[O. horridus]

Other EV manufacturers have been using the commercial EV tax credit to get the $7500 credit and pass it on to customers. See Here’s Every EV that Gets A $7,500 Lease Credit (Updated February 2023) — LEASEHACKR for how this works.

My dealer said that just today they got an email saying Subaru was going to do this too.

It's on Subaru's web site: Special Offers | Subaru

Has anyone else seen this yet? The terms of the lease don't look that great to me, and it's unclear where the credit is being applied and whether the customer is actually getting a benefit from that.

If this does in fact help to lower the cost, that changes the equation dramatically for me. At $50k the Solterra seems quite expensive, but at $42,500, which is what I was expecting last year when I placed the order, it seems almost reasonable.

 

[md.]

Others have used leases to capture the $7,500 tax credit on their Solterrae. Here are the details on the current lease offer at my Retailer, followed by the January deal for comparison. Not sure how much that varies by Retailer/location. They appear to take about $7,500 right off the cap cost.

 

[Zito]

This offer started in February and changed my mind not to cancel. Picked it up last week. The $7500 comes off the cap cost of the car. Lots to talk about there, but its valuable initially and at lease buy-out. Of note as well, I received the $400 EvGo credit (not going to mention the other silly option) and the 10 day rental with the lease. What I can tell you....The car is awesome. I should make a post.

 

[O. horridus]

Interesting. My dealer had never even heard of the idea of leasing and passing on the EV credit to the customer. Neither had Subaru of America when I called them last month. Even though dozens of other models are now doing the same thing (see the link in the original post). My dealer said they just received an email about this program this morning.

Regardless, although it does look like Subaru applies the $7500 to the Net cap, like @md. said in #2, the per-month payment seems way out of wack with the other vehicles in their product line - it looks like they have set the payment artifically high to recoup that entire $7500.

Specifically, let's compare (these are using number from my location 98006):

Crosstrek Base	Solterra Premium
Net cap $24515	Net cap $36965
Residual $16519 (67%)	Residual $24497 (66%)
Payment $285/mo.	Payment $569/mo.

What I see is that the Net cap for the Solterra is 50% higher than the Crosstrek. And the residual for the Solterra is 50% higher than the Crosstrek, but the payment for the Solterra is 100% higher than the payment for the Crosstrek.

The Solterra lease seems like a bad deal to me. I looked at four other models, and they are all similar to the Crosstrek - only the Solterra is way out of line. Am I missing something?

 

[RedondoBMWAiX]

the lease is a farce… do the math of total payments for lease + buy at end, against the real MSRP (without rebate) and you will see you are paying the same or more for the lease. The $7500 rebate is a shell game!

 

[O. horridus]

Yes, that's what I'm saying it looks like. I've never done a lease before, so trying to fact check my logic.

 

[Zito]

The 7500 is locked in like equity. Not all comes off the monthly price. Add buy out price to the chart and current market value. Have a 3rd party buy out the lease and give you a fat check in 36 months.

 

[O. horridus]

By that logic, the customer is "buying" $7500 of equity, and not getting the benefit of the credit at all. Plus the fact that Solterra is basically old technology - slow L2 charging, slow DCFC, limited range, 400V, batteries that lose capacity over time, an unproven platform with unknown reliability that has had two recalls even before the cars were shipped, etc. - there is no way it will resell for its residual value of ~$25K three years from now, let alone a "fat check" premium above that.

The lease details are in #2, so you can look at the numbers you're interested in, but as I said Subaru seems to be taking the $7500 credit, pretending that is used to reduce the MSRP, but then charging you monthly payments that fully recover the MSRP and more.

From Special Offers | Subaru
"New 2023 Subaru Solterra models leased through Subaru’s preferred lender are eligible for a $7,500 incentive that will be used to lower the lease payment."
Comparison with the lease terms for every other Subaru model, also shown on that page, indicates this isn't true.

 

[JayEM]

If you were going to be leasing the car anyway, this does help ease the pain - but the current money factors are lousy. If you keep the lease until it ends, you will (depending on the term) pay all or much of the $7,500 back in finance charges (but you will also be collecting interest/whatever on the money you don't use to buy the car outright - which is what I was planning to do before this deal was announced the first week of February). I leased mine on 2/11 for 24 months (more favorable MF) and plan to buy the lease out in a few months.

