Thinking of leasing ES300h, can I afford it?
07-29-12, 04:59 PM
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Thinking of leasing ES300h, can I afford it?
I have a 2009 Camry right now, my payment on it is about $330 a month. I own it, but I really don't care about "owning" a car as I will just sell it when its paid off anyway.
(EDIT: My mom already said she would take over the payment on my Camry when I finish college, so I don't need to worry about being upside down on the loan, right now I owe almost exactly its blue book private party value)
I did the math, if you buy a car with a loan, and sell it RIGHT after paying it off (after 60 months) and divide the price you sell it for by 60 months, and subtract it from your "payment" to "own" the car, it ends up being MORE than if I had leased the damn thing, which leads me to the conclusion that unless you're going to keep a car longer than 5 years, it isn't worth leasing.
From the quotes I have gotten I can lease an ES series for around $380 a month with no down payment (I can afford a down payment but I would rather avoid it and just pay more monthly).
This is for 10,000 miles a year, which is not enough. I read that I can buy up to 18,000 miles a year in a lease.
How much would I pay for an ES on a 36 month lease at 18,000 miles a year?
If I bought it at 10,000 miles a year for the $380, added $200 a month (what it would cost to go 10k over on miles each year) I reach about 580/mo for the lease.
But then I factor in that gas would be cheaper (based on $3.70 a gallon, and getting 39MPG combined as opposed to 24 with my Camry) and I would be saving about $100 a month on gas based on driving 20k miles a year, bringing me down to about $480/mo, which is only $150 more than I pay for my Camry right now (since I am going to save money on gas).
Am I doing the math right? Am I missing anything? Should I lease?
I have USAA for insurance and it would only go up like $20 a month to go from a Camry to a Lexus.
Please let me know, thanks.
(EDIT: My mom already said she would take over the payment on my Camry when I finish college, so I don't need to worry about being upside down on the loan, right now I owe almost exactly its blue book private party value)
I did the math, if you buy a car with a loan, and sell it RIGHT after paying it off (after 60 months) and divide the price you sell it for by 60 months, and subtract it from your "payment" to "own" the car, it ends up being MORE than if I had leased the damn thing, which leads me to the conclusion that unless you're going to keep a car longer than 5 years, it isn't worth leasing.
From the quotes I have gotten I can lease an ES series for around $380 a month with no down payment (I can afford a down payment but I would rather avoid it and just pay more monthly).
This is for 10,000 miles a year, which is not enough. I read that I can buy up to 18,000 miles a year in a lease.
How much would I pay for an ES on a 36 month lease at 18,000 miles a year?
If I bought it at 10,000 miles a year for the $380, added $200 a month (what it would cost to go 10k over on miles each year) I reach about 580/mo for the lease.
But then I factor in that gas would be cheaper (based on $3.70 a gallon, and getting 39MPG combined as opposed to 24 with my Camry) and I would be saving about $100 a month on gas based on driving 20k miles a year, bringing me down to about $480/mo, which is only $150 more than I pay for my Camry right now (since I am going to save money on gas).
Am I doing the math right? Am I missing anything? Should I lease?
I have USAA for insurance and it would only go up like $20 a month to go from a Camry to a Lexus.
Please let me know, thanks.
07-29-12, 09:38 PM
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Well, if I were you, I'd forget about getting an expensive car until I am out of collage and have a good paying job.
I left home and joined the USAF when I was 18 yrs old, in 1954. Never had to ask my parents for any monetary help. Never had to depend on anyone's permission to do what I wanted to do. Nothing like being independent.
Do whatever you want...it's your life.
I left home and joined the USAF when I was 18 yrs old, in 1954. Never had to ask my parents for any monetary help. Never had to depend on anyone's permission to do what I wanted to do. Nothing like being independent.
Do whatever you want...it's your life.
07-29-12, 10:11 PM
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Well, if I were you, I'd forget about getting an expensive car until I am out of collage and have a good paying job.
