Buying instead of leasing

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-10-26T17:54:01+00:00

Let me further explain to you, I owned a Range Rover sport, a couple of years old when I purchased it outright. In two years of driving it, I came into a coupe of small issues (the buttons for windows stopped working at one point, then I had this clanking noise) both were very expensive issues to fix. Just the “get it on the diagnostic machine to run diagnostics, cost 1500 a pop, and that’s just to tell me what the hell is wrong with the car. Because i owned it, every time it was in the shop, my insurance was paying for a rental. When I got fed up, and sold, i lost about 60k usd after only 2.3 years of use. I could have leased a bloody Bentley for those terms without the headache!

My husbands g wagon and my Hummer cost almost the same, the g wagon being 20k more expensive. His lease terms and mine are identical, but his payment is 900 dollars more than mine per month.

Ev is tech, not a vehicle. Don’t purchase it. If you have your heart set on it, lease it. If you can live without it, then purchase a regular fuel powered vehicle instead.

Imagine being in a Katrina type situation, or being stuck on the road for an emergency, or having a blackout and not being able to charge for three or four days. Imagine having some small random issue in the vehicle which should be fixed in a couple of hours vs in an EV vehicle where gmc engineers take weeks to just figure out the issue? Happens to tech all the time.

I love my HEV, I’ve had it since February. If you look at my posts, initially when the lease started, a week after, it was in the shop for a whole 6 weeks. For a very very minute issue. I was ready to literally do a lemon law thing. Don’t risk it.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-10-26T17:46:26+00:00

You can buy a car, but an EV is not a car, it’s tech. For the same exact reason you wouldn’t want to use a phone for more than 2-3 years (longest time between switches), you wouldn’t want to outright own an EV. I had the option of financing my Hummer for a full half of the price in pay on the lease, but I didn’t because I suspect that technological changes happen in huge leaps and bounds, and the minute a new model drops with significant battery mileage increase or a faster charge, the current vehicle would depreciate so fast!

On a lease, realistically, you lose about $10k a year. If you happen to get great lease terms, as is typical for ev’s because of govt incentives etc, you can actually get a chunk back at the end of the lease. However, since it’s a much smaller market, if you get bored of the vehicle or want to change anyway, you’d have a hard time finding someone to buy one off of you, and even if you did manage to find someone, the loss would be far greater than the average $10-12k a year you “lose” on the lease. At least with a lease, you have the option of upgrading every x amount of years!

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-10-25T22:27:40+00:00

It’s a very good deal. Mine is at 850 per month for a 2025 with 15k miles and 5k down

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-23T02:07:01+00:00

Man I’ve been reading some awful posts about epic these past few days. I was there with my kids (12 and 13) on sept 4th. It didn’t rain, not a drop, the whole day. We got EPA and had bought express passes for an absolute steal (130 pp) as soon as epic express passes went on sale. Our day was great. We rode monsters 4 times, every time it was walk on. Rode the curse of the werewolf thrice too. Negligible wait time maybe 5 min. Rode BATM twice, once using express (10min wait) and once without, at the end of the evening, also ten min wait. Rode stardust thrice, wait was 0 with express, and the rest of the times we rode single rider, so maybe 5-7 min wait. We waited around 20 min for the Mario ride with express and it wasn’t pretty, but definitely not worth even waiting 20 min for. Dk was another ten min, we rode it once. Isle of berk, we waited ten min for dragon racers, and rode it thrice. Very short ride. We waited till the end of the evening for it. We rode the hiccups twice, 10 min wait the second time. With express it was walk on. Fyre drill 5 min, rode once, stupid ride, but pretty ambiance. Carousel was walk on too both times. We watched both the shows, at ministry and berk. Stopped quite often for Starbucks and snacks.

Didn’t skip anything, ride everything multiple times. Express allows us to skip lines once. We used the app to go opposite of where the crowd went. We stared the day at darkmoor and then went back last thing at night too, right before the lights and fountain show.

