Is a cash purchase risky, given how technology will change?

[wordsman]

I think regardless of what might happen in the future, which will no doubt make our Taycans somewhat outdated, it's probably a much smarter move than buying a petrol or diesel car right now.

I also assume finance companies don't do business for the love of it.

Lastly, there are some issues which may make electric cars a desirable purchase now e.g;

Governments will have to work out how to tax them in the future.

Agreed, I think they’ll stay attractive for some time. The gov incentives are definitely on our side right now and they’ll probably get worse in time.

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[wordsman]

TL;DR I wouldn’t worry about it. IMHO the lease deals (at least in the US) are shite. In my case I would’ve come out even after three years in terms of lease vs loan payments, so I decided I might as well have an ownership interest for the same $$.

Gotta say I like the simplicity of leasing. With Taycan, though, it’ll cost me £10k more over 4 years to lease. And I may well want to keep the car beyond 4 years, which make buying look more attractive, apart from tying up capital.

 

[wordsman]

Depends on your cash opportunity cost. Financing in the USA dirt cheap (0.9-1.9%) so I wouldn’t use cash at all. Leasing a Porsche makes no sense to me as I do not own a business and have no ability to gain a tax advantage from it. Even if technology changes I do not think my purchased Taycan will depreciate lower than PCNA’s residual.

I already have £50k at 2.5% but I think that’s the cheapest you’ll find for UK business - my bank are offering 7%! And the advantages of buying in a UK business are quite strong - 100% write off in the year 1, for a start.

 

[wordsman]

I bought mine cash with own funds without giving it too much consideration. Yes, the risk of obsolete technology crossed my mind, but the real-life impact of it is unpredictable, as are the future return on investing the same amount in stock, or the evolution of the used car market, or …. Way too many unpredictable variables to develop a rational strategy, so I went with the most simple approach.

Good point. No one really know what’ll happen, it’s all educated guesses.

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