My wife and I are in our early 70s and spend half the year in Ontario and half at our home in Florida. We have two 5-year-old Nissan Versas, one at each home. We drive about 5,000 km in each location, and we fly both ways. We are considering something new. We would like to buy a Nissan Rogue (or equivalent) to replace both older vehicles. We could use a service to relocate the vehicle in the spring and fall and have a newer vehicle to enjoy year round. Should we consider leasing versus buying? – Donald McElroy
Richardson: Car deliveries to and from Florida are generally a good and safe deal. There are three main companies in Canada, and they charge around $1,000 each way for door-to-door delivery. They also guarantee your car will be driven no more than about 10 per cent farther than the minimum distance between your two homes. It sounds like your car will see fewer than 15,000 kilometres of driving in a year, which is well within the Rogue's 20,000-kilometre leasing limit.
Leeder: Leasing plans reward low-kilometre drivers like Donald. If you lock in a lease on a new Rogue at 20,000 kilometres per year, you'll likely be able to add options, like a moon roof and technology package, and still keep your monthly payments low. Since you clearly like Nissans, consider the 2017 Rogue SV with that package. It has all-wheel drive, a heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel and a boatload of safety features, such as rear cross-traffic assist, that will help keep you safer on the road.
The Nissan Rogue is the best-selling compact SUV in the U.S.
Nissan
Richardson: There's good reason why the Rogue is the best-selling compact SUV in the United States. If you buy the SV trim with the Technology package in Canada, it'll cost you around $36,500 after taxes and deliveries, but if you lease it over five years with nothing down, it'll cost $104 a week. That's a total cost of less than $27,000 over five years – but at the end of that time, you'll own nothing. You can buy it then for just more than $13,000, which means you paid $3,500 extra for holding onto your capital and not having to find a buyer in five years' time. So ask yourself: do you have a good use now for the money you'll get from selling those two cars? How much can it earn you in five years?
Leeder: Or, at the end of that lease, you could save your $13,000 and just lease a new one. By then, it'll likely be able to drive YOU to Florida if autonomous technology keeps up its pace.
Richardson: Good point. I'd laugh if it wasn't so true. But you should wait a few months before settling on a Rogue. Nissan announced it's bringing the smaller Qashqai to North America this spring, after selling it for more than a decade in the rest of the world. It's a popular car that's designed for singles, couples and empty nesters. It will have all the Rogue features but it's 30 centimetres shorter and a bit less powerful. It'll probably be about $5,000 cheaper, too.
The Qashqai is smaller and more affordable than the Rogue.
Nissan
Leeder: That's a good suggestion. Do it for the savings and remember those dollar signs when, for the life-cycle of the vehicle, friends, acquaintances and people you meet at Cracker Barrel ask you how the heck to pronounce its weirdo name. Americans, for sure, will stumble over it.
Richardson: That's because in the United States, it'll be called the Rogue Sport. Same car, different name. Nissan knew Americans would never be able to spell Qashqai.
Having trouble deciding what new car is the best fit for you? E-mail globedrive@globeandmail.com, placing "What Car" in the subject area.
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