garsarno

Our lease is coming to an end on 9/09. What have been your experiences in turning the car in? Will Toyota Credit extend the lease for 6 - 12 months? If we decide to buy the car, are we locked into the residual or, under these economic conditions, will Toyota Credit renegotiate the residual value? If we decide to purchase the car, what are the typical terms? Lot's of questions but it is still April and I want to be prepared for the options.

RobF350

I cant speak for Toyota, but of the 6 other leases I have expierence with the buy out has ALWAYS been lower then the residual.

With toyota and lexus sales down so drastic im sure they will give you a good buy out, it costs them alot of money to have the car sit at a dealership until they pick them up.
I learned that the dealership has first right of refusal, after that Toyota will pay storage and transport charges to bring the car somewhere- usually a dealer auction.

BTW- my lease is up next month- I already chose and took delivery of another car brand but plan to go back to Lexus when they redo the lineup.

huy33

RobF350:

Since you've been through 6 other car leases maybe you can help me. I read somewhere that you can turn your Lexus car in up to 6 month early and not get penaltized if you lease/buy another Lexus. Does your lease have to be through Toyota/Lexus Financial or can it be with other institutions for this?

RobF350

I actually went into Lexus a month or two ago, sure they will have you drive out in a brand new car that day, but trust me they are tacking the remaining payments onto your existing lease.

What I have had was Mazda once wrote me a personal check for 4 remaining payments on lease I had when I picked up the new Mazda, and this time I had Infiniti take my last 2 Lexus payments right off my downpayment.

It always goes something like this: after talking about the car and getting the lowest lease payment I tell them I will be back in xx months because I have xx months left on my lease- at that point they always pay me.

What that does tell me is that if push came to shove they would have lowered the price of the car anyhow, but its always a good feeling to get them to pay the last payments.

Lexus let me walk out without much haggling, honestly the current lease programs sucked in my opinion so I did not see much room.

So in summery- anyone will have you drive off in a new car that day, but you are paying for it one way or another.

garsarno

Thanks for the updates. How about extending the lease...

MaWizard

Garsarno, let me know what you decide.

My lease also expires 10/09. I have only 23k miles on my ES. I'm not planning to buy it given the issues 07 ES has. Residual has been set to $22K. I'm also exploring other options. I don't want to get into another commitment of 36 months and I don't think I want to extend the lease. Still in the process of deciding my next steps. Any suggestions ?

JimsGX

I'd purchase a used 2005/06 LS430 and buy 4 snow tires and rims to handle the CT winters. With the amount of miles you put on each year the LS430 will last you a long time.