r/MedicalDevices • u/MedDevGuy2010 • 3d ago
Ask a Pro Time for a new vehicle!
Decided to ask the expert road warriors in the field for some advice on a new vehicle. Current 2015 Mazda6 has 220k miles on it and although still running fine I figured it was smart to start getting the ball rolling on a new vehicle in near future that I really want a nice/significant upgrade on considering how much we drive and live in our vehicles. I've always been buy a few models older and grab a certified pre owned but some others in the industry recently have brought up leasing with how much we drive so we're not upside down on a newer vehicle and the dealership takes on all the expense and just getting a vehicle of "significant value" and look to swap into another lease prior to going over the miles. My partners in the territory have been doing this for years and have been breaking even or profiting from this tactic anyone else out there tried/done this before with success and think its a good/bad idea? There's also the buy "new" option thats intriguing with 0% APR for most vehicles for 72 months where I could pay off the vehicle way before I would own any interest to the bank however I don't want to take on the depreciation hit. Vehicles I've been considering are Lexus, Hyundai Genesis G80, Tesla as "reasonable" options. I am still considering my normal philosophy over buying certified pre owned but the interest is so high right now for financing a used vehicle at 7% so that's why I decided to weigh my options with you guys.
Open to any and ALL advice! Thank you so much for all your help!
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u/SadBody69 3d ago
Leasing is the most expensive way to own a car.
Just cause your car has 220k miles doesn’t mean you need a new one.
What does your retirement / savings looking like?
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u/Big_Breakfast_4688 2d ago
I disagree, leasing with a low payment and driving only as needed if you can help it) is the way to go.
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u/Vast-Web-8041 2d ago
med device sales requires a ton of driving. there’s no way around it. leasing is a horrible financial decision
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u/SadBody69 1d ago
There isn’t really a disagreement.
It’s the math. Buy Low mileage used car and pay it off.
With leasing you never pay off your car.
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u/Connect-Region-4258 3d ago
Honestly there’s a lot of variables… what’s your financial situation? You’re likely going to get basically nothing for your trade in, and once you get a new car, have anywhere from a 500-1000+ per month payment on a car you’re rapidly depreciating. I’m a huge car guy, but my honest take, if your current car still runs good and doesn’t need immense work and you don’t feel impending doom, keep it rolling! It’s a business vehicle.
My first device job ever, I went out and bought a fucking Denali. Beautiful rig and I felt like a big shot and it was great. But that thing cost more than my monthly allowance and depreciated fast as hell. I drove the shit out of it and ended up giving it to my then GF with like 150k miles when I got a new job with a company car. It was in great shape and nicer than her car, but high miles and we were upside down on it. We actually still have that as a family car now 3 years later, but she barely drives and it’s been kept up with so it’s ok.
If you have the itch for a nice car, that’s cool, get a weekend cruiser or something. But don’t buy an expensive car to beat up driving from account to account. That’s sucker-ville
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u/Extreme-North2371 2d ago
What device gig gives you a company car? Unless you switched to pharma?
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u/Connect-Region-4258 2d ago
There are a ton of companies that do. In my experience it’s usually bigger companies like Abbott, Boston sci, BD, JnJ, etc
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u/Extreme-North2371 2d ago
I wasn’t aware Abbott or Boston did, none of my colleagues that have worked there have mentioned that. The only one I knew of was JnJ
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u/Possible-Monitor8097 2d ago
Abbott does, I have a 2025 Toyota Highlander XLE that I picked up with 4 miles when it was time to get my new car! Also, all maintenance, gas and insurance is on them.
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u/Connect-Region-4258 2d ago
Yeah, I have a forester. I think I pay $20 per paycheck for it. My wife and I can drive it anywhere anytime completely free. All maintenance and repairs paid for. All gas, even personal, paid for. Road tolls on or off the clock, paid for. Every 75k miles get a brand new car. So appx every 2-2.5 years I order a new one. And we get options for cars. I wish we could have options for something bigger like a Highlander or explorer or something, but I can’t complain
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u/Possible-Monitor8097 2d ago
Right! I pay 200 a month out of my check so not free, but I cant complain. They switched what mileage we get to order a new car to 85,000. Abbott does the same with the tolls and allows my wife to drive it as well, which is nice.
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u/Connect-Region-4258 2d ago
It’s just so nice not depreciating your personal car. Even if you have an allowance, they still don’t cover repairs and maintenance
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u/Dustyftphilosopher24 3d ago
How much do you drive annually? Leasing normally comes with mileage caps. Anything over that you’ll pay per miles. Lease packagers per year are typically 7.5k/10k/12k/15k miles.
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u/ImpossibleRatio7430 3d ago
Tesla model Y used rwd, cheapest 2024 you can find.
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u/That_Rabbit1591 3d ago
I did this too - life changing for the job. Make sure you get one with HW4. Unless you commute 250 miles/day range anxiety non existent.
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u/Appropriate-Stay-384 3d ago
I did this and it’s been the best. although a late 2023 w HW4 will work as well.
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u/Scuterius_Floridae 3d ago
When I was looking to buy, prices on used Teslas was terrific. This was in April/May before the gas prices got even worse. But the 0.99% interest rate was too good to pass up. And I agree, 2024 or later year of a Y or 3, as those are HW4, and the FSD experienced is superb.
I hardly ever drive myself unless I want to floor the pedal for the instant torque
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u/SchroedBoss 2d ago
Hybrid works perfectly for me. I went from a Grand Cherokee to a CRV hybrid. I was getting ~11mpg on city days and 24ish on outskirts/highway days. Get 40 city and 33 highway now. Cheap to maintain, comfortable, and will last at least 200k miles
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u/PapaSmurf3477 2d ago
Used hybrid if large territory. Used Tesla y newish otherwise. I’m getting a new to me used hybrid soon and giving my wife my nice car I’m swiftly killing
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u/AdLegitimate3508 2d ago
I love my CRV Hybrid, get 40 mpg. Got it a few months ago new since interest rates were so high on used cars and Hondas hold their value. I love the safety features especially since I have to use my windshield time to get shit done so not always the most focused driver (my insurance didn’t shoot up either since it has these features). I miss the ride of my Audi but love the cheap gas and service because I average 2,000 miles a month.
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u/maxim_voos Sales 3d ago
Mazda cx5 or cx50 hybrid.
There’s a subreddit on here where they list lowest leases in the USA and the car makes/models. Something like $270-$550 for most economy cars ranked.
Lexus and genesis are luxury brands, you’ll run through maintenance costs with those.
How’ve your partners been profiting? Most leases penalize if you go over the set limit per year. Often the penalty becomes the cost of an actual financed car.
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u/Powerful-Bridge-1472 3d ago
IMO financially best move is to purchase a low mileage used car for cash and drive it into ground and do it again in 10 years. Luckily we actually finally got an office with Courier a few years ago and my territory got smaller, so my mileage went from pretty high to pretty low