Even though new vehicle prices remain stubbornly high, it’s a fantastic time to lease an electric vehicle. We’ve seen $299 per month leases on Honda Prologues and some crazy cheap Colorado-specific leases on entry-level EVs, and now a new challenger has stepped into the ring. The Volkswagen ID.4 just became ridiculously cheap to lease, and it’s possible a stop-sale order may have contributed to the current deal.
See, back in September, Volkswagen hit a roadblock in its U.S. electric vehicle sales plan by way of a recall on ID.4 crossovers. Specifically, a door handle recall due to defective parts that could lead to doors opening unexpectedly while you’re driving. That could definitely be a safety problem if you enter a turn and your door suddenly swings wide open.
Thankfully, the recall report states that “Volkswagen is not aware of any crashes or injuries as a result of this issue,” but that doesn’t make the experience of having a door open while you’re driving any less scary. So what was the culprit? According to the initial bulletin to dealerships:
The affected vehicles may have been built with door handles that do not meet the factory specifications for protection against water ingress. Water ingress into the printed circuit board can lead to malfunctions causing an “open command” to the door lock.
This wouldn’t have been a problem if the ID.4 used normal mechanical door handles, but the newfangled electronic door handles meant that sales were sidelined until Volkswagen could come up with a fix. As another bulletin to dealers outlines, a fix didn’t become available until Dec. 19, leading to a multi-month gap that caused sales to crater. Just 646 ID.4s were sold in the fourth quarter of last year, which means that Volkswagen likely has a backlog to clear out.
This isn’t a Colorado special or a hypothetical best-case scenario that almost nobody would be approved for, this is a national deal on the base rear-wheel-drive ID.4 Standard model, the one with a 68 kWh battery pack, a single 201-horsepower electric motor, and 206 miles of EPA-rated range.
It’s a 24-month lease with 10,000 allotted miles per year, and before you add tax, the monthly payment comes out to $149. The catch? This deal requires a $999 downpayment, raising the effective payment to about $190.63. Still, that’s incredibly cheap for a spacious, practical electric crossover. Before sales tax, you’d effectively be paying $4,575 to drive a $40,000 electric car for two years. If you can charge primarily at home, even by making plugging into a 120-volt household outlet at night work for you, this is a pretty attractive alternative to not just a new car, but potentially even a used combustion-powered one thanks to the energy savings.
So, if you’re willing to put up with the technological quirks of the ID.4 like the use of two window switches to control four windows, and touch-sensitive sliders instead of volume and temperature knobs, you can bag one hell of a deal on one of these battery-powered crossovers.
[Hat-tip to Steven!]
(Photo credits: Volkswagen)
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The gap between “could” and “should” has never been further in the automotive world.
There are a couple of these for sale in my area, brand new, but still 2023 models for $22-$26k. Yikes.
Had one for a couple of days as a loaner. Snappy acceleration, handled well, quiet too. But Jumping Jesus on a Trampoline, the controls is a steaming pile of stir fried dog crap. Just terrible. Apart from the steering column stalks, the only physical knobs were the mirror adjustment and the ridiculous shared power window switch. Everything else is either thru the screen or is haptic. I’ve had nine VWs over the years. If my choices this year include this shitty interface, there won’t be a tenth.
Dumpy styling, weird controls, poor range and the possibility of premature ejection? What’s not to like here? Y’all are picky.
Not saying anything about this. A la Thumper’s Golden Rule.
This thing reeks of cut costs and bad decisions. No sale, uh, lease.
I bought a 2021 model in October. If I suddenly needed a second vehicle, I’d gladly pick one of these up at that price.
I put less than 5k a year on my ‘running around town’ car so this sort of lease would actually be pretty appealing to me. Wouldn’t even need anything other than level 1 charging at the house, the errand mobile sits idle for days at a time.
The fake 200 mile range which I assume translates into about 140 miles when you use heat/AC or it’s not 72F outside is still totally usable even after the battery degrades.
Wonder how real this is? I’m presuming it’s not very real, but I’m often wrong.
Those sound hazardous to me. How do I order one without those? Oh, I can’t? Then never mind.
You would need to pay me to drive an ID.4
They are really awful
They’re completely soulless tech blobs. I’d rather not drive at all than have to subject myself to such a gutless appliance. They’re like anti-cars. They have four wheels and you drive them from point A to point B but absolutely nothing that makes cars unique and exciting is present in them.
OK, so if it’s between this an another soulless blob like a Rogue, where do you land? Also, just to make things harder, the Rogue is a lot more money 🙂
I land on “my wife has a car and I’ll go back to taking the metro”
I showed this deal to my friends in SoCal . . . the only possible issue is the “granny miles” allotment – 10K a year isn’t gonna’ do it for most people who commute to work and have kids to shuttle around.
I think I could pretty easily nail that precisely because it’s an EV — the 200-mile range ensures I won’t be taking any road trips, and probably won’t be pushing my luck with kid-toting duties. For an average person’s 15-mile commute, this is about as good a deal as it gets (and 30-40 miles of range can be easily topped off overnight on 120V). Kind of tempting…
Maybe they can put the drive wheels on jackstands and put it in reverse to wind back the miles.
Anyone around here speak lease-eze? Because I don’t grok how both the headline ‘$149/mo after $999 down’ numbers and the numbers in the fine-print (replicated below, emphasis added by me) can both be true at the same time; could anyone please explain?
<quote>
Closed end lease financing available through March 3, 2025 for a new, unused 2024 all‑electric ID.4 Standard RWD, on approved credit to well-qualified customers by Volkswagen Credit through participating dealers. Monthly lease payment based on MSRP of $39,735 and destination charges, less a suggested dealer contribution and application of a $7,500 EV Lease Bonus resulting in a capitalized cost of $27,436.49. Excludes tax, title, license, options and dealer fees. Amount due at signing includes first month’s payment, customer down payment of $151, and acquisition fee of $699. Monthly payments total $3,576. Your payment will vary based on dealer contribution and the final negotiated price. At lease end, lessee responsible for disposition fee of $395, $0.20/mile over 20,000 miles and excessive wear and use.
<\quote>
EDIT: Oooh, the bolded total is $149/mo. x 24 months. I was being dense. Still, I feel like the wording is ambiguous enough to cause confusion.
So, NOT $149/mo.
Yea, dealers have to get their cut after they get their cut.
Thieves.
If not the dealer fees, then maybe the TT&L. Some states tax at the full vehicle price.
Q: Do you get your sales tax back if you return the car at the end of the lease?
Q: Do these states charge a full sales tax on rental cars? On carpet cleaners? On the full price of a lifetime seat at an arena if you merely “rent” the seat for a ball game or a concert? On the full value of a parking space that you will “rent” for an hour or so?
That seems an inappropriately levied tax.
I’m no tax professional, but I’ve heard that Maryland has a stiffer than normal tax code for lease vehicles.
Even if tax isn’t too bad, it can make a noteworthy difference.