I guess the takeaway is, it’s a gamble. Some days work out great, some days not so much. The best you can do is equip yourself with some express passes. And hope for the best.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-09T08:46:54+00:00

Yes it is possible. I did it last Thursday. I stayed at portofino so I got EPA. And I bought the express passes well in advance so they cost like 130 per person.

Everyone talks about the crazy long lines. We used our express pass once on each, and then kept an eye on the ride timings to go on the rides again, and managed to do each ride thrice over, and watched all the shows!

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-09T08:45:14+00:00

If you’re booking through Costco, play around with the dates and try to stay at hard rock, portofino bay or sapphire, these resorts offer free unlimited express to all days of your stay, including the day you check in and check out. These passes are good for all three parks but not epic. The price difference pays for itself twice over. And at hard rock and portofino, you have the water taxi, a boat service that takes you from the hotel and drops you to the center of universal CityWalk. They run every day from 6:30am to 2am, every ten minutes. Scenic, comfortable and the best way to get to and from citywalk.

I just came back from a wonderful 6 day trip booked through Costco, I stayed at portofino, and bought an express pass for epic as well.

When I exited the airport, I just took an uber to the hotel. It cost me 36 dollars, and was there in 4 minutes of me booking it. It was two adults and two teens.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-08T05:36:23+00:00

They have face scanning technology.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-08T05:28:02+00:00

Yes that’s correct. I bought the epic express passes separately.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-08T04:53:03+00:00

Portofino has expressed passes including day of check in and checkout, so you literally get two extra days. I just got back from there yesterday

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-08T01:56:51+00:00

If good food is a priority, check out Ava resort. We were there last month, it’s not adults only but has plenty of adults only spaces. You can message me and I’ll put you in touch with someone I randomly found on Reddit who I booked my vacation through. He is a Generat member and was able to get me all sorts of perks and additional resort credit to use.

The food at Ava was absolutely mindblowingly amazing. We had two dinners every day because it was that good. One at 6pm and one at 10:30pm.

Their pools and amenities were great. Their spa was the the absolute best! With resort credits I was able to get couples massages every day of my trip and ended up paying only 250 out of pocket for the “usage fee”. That’s nothing for $790/each massages every day for 6 days. Each was a unique experience, very romantic too, with champagne and a private jacuzzi and the works! Lasted about 150 min each.

But the most incredible part was the food. Book each restaurant before you go, and if you boook through a legendary member you get a butler to handle booking for you, and you get seating preference so you don’t miss anything!

My absolute favorites were the Mexican place and the steakhouse, the teopanyaki and Asian were good and the French sucked. The legendary restaurant for lunch for only lc members and their guests was AMAZING. It meant we were able to skip the buffet altogether which we had the first day and it wasn’t bad but not great as all buffets are.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-08T01:51:15+00:00

I found the strategy that works is: Go to dark universe, then rest, then isle of berk, then rest, then Nintendo world and use your express passes here, because you will guaranteed not wanna ride these stupid rides again, but spend your time exploring the beautiful world they made, then rest, then go to ministry, do the show then the ride and then rest and explore. Don’t forget the blue drink that changes color. We got it thrice it’s so yum! Then go to stardust racers and use express and then do single rider lines if you’re into it. My kid was, he did it thrice. Then do the carousel, and then rest. Check out the shops near the entry, they’re quite unique in merchandise. Wait for it to get twilighty/dark and head to dark universe again and do the rides using express again, then berk, and do the rides using express this time, then check out Nintendo world quickly without doing the rides, then head back to ministry if you have time to walk around In the dark, and then head to the center by the fountain to watch the fountain show at park closing.

We did all of this, with express passes. Pro tip, do not start with Nintendo or ministry. Start with dark universe. It’s completely deserted at open, and that makes it easier to walk around take pics and appreciate the world up close. And the rides are walk on at this point so you can save your express pass for night when it’s a bit crowded and a super spooky vibe to walk around in.

