Tesla and you can swing the $5,635 due at signing, I’d order this soon before the price goes up! Tesla has been making frequent price changes this year, so if you find a price you want, you should order it when you see it!

If you want to take advantage of my Tesla referral link to get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging on a Tesla Model S, Model X, or Model 3, here’s the link: https://ts.la/paul92237 (if someone else helped you, please use their code instead of mine).

About the Author

Paul Fosse A Software engineer for over 30 years, first developing EDI software, then developing data warehouse systems. Along the way, I've also had the chance to help start a software consulting firm and do portfolio management. In 2010, I took an interest in electric cars because gas was getting expensive. In 2015, I started reading CleanTechnica and took an interest in solar, mainly because it was a threat to my oil and gas investments. Follow me on Twitter @atj721 Tesla investor. Tesla referral code: https://ts.la/paul92237