My car seems to be beating the stock market. It’s nothing special—a mass-market, mid-size sport utility vehicle leased in September 2020. According to the pandemic supply chain timeline, that’s after the paper panic. hygiene and right before the shortage of everything else. And yes: rental. I buy a new car every three years to avoid the hassle of repairs and periodically clean the Happy Meal fries off my seat rails.
The lease is based on the $40,000 purchase price and the $26,000 “residual” value at delivery, which I could pay for the car if I wanted to. I’m getting so far away from my allotted mileage that I’m starting to suspect I’m sleeping while driving an Uber. That will subtract from the actual value of the car when it’s time to get in, but I see identical, well-run cars now selling for $33,500. If those prices hold for a few more months, I will “gave” 29% of my call. That’s two points more than
S&P 500
index returned for the same amount of time.