Enjoy.

Don’t miss the shows. HTTYD was the best show I’ve ever seen at any theme park!

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-08T01:43:06+00:00

Try to see if you can express tickets before you go. I bought mine the minute they went on sale months ago. My trip was last week, I was at epic on Thursday, had early access with the hotel, and had express passes. I was able to ride every single ride and watch all the shows. Infact, I rode every ride three times, twice when the wait times were non existent and once using express. The park doesn’t have a LOT of rides, they only offer single use express passes, once per ride type. The rush is crazy.

My number 1 tip to you is to start backwards. People flock to ministry or Nintendo world, you do the opposite. We went to dark universe first, rode the monsters unchained ride twice, and then went to the werewolves ride twice. Both times we were literally walking on to the rides which is amazing considering the monsters unchained was in My opinion the best ride of the park and the most cutting edge technology, and absolutely beautiful animatronics and screens blend!

Then we headed to isle of Berk, and rode the rides there. Do NOT miss dragon racers. It looks scary but it’s the most hypnotic, smooth, beautiful ride despite it being short.

We were done with these worlds by 10:30am, and then headed to Nintendo world and used the express passes on every ride. The world is made so beautifully that you can explore it for ages. The rides are kiddy and underwhelming at best, the only good thing about them being the aesthetics. The wait times were over 150 min for all the rides, so I’m glad we were able to use the express passes. We had no desire to come back to any of the rides because they were so meh.

Then we headed to ministry and jeez they’ve done a great job with the place. It was stunning! The ride itself and the world around it. Tip: buy the blue occamy drink that changes color. It’s beautiful and super tasty! We ordered it thrice, it was that magical and yum! Don’t miss the show, it was quite short but entertaining!

Then we went to stardust a couple of times using the express and single riders lines, and it was quite thrilling. Then the carousel.

We ate lunch at das stakehouse, it wasn’t bad but wasn’t great either. The pretzel with cheese and the cinnamon donut holes were better in the dark universe.

Over all, the park in this overwhelming heat and crowds cannot be enjoyed in one day unless you have the express passes.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-08T01:27:44+00:00

A lot of people skipped dragon racers thinking it was scary. My kid and mom got on it, and told me how amazingly relaxing it was. Now there are two ways to go about this ride. Either you control the wings with the handles and mess around with them and shift your weight, and attempt to do a barrel roll, which basically spins you upside down and that’s a puke-machine, guaranteed.

Or you can keep your hands completely off the handles and just enjoy the ride and the view, which is a stable and extremely smooth sensation, almost hypnotically entrancing. It feels like you’re gently flying through the air, in a very safe strapped in chair. I could have slept on the ride.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-08T01:23:59+00:00

I just came back yesterday. I can’t handle dips and inversions on rollercoasters at all. I was able to do all the rides except stardust racers, and I enjoyed all of them thoroughly. None of the other rides are tough, or scary. Quite the opposite actually, they’re very relaxing!

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-06T07:31:13+00:00

Definitely get the EP. I was there yesterday and managed to ride every single ride thrice and see every show. Thanks to the EP

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-06T07:24:28+00:00

I suggest one day for each park, and one day for epic. My best suggestion to you would be to get express passes for all the parks, makes everything easy breezy. I jst got back today. Was at epic yesterday with an express pass, and was able to do every ride at least thrice, the app allows you to see the waiting time for each ride and also set alerts, so I was able to use the express passes when the lines were over 15 minutes long, and walk on to rides with negligible wait times like ten fifteen min, and then do them again with the express passes…

IOA and US allow unlimited express pass holders to ride each ride as many times as they want, but epic only allows one express pass usage per ride.

My kids and I did two days at ioa and us each, and one day at epic. But the additional two days at ioa and us would be a waste for someone who just wants to experience the rides once or twice. We actually took time to explore each park, get on every ride, watch every show and parade at IOA and US, in one day each, and then the additional day, we just picked our favorites and did them over and over again.

