For someone who loves cars, the prospect of being able to swap in and out of the various models purveyed by their favorite brand is an enticing one.
Take Porsche for example.
You could drive a Panamera during the week, switch into a 911 for the weekend, then go to a Cayenne for the following week, after which you could enjoy a Boxster or a Cayman or a Macan, in whatever sequence you’d like. All of this flexibility can be yours for $3,100 monthly, plus a one-time $595 membership fee. Still, though, are car subscription deals worthwhile?
Leasing Costs Less
As we mentioned above, Porsche’s top-level subscription, which gets you access to pretty much all of its mainstream cars, will cost you $3,100 a month, plus a $595 membership fee.
BMW’s similar program runs $2,699 a month, plus a membership fee. In both cases that’s a lot more than it would cost to lease pretty much anything either of those manufacturers offers.
On the other hand, Volvo’s program is more reasonably priced at right around $700 monthly, but you’re also limited to one model and you are only allowed one swap every 12 months.
Granted, you’re also freed from the cost of insurance and maintenance in all of these programs. However maintenance on a leased vehicle is typically next to nothing because modern service intervals are so long, mileage caps tend to be low on leases and cars are under warranty for the duration of the lease.
Insurance will vary according to your driving record, but in the case of a Porsche 911, it’d have to cost more than $1800 a month to make up the difference between the $3,100 and the $1279 monthly payment it’d cost to lease a 911 for 36 months.
And, yes, this also takes drive-off costs into consideration.
Buying Costs Even Less
Running the numbers through an auto loan calculator, you’ll pay roughly $2,807 per month for that 911, after a down payment of $23,538, which is 20 percent of the $117,690 purchase price. Yes, you’ll be on your own for insurance and maintenance, but the car will be yours at the end of that 36-month period.
Meanwhile, you’ll have paid $111,600 over that same 36-month period to be in the subscription program, as opposed to a total of $124,590 to purchase the car outright. Again, you’ll have covered your own insurance and maintenance, but you’ll also own the 911, which makes buying the car cost less in the long run. After all, you’ll save $3,100 every month you keep the 911 after that first 36 months.
Money Isn’t Everything Though
Granted, we’ve been throwing some pretty large numbers around in this article. It can be reasonably argued that anyone who can afford to buy the 911 could also afford to be in the subscription service arena.
With that said, Volvo’s program does make good sense. The subscription fee is just a bit more than it would cost to lease the car. You’ll get a better-trimmed version than you’d get if you paid to lease the car instead and all of the costs of ownership are included in that monthly rate.
Ultimately though, when you’re trying to determine if car subscription deals are worthwhile, it really comes down to how you’re fixed for cash, what you really want out of life and how much driving a different car every week means to you.
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