I left home and joined the USAF when I was 18 yrs old, in 1954. Never had to ask my parents for any monetary help. Never had to depend on anyone's permission to do what I wanted to do. Nothing like being independent.
Do whatever you want...it's your life.
I left home and joined the USAF when I was 18 yrs old, in 1954. Never had to ask my parents for any monetary help. Never had to depend on anyone's permission to do what I wanted to do. Nothing like being independent.
Do whatever you want...it's your life.
im already paying 330/mo for my car and i have no job... i really dont think another 150 is going to break the bank. i was hoping to hear from someone who has leased through lexus before to see if im missing anything or if its really only going to cost me that much
07-30-12, 03:17 PM
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lol, im in my senior year
im already paying 330/mo for my car and i have no job... i really dont think another 150 is going to break the bank. i was hoping to hear from someone who has leased through lexus before to see if im missing anything or if its really only going to cost me that much
im already paying 330/mo for my car and i have no job... i really dont think another 150 is going to break the bank. i was hoping to hear from someone who has leased through lexus before to see if im missing anything or if its really only going to cost me that much
Also to consider on any lease is the miles you will be driving on your daily commute. In my case, we are retired and we do not use the car for any long distance travel. When we go on vacation, we fly.
So, we average 6,000 miles a year. A 10,000 mile lease is a bit cheaper that a 15,000 mile.
Also, on both leases the dealer had sales tax money rebate from the state and as usual they pass it on to a lucky few of us. That can lower your payments by around $90/mo, but that's a Texas advantage, maybe also in a few other states.
Good luck and congratulations on your upcoming graduation!
EDIT: You're talking about the new Hybrid, then you can expect the MSRP to go up by around $2,700. On top of it, you can forget about getting a real good deal if gas prices go higher...
Last edited by hughh; 07-30-12 at 04:27 PM.
07-31-12, 02:11 PM
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This is not the time in your life to be looking at leasing a car for $550+ per month. You're going to have to find a job (which is a serious achievement in this economy), you're going to be truly out on your own for the first time in your life, the last thing you need is a big car payment. Plus, you have no idea where you will be living or working, so how do you anticipate your mileage needs? What if you have a 60 mile round trip commute? You have many, many years to drive a snazzy car ahead of you. Don't saddle yourself with useless debt right now and make what is a hard enough time in your life even harder. Get out on your own, get a good job, then look at upgrading your wheels.
The other question is if you could even get a Lexus lease. Its harder to get qualified to lease than to buy, they want to see previous car credit history or a mortgage, and do you have any income? Is your Camry financed in your name or your parents name?
Bad idea all around IMHO. I also think you are under-emphasizing what the payment would be. Those payments they advertise are for 10k miles per year, top credit, with a couple k down and not including taxes or drive off fees. When you take the down payment away, and wrap the taxes and fees in, and add the mileage...the payments will go up a LOT.
The other question is if you could even get a Lexus lease. Its harder to get qualified to lease than to buy, they want to see previous car credit history or a mortgage, and do you have any income? Is your Camry financed in your name or your parents name?
Bad idea all around IMHO. I also think you are under-emphasizing what the payment would be. Those payments they advertise are for 10k miles per year, top credit, with a couple k down and not including taxes or drive off fees. When you take the down payment away, and wrap the taxes and fees in, and add the mileage...the payments will go up a LOT.
Last edited by SW17LS; 07-31-12 at 02:25 PM.
07-31-12, 08:16 PM
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Steve,
Excellent advice. The worst thing a young guy could do is find out down the road that he cannot make payments. Ruined credit record for many years and even after he finally clears it, he won't qualify for low interest that's reserved for the top record.
I'm so glad both of my sons never needed my financial assistance. They both waited until they were settled, got aid from their working spouses, a house, a dog and a cat. Now it's their turn to deal with their own kids, helping them with college expenses, etc. Hell, I wish I could afford a Lamborghini...