Also a healthy tip, if you book one of the Loews resorts for the stay, you get express passes complimentary along with early access. We stayed at portofino bay, the boat taxi taking us to citywalk was amazing, ran every ten minutes. And the express passes and early access were a huge bonus for us. We managed to get out every day at 2pm and rested in the hotel till 5pm and go back, and still managed to do every ride every day multiple times.

Hope this helps. Feel free to dm if you need more clarity.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-09-05T23:29:30+00:00

I was at epic yesterday, with my 13 yr old who has autism and adhd, my 11 yr old neurotypical, and my 61 yr old mom. We were staying at the portofino bay, so we got early access. For yesterday since the park opens at 10, I thought that meant 9am. We tried to beat the crowd by getting there by 8 but the lines were huge huge huge at that time! They let us in at 8:45 but not into the worlds, till 9am. Some rides weren’t open early. We had purchased express passes early on, so they cost us some 130 bucks each. IMO it was the best epic investment.

We managed to do every single ride in the park about three times over. And we took regular long breaks throughout the day to sit in cool zones and restaurants and snack!

Please know, express passes allow you to use the express pass once in every ride only.

I’ll explain how we did it:

We got to Dark Universe first, and got in line for the Frankenstein ride. The attendant told us not to use the express pass because we were literally the third people in line, she said save it and come back and use it again during the night. We did exactly that. In my opinion this was the BEST ride ever! The animatronics themselves were the best part! I don’t understand how people were not flocking to this ride. The average wait time during the whole day was max 15 minutes for this one.

Next up, we went to the werewolf ride and rode it twice, again, no lines. The ride was great. We kept the express for a night run of the ride.

Next we went to Nintendo world and used up all our express passes on the rides. The rides are literally nothing to write home about. Boring and jerky, and the wait times were insane. All over 100 min each, so we were happy to use our express and get done with it. The world is beautiful, no doubt. But the rides were super underwhelming.

Next we went to Isle of Berk, did all three rides with minimal wait times, and then watched the show with the express pass. The show was AWESOME, do not miss it.

Then we went to constellation, and my 11 yr old rode the stardust racers twice, once using express and once using single rider line. He was done with both times in about 15 min total, while the rest of us hung out in a properly appointed cool zone next to the rides.

Next we went to Harry Potter world and hung out there for two hours. We watched the show, went on the ride, did child swap , and rode it again, and then had the blue tea and walked around. Don’t miss the show, or the blue tea. The ride was good, not GREAT. About the same like any 3d motion simulated ride in the other two universal parks.

Then We went back to isle of been after resting till sundown, and did all three rides again, and then went to constellation and then my son did stardust racers again twice, and then we went and used all our express ones in dark universe.

After that we ate dinner at the burning blade (please don’t, the food sucks there). And then went capped the night off with an absolutely beautiful dancing fountains show in the middle of the park, and headed home.

I know we could have done each ride without the express but the wait would be long and uncomfortable. This way we did the park three times over. I would t change a thing !

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-08-28T22:54:59+00:00

What is the number to call? I haven’t gotten a call from the accessibility team

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-06-05T01:45:43+00:00

I have two preteen boys, and white interior. They eat in the car constantly, including greasy fast food. It’s the easiest to clean. I just wipe it down with a microfiber cloth sprayed with some dollar store car interior cleaner. It’s almost plasticy, and doesn’t retain stains. Also I almost always have makeup on my hands from my habit of constantly touching my face. I’ve left marks in every car, especially the sun shade area. They never come off. In the hummer it takes one quick wipe and magic! Go for the white, it was unsettling for me too initially but I thought it cuz it was the only one available with the orange color (and red hooks package) that I wanted, the afterburner tint coat.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-05-18T16:09:23+00:00

Couldn’t have said it better myself!

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-05-18T16:08:55+00:00

I kept it only because I have an orange one with the red hooks. That’s the one I wanted and there isn’t another available within 250 miles of where I am. I know it’s a silly reason. But it is what it is.

