Here's Why We Just Put Down a Deposit on a Lease That Won't Start Until 2024

There's a reason vehicle prices have been so exorbitant in recent months. Any time a given commodity is in short supply, its price has a tendency to climb. And such is the case with cars. 

More than 10.5 million vehicles were cut from production in 2021 due to chip shortages, according to Automotive News. And while things could improve in the course of 2023, anyone looking for a specific car right now might have to wait a while before they're able to drive it.

It's for this reason that my husband and I had to put down a deposit on a lease for a certain car we wanted. But because that car most likely won't be available until 2024, it means we had to part with our money way ahead of time -- and that's not ideal.

When you have specific requirements

It's possible to buy a car today, albeit at an inflated price. But if you have your heart set on a specific car, you may end up having to wait.

Such is the situation we're in. My husband has his heart set on a certain plug-in hybrid. We're not ready to go full electric because we have a tendency to take a lot of long trips and we feel the infrastructure isn't there yet. But we like the idea of being able to drive short distances on an electric charge without having to fill up the gas tank all the time.

In fact, a lot of the driving we do is local because we're constantly shuttling our kids around to activities after school and on weekends. So while this car is a bit more expensive, it could save us a lot of money at the pump.

Unfortunately, the vehicle we want is not going to be available in our area for a good nine months. And that means we had to commit to a lease with a not-so-small deposit and basically just let the dealership sit on our money until the car we want hits the lot. 

The good news is that we were able to put that deposit on a credit card, so we get some cash back out of the deal. But I'm not super happy about parting with our money nine months ahead of when our lease is likely to begin.

Why a lease makes sense for us

My husband and I have had our vehicles for a pretty long time. The car we're trying to replace with the leased one is around 16 years old and has problems. We're afraid those problems could render the car undrivable within a year or two, and we're not willing to sink thousands of dollars into a vehicle that old to cover repairs.

The reason we're opting for a lease instead of buying a car is that we've never owned a plug-in vehicle before. And we want to make sure we like it before we commit to owning. 

Even though a lease will potentially cost us more than owning initially, we feel it's the best route for us. That way, we can always choose a different car once our lease runs out. 

All told, it's frustrating to have to part with our money so many months before our lease is set to begin. But if we wouldn't have put down that deposit, we wouldn't have been able to get into the queue for the specific vehicle we want. So at that point, the best we can do is hope that our car comes in sooner than expected.