Excellent advice. The worst thing a young guy could do is find out down the road that he cannot make payments. Ruined credit record for many years and even after he finally clears it, he won't qualify for low interest that's reserved for the top record.
I'm so glad both of my sons never needed my financial assistance. They both waited until they were settled, got aid from their working spouses, a house, a dog and a cat. Now it's their turn to deal with their own kids, helping them with college expenses, etc. Hell, I wish I could afford a Lamborghini...
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08-01-12, 02:05 AM
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This is not the time in your life to be looking at leasing a car for $550+ per month. You're going to have to find a job (which is a serious achievement in this economy), you're going to be truly out on your own for the first time in your life, the last thing you need is a big car payment. Plus, you have no idea where you will be living or working, so how do you anticipate your mileage needs? What if you have a 60 mile round trip commute? You have many, many years to drive a snazzy car ahead of you. Don't saddle yourself with useless debt right now and make what is a hard enough time in your life even harder. Get out on your own, get a good job, then look at upgrading your wheels.
The other question is if you could even get a Lexus lease. Its harder to get qualified to lease than to buy, they want to see previous car credit history or a mortgage, and do you have any income? Is your Camry financed in your name or your parents name?
Bad idea all around IMHO. I also think you are under-emphasizing what the payment would be. Those payments they advertise are for 10k miles per year, top credit, with a couple k down and not including taxes or drive off fees. When you take the down payment away, and wrap the taxes and fees in, and add the mileage...the payments will go up a LOT.
The other question is if you could even get a Lexus lease. Its harder to get qualified to lease than to buy, they want to see previous car credit history or a mortgage, and do you have any income? Is your Camry financed in your name or your parents name?
Bad idea all around IMHO. I also think you are under-emphasizing what the payment would be. Those payments they advertise are for 10k miles per year, top credit, with a couple k down and not including taxes or drive off fees. When you take the down payment away, and wrap the taxes and fees in, and add the mileage...the payments will go up a LOT.
Maybe I should have rephrased the question, if the payment is going to be in the $500/mo range I know I can afford it, my question was "is it really going to be in that range based on my usage" which it sounds like from what you guys have said it won't be
Realistically I will probably wait until I graduate to get it, but it seemed like it would only be an extra $100 a month above my current payment when you factor in gas savings, which is why it seemed doable. I am not really at risk of ruining my credit since I have enough in the bank($17k) to make the payment for a while if I can't find a job. (I get money from family and the Army to go to school right now, but I don't have a job)
As far as qualifying for the lease, I got my current car (unemployed with no co-signer from a Toyota dealership) with no proof of income. The Lexus dealership told me it was harder to get a car loan than a lease so I should be good, but then again you're telling me the opposite lol
Another question, if you lease and then decide to buy it, how much money do you lose compared to if you just financed it as a purchase from the start?
08-01-12, 04:08 PM
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We've been there, I paid for a bunch of crap I didn't need when I was your age...and it made my life hard. A luxury car is a luxury item, and luxury items come LAST. You need to get necessities before luxuries. Thats valuable advice...please heed it. Leasing a luxury car when you admittedly don't have a job is insane. Completely insane.
The other issue is, what will your situation be in 3 years? Right now you have a car you can drive for a long time, what happens if you don't find a job, burn through your $17k savings...then in 3 years you need to come up with $25k+ to buy your own car or get something else?
This economy is a LONG way from recovered. You're starting out ahead of the game, you've got some savings where most young people graduating college have enormous debt. Don't squander that advantage.
Maybe I should have rephrased the question, if the payment is going to be in the $500/mo range I know I can afford it, my question was "is it really going to be in that range based on my usage" which it sounds like from what you guys have said it won't be
As far as qualifying for the lease, I got my current car (unemployed with no co-signer from a Toyota dealership) with no proof of income. The Lexus dealership told me it was harder to get a car loan than a lease so I should be good, but then again you're telling me the opposite lol
Another question, if you lease and then decide to buy it, how much money do you lose compared to if you just financed it as a purchase from the start?