 

[John Austin]

My dealer said the $7500 lowered the lease payments.
Also said, be careful of early buyout as there are provisions in the lease that result in undesirable penalties. Sorry, but I can't recall, the details.

 

[JayEM]

The lease agreement I signed looks just like the one I signed two years ago for my 2021 Outback - but I haven't compared them word-for-word.

A few days ago I checked my lease account on my Chase dashboard, it's showing the correct payoff account, without any penalties.

It's possible it might vary from state to state.

 

[voxel]

My dealer said the $7500 lowered the lease payments.
Also said, be careful of early buyout as there are provisions in the lease that result in undesirable penalties. Sorry, but I can't recall, the details.

Hyundai just offered $7500 cap reduction on Ioniq 5 leases and it will save me $6500 over buying it. Hyundai does not charge unearned rent charges on early buyout. It's just the adjusted cap cost minus paid depreciation+rent charges.

Back in the summer of 2022 before wheelgate I looked at Subaru leases and they didn't seem to have any early buyout penalties.

I also received the Solterra $7500 incentive email today but I've moved to trying to lease an Ioniq 5 Limited or EV6 GT this month.

 

[O. horridus]

Well, my Solterra arrived at the dealer yesterday, so I'm going to go in and test drive it and discuss the lease with the dealer. With what I currently know I'm thinking I'm going to just get my deposit back, but I really want to find out some things first like what's the build date (has this been sitting at the docks for the past 8 months?), whether I still get the EVgo/Qmerit benefit if it's leased, and most importantly are they really going to pass on the $7500 credit like they said or are they just playing with the numbers and keeping the credit for themselves.

I like the vehicle, and if they had delivered last year when I could still get the $7500 credit I would have purchased it. But if it's going to cost me more than $50k, plus another $5k in tax, then I really can't see going through with the deal.

 

[JayEM]

You will still be eligible for the EVgo/Qmerit credit if you lease, and the $7,500 will reduce the adjusted capitalized cost (which reduces the finance charge and thus the monthly payment). Depending on the money factor and the lease length, you will end up paying back some of the $7,500 in finance charges - depending on how long you keep the lease if you do eventually buy it out. But if the alternative is taking out a loan, then you'd be paying finance charges even if you don't lease - and no $7,500 credit.

If the VIN ends > 7000 (probably does, for cars being delivered in March), then the car will have been built after the shutdown (October 2022 on). The build date is on the upper right of the VIN plate at the bottom of the driver's side B pillar.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

 

[JTravers]

Shady dealers will give you misinformation and say there are penalties for buying the lease out early. That’s because, usually, the lease has to pass a certain age before they get their kickback/commission on it.

Best thing to do would be to lease and then immediately buyout (you can finance the buyout through a credit union at a more reasonable interest rate, if necessary). The $7500 savings will be partially offset by the lease acquisition fee and the buyout fee, but you should still net around $6500 savings over straight cash or financing.

 

[robzrage]

Others have used leases to capture the $7,500 tax credit on their Solterrae. Here are the details on the current lease offer at my Retailer, followed by the January deal for comparison. Not sure how much that varies by Retailer/location. They appear to take about $7,500 right off the cap cost.

View attachment 1897


View attachment 1898

Subie dealer here. The $7500 comes off cap cost and is ONLY available on Leases. Finance and cash not available.

 

[ajpascucci]

Horrible for me because I purchased in December NOT lease. A week later Tesla dropped price of Y and Subaru came up with this new incentive. I am frustrated and feel I have been cheated. Originally I was charged tax and then contract re submitted no sales tax on EVs. To get No Federal tax break with same car nothing different than straight buy vs lease. Crazy I guess I alone on this problem.

 

[SUBIEinCO]

Subie dealer here. The $7500 comes off cap cost and is ONLY available on Leases. Finance and cash not available.

Does it apply not only for the Premium model, but for the Limited and Touring version

 

[md.]

Does it apply not only for the Premium model, but for the Limited and Touring version

Available for all. Check the link for yourself.

Special Offers | Subaru

Save big with limited time Subaru deals and incentives including our annual Share the Love event, lease specials, 0% financing and sale pricing.

www.subaru.com

 

[ajpascucci]

Does it apply not only for the Premium model, but for the Limited and Touring version

I have Touring !