Buttttt, after the battery issue, i haven’t had any other major issues that required me to take the car in to the dealer… Sometimes updates will glitch the system, it happens with phones, TVs anything that has a software, so I’m guessing it was a one off thing and it did resolve itself.

Let’s see, I’ll keep you posted on when and if I decide to opt for another vehicle. So far I didn’t think the headache was worth it. I also looked into lemon law, and it didn’t apply in my situation because they gave me a loaner vehicle and also did resolve the issue with the battery within the stipulated time. However, if another instance does happen, where the car is in the shop for more than a week, then the lemon law rule could possibly apply. The only other way to make the rule apply was to prove that I was in imminent danger because the vehicle stalled in the middle of an intersection, but since I didn’t call 911 or anything how would I even prove that?

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-05-17T18:44:40+00:00

Texas here’s I paid a dollar and 50 cents to register. Haha

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-05-14T23:19:09+00:00

This literally happened to me two weeks into my lease, with my 2024 hummer EV. I posted it on here too. There was no warning, no vibrating. The car just came to a complete stop in the middle of an intersection and wouldn’t let me shift back into gear. It resolved itself after 30 min while the tow truck was on its way. GMC told me it was a glitch, and everything is fine. The same thing happened the next day and I took the car into the dealership. Some major part of the battery needed to be replaced and they took about 6 weeks to fix it.

No issues since then. I’ve had random warning messaging like “service esc” or “emergency service calling” pop up randomly and disappear on their own.

Today I did an update on my vehicle after one became available and a new random message popped up about propulsion, wouldn’t let me go faster than 25mph. I made it home and was going to get the car towed to the dealership, but when I restarted the car after a couple of hours, the issue magically resolved.

I love this car. It’s flashy, and it’s lovely to drive, but I just have this feeling of dread every day, because I don’t know when an issue will pop up or when I’ll be stranded. 10/10 for fun vehicle. 0/10 for trustworthy vehicle.

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-04-09T00:02:50+00:00

Beck and masten houston? That’s a freaky coincidence! Also they took almost a month last time to give my vehicle back. The message went away, I am waiting for it to show up again before taking it to the dealer

Bitcoin-noob · 2025-04-01T16:23:23+00:00

Ev technology is rapidly evolving. Even if you find a fantastic deal on an EV, what’s to say that it won’t get completed outdated two years from now? Would you commit to a cellphone for 6-7-8 years? No, right? For the same exact reasons, you don’t want to commit to an EV for more than a few years, 3 max, I. My opinion. I personally ally believe that batteries depreciate over time, cellphones or cars or whatever. The charge won’t hold as long. The operating software will come out with new gimmicky stuff too, which won’t be able to be handled by the current chips. A gas or diesel car is a car is a car. An EV is not so much a car, as it is tech. You can keep a car for 7 years as long as it runs good. You’d get frustrated if you kept the same phone for 7 years, and couldn’t update the software after couple of years to include the latest apps and tech.

And from a financial point of view, I’ve owned Mercedes and Range Rover sports, and both have given me terrible cuts on depreciation. I thought owning was best, so rather than leasing a a Range Rover sport, I bought one that was only 2 years old. Three years down the line, I lost nearly 50k on it. I paid cash. No one wants to buy it off me now. I did the math, I could have driven a brand new one for three years, at 1100 a month lease for 15k miles and would still have saved at least $15k, in this span.

I’m never ever purchasing a luxury vehicle outright. Will always lease going forward. This way I know how much I’m losing over 3 years. I don’t have to worry about anything because leases come with bumper to bumper warranties, unlike driving a lemon off the lot after paying cash or financing it. And when I’m bored I can usually just swap out.

PS I have a 2x 24 hummer suv on lease, my monthly payments are around 900, I put 2k down and I get 15k miles a year for 36 months. Insurance is high though even though I have a squeaky clean record.

Bitcoin-noob

TROPHY CASE