I’m Tired Of Leasing And I Want A Used Car With Fresh Tech! What Car Should I Buy?

Tod lives in Connecticut and is tired of the leasing cycle. Has a Mazda CX5 that is about to be turned in. He wants to pivot to buying something around $25,000 that is similar in size, reliable and has similar features. What car should he buy?

(Welcome back to What Car Should You Buy? Where we give real people real advice about buying cars. Do you want us to help you find a car? Submit your story on our form.)

Here is the scenario.

Sick of Leasing

I have been in the Lease grind for years. I will admit that I am a bit spoiled and like getting “new cars” with all the bells and whistles for a monthly payment less than buying. My current lease (Mazda CX5) is up soon and I have decided to not lease any more. My requirements are pretty simple:

Safe – I drive my daughter around all the time

Roomy – Hatch or SUV, similar size to CX5

Easy and Inexpensive to maintain

Price – under $25,000

The bells and whistles I don’t want to live without:

Apple Car Play

Push Button Start

Heated Seats

I Guess I could buy out the lease as it’s at the price point, but is there anything better or cheaper? I’m open to anything from a gas car to electric, but I like things on the “techy” side.

Quick Facts:

Budget: up to $25,000

Location: Stamford, Connecticut 

Daily Driver: Yes

Wants: Reliable, nice features, good value

Doesn’t want: Something with too much maintenance

You probably already know you are entering a market that is starting to go a bit bonkers. New car deals are drying up and used car prices are slowly rising. The good news is that the electric vehicles are still maintaining a good value score for folks looking at pre-owned options. While the sweet spot for used EVs tends to be in the $25,000 – $35,000 range, you can still find some solid buys closer to $20,000. However, there are a lot of cars being sold by shady used car lots with questionable histories and “too good to be true” pricing.

It will take some digging, but there are some quality cars. Naturally, you will find a ton of Teslas available, whether or not those appeal to you is another story. But if you wanted to avoid that brand for any number of reasons, I would suggest something like this Ford Mach-E Premium at Volvo dealer in NJ. It has all the features you are looking for, plus some upgrades your Mazda may not have. And with an original MSRP of over $50,000 you are getting a ton of value for your money.

My friend, you’re in luck. If you want a near-new car, with all the features of your current Mazda, you can just get a near-new Mazda. It’s simple, it’s clean, it all fits together like a Jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes the easy answer is the best, especially when the easy answer leads you to an absolute beauty like this 2023 Mazda3 hatch.

Heated seats, leather, CarPlay, all the features you want are here. It’s the interior you’re used to, the weird center-screen touch implementation that you know and love, plus the improved driving dynamics of a car that’s lower to the ground — as a former Connecticut resident myself, I can promise you that you don’t need all that ride height for the snow.Tod, this Mazda3 has everything you need for just $23,495. It’s the obvious choice, the easy choice, but that doesn’t make it wrong — in fact, it makes it even more right. Plus, c’mon, look at how red that interior is. Does that rule or what?

You’re coming out of a relatively staid but reliable Japanese crossover, but you like luxury at a value price, get yourself a used Jaguar wagon to really amp up your driving enjoyment. There’s nothing like a wagon for daily driver duties, and of course you want something with a little flair of style. The Jaguar XF Sportbrake S is an incredible bargain, and falls well within your price range, while fitting your needs.

Consider, if you will, that your life would be dramatically improved by a supercharged 3-liter V6 making 380 horsepower in a sleek and luxurious package. Just seven years ago this car would have cost over $70,000, but now with just 30,000 miles on the odometer you can have it for just $22,000. Don’t get an electric crossover, have some fun burning gasoline while you still can.

A lot of people are going to give you a hard time for leasing mainstream cars, but I get it, Tod. Even if the math doesn’t really work out in the long run, it feels like you get more for less when you lease, and there really is something so nice about not having to worry about your car in the slightest, since everything is new and under warranty. And who doesn’t like a good deal?

My colleagues have all made some suggestions, and they’ll be fine, but none of them are a deal in the way my suggestion is. I mean, how many other cars do you know of that had a near-$70,000 sticker price but are now safely within your sub-$25,000 budget, all while only being a couple model years old with less than 5,000 miles on the odometer? If you want something similar to your old CX-5 in size but with all the bells and whistles, then buddy, let’s get you into a Fisker Ocean.Sure, the company went bankrupt, leaving buyers in a terrible position, but their loss is your gain! I mean, here’s a 2023 Fisker Ocean Extreme near you with a mere 3,664 miles on it for less than $22,000. And I bet if you showed even the slightest interest, they’d be willing to drop that price even further. If that isn’t a deal, I don’t know what is. It even has a solar panel on the roof. How cool is that?

Maintenance, repairs and software updates may be a little more complicated than you’re used to, due to the whole “company no longer exists” thing, and it doesn’t have CarPlay yet, but what the Fisker Ocean lacks in long-term support, it more than makes up for in community. Your fellow Ocean owners will be there for you through any highs and all of the many, many lows, and at a time like this, what could be more important than community?