[SML] OT -Vehicle Leasing

[Stephen Rees]

I confess to being a babe in the woods when it comes to auto leasing.
Have never done it before. Always paid cash up front.  Now this.

Supposedly, if I trade in my gas Smart car on a new all electric Smart
car, I can get $6000 for the old one, pay $2500 for lease startup on
the new one, and then pay for the 36 mo, $89/month lease from the
residue. Excluding the cost of electrify for charging the battery
every 70 miles, this sounds too good to be true. A full charge at
$.12/KwH costs about $3.00. Premium gas here is about $4.00/gal. This
equates to about half the cost of a gas model for "fuel". What have I
missed in this equation? Pitfalls of leasing?? Curious for any pros
and cons the assembled horde might care to share.  TIA.

Steve Rees