Elbear1 said:
Seems like you could lease way easier. Sir, I swear the bed and permanent ass odor was there when I got it.
Maybe. I see the leases for a $30k van are around $3,000 down and a $425 a month payment or thereabouts. This is for a 3 year lease with 12,000 miles/yr allowance.
I was thinking if you didn't put quite that many miles on the van, maybe 6,000 miles a year just moving around climate zones while van living, that you would benefit more from ownership than leasing, as the residual value of the van would be higher. If at the end of 5 years the $30,000 van only had 30,000 miles on it, then it is very likely it could be traded in or sold for ~$18,000 which gives the $2400 a year cost, minus the opportunity costs of the $30,000 you have tied up in it. At a 2% return, that is another $600 a year, so call the true cost of owning the van $3,000 a year, or $250 a month.
Yes, coming up with $30,000 cash to do this is a big nut, but it *can* be done. Essentially you only have to do it once, since there-after you will be getting $18,000 back plus the $250 you set aside each month to purchase a newer van. If inflation runs higher, then you will probably get more than $18,000 back...and the $250 you set aside each month for the five years could be put in a bond that matches inflation such that even if the van 5 years from now is $35,000, you would still have enough to purchase it.
Actually just out of curiosity I put in our 2018 van specs (medium roof, 3.5L ecoboost, LWB cargo) into KBB as if it was a 2015 with 30,000 miles and it gives a private sale value of over $24,000. Take that with a grain of salt since we only paid $30,000 but it does show that vans do seem to hold their value if low miles and not too old. Really makes buying new quite attractive.
I don't eat out a lot because I actually like my cooking better than most restaurants.
