u/Markrag

Just wondering if anyone here has gone down the second-hand route with a Tesla Model Y on a novated lease instead of buying new.

I’m currently looking at a new Model Y and BYD Sealion 7, but I’ve also noticed there are quite a few 2023/2024 Model Ys around for under $45k with less than 45,000 km.

That’s got me thinking whether it actually makes more sense to pick up a used one and take advantage of the lower purchase price rather than stretching to a brand new car.

Has anyone here done this?

Interested to know whether you bought through a dealer or privately, how the novated lease process went with a used car, and whether you still feel it was the better move compared with going new.

Also keen to hear from anyone who was tossing up between a used Model Y and a new BYD Sealion 7.

Just trying to get a feel for what others have done before I make a decision.

Interested to hear what people here think about this.

I’m on around $180k + super in a stable public sector job and currently have a family car that’s fully paid off.

I do around 18,000 km a year and could probably sell the current car for about $24k. Fuel is costing me up to around $230/month, and with petrol prices at the moment I’ve started looking more seriously at an EV through a novated lease.

I’ve also got 8kW solar and a large home battery, so charging at home shouldn’t cost too much.

The rough idea is:

- Buy an EV around $50k–$55k

- Do a 2-3 year novated lease

- Take advantage of the EV FBT exemption

- Sell the current car for around $24k

- Put the $24k straight into the mortgage offset

- Mortgage rate is around 5.9%, so that should save roughly $1,400 a year in interest

- After 2-3 years either pay the residual and keep the EV, sell it, or roll into another lease

From the rough numbers I’ve run, it looks like the novated lease could save around $15k–$16k in income tax/Medicare over the two years, plus the GST benefit on the car and some of the running costs.

But obviously I’m not looking at that as a free $15k.

I’d still be paying lease interest, admin fees, insurance, depreciation, etc, and there’s a decent residual at the end.

The other obvious argument is that I already have a perfectly good paid-off car, so financially the cheapest option is probably just to keep driving it.

That’s the bit I’m trying to get my head around.

Does the combination of:

$180k income + EV FBT exemption + 19,000 km/year + current fuel prices + cheap home charging + $24k sitting in the offset

actually make upgrading reasonably sensible?

Or am I just using the tax savings to justify buying a new car? 😅

The two cars I’m mainly looking at are:

Tesla Model Y RWD or BYD Sealion 7 Premium

I like the Tesla for the software, charging network and bigger second-hand market.

The BYD seems like better value for the money and looks like a nicer spec overall, but obviously it hasn’t been around in Australia as long.

A few things I’d be interested in hearing opinions on:

1. At around $180k income, has anyone here actually found an EV novated lease worthwhile once you include all the costs?

2. Does putting the $24k from the old car into the offset make much difference to the overall calculation?

3. Is a 2-year lease a bad idea compared with 3 or 5 years?

4. Model Y vs Sealion 7 Premium — which one would you pick if resale, reliability, family practicality and total cost were the priorities?

Would especially like to hear from people who’ve actually done a novated lease recently rather than just the calculator estimates from leasing companies.