But, in general it is almost always cheaper to buy initially than lease and then buy at the end.
Please don't think I'm preaching to you, thats not my goal. I just hate to see anybody get themselves in a bad spot.
08-02-12, 12:09 PM
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See, what you think you understand now, you will find out that you didn't understand much once you get out truly into the real world on your own. I'm not saying its a waste of money, I pay a lot of money to drive nice cars that I enjoy...but I also have a successful career, own a home...I'm established in life. You aren't yet, and however prepared you think you are now...you aren't.
We've been there, I paid for a bunch of crap I didn't need when I was your age...and it made my life hard. A luxury car is a luxury item, and luxury items come LAST. You need to get necessities before luxuries. Thats valuable advice...please heed it. Leasing a luxury car when you admittedly don't have a job is insane. Completely insane.
The other issue is, what will your situation be in 3 years? Right now you have a car you can drive for a long time, what happens if you don't find a job, burn through your $17k savings...then in 3 years you need to come up with $25k+ to buy your own car or get something else?
This economy is a LONG way from recovered. You're starting out ahead of the game, you've got some savings where most young people graduating college have enormous debt. Don't squander that advantage.
Yeah you're going to be looking closer to $600 probably.
The Lexus dealer was wrong LOL. They're trying to get you a car. A lease is riskier for the bank and is harder to get than a loan. Google it. You probably could get the lease though, especially if you're already a TFS/LFS customer.
It depends. For instance I'm in a pretty good spot because I negotiated the price down so low that I got a great payment, and the residual is low, its only $20K at lease end so I may be able to purchase it and have some equity in it I can turn around, we'll see.
But, in general it is almost always cheaper to buy initially than lease and then buy at the end.
Please don't think I'm preaching to you, thats not my goal. I just hate to see anybody get themselves in a bad spot.
We've been there, I paid for a bunch of crap I didn't need when I was your age...and it made my life hard. A luxury car is a luxury item, and luxury items come LAST. You need to get necessities before luxuries. Thats valuable advice...please heed it. Leasing a luxury car when you admittedly don't have a job is insane. Completely insane.
The other issue is, what will your situation be in 3 years? Right now you have a car you can drive for a long time, what happens if you don't find a job, burn through your $17k savings...then in 3 years you need to come up with $25k+ to buy your own car or get something else?
This economy is a LONG way from recovered. You're starting out ahead of the game, you've got some savings where most young people graduating college have enormous debt. Don't squander that advantage.
Yeah you're going to be looking closer to $600 probably.
The Lexus dealer was wrong LOL. They're trying to get you a car. A lease is riskier for the bank and is harder to get than a loan. Google it. You probably could get the lease though, especially if you're already a TFS/LFS customer.
It depends. For instance I'm in a pretty good spot because I negotiated the price down so low that I got a great payment, and the residual is low, its only $20K at lease end so I may be able to purchase it and have some equity in it I can turn around, we'll see.
But, in general it is almost always cheaper to buy initially than lease and then buy at the end.
Please don't think I'm preaching to you, thats not my goal. I just hate to see anybody get themselves in a bad spot.
To be honest I have to agree. The only reason I wanted to do this was because I didn't think I would be spending much more than I am now.
The dealer royally pissed me off, they did an appraisal on my car, and after I told them I wouldn't accept any negative equity on it (I would just give it away to my mom) they insulted my intelligence by trying to roll the negative equity into the lease (increasing the payment by $200 a month) instead of just giving me a quote for the lease as if I had no trade in like I asked for.
The last straw was when I asked her if I could get HID's in the lease and she said they only came with the nav package, but insisted that "Lexus halogens are so much better than Camry halogens"
It was hard not to laugh in her face, if a customer specifically requests HID headlights, you are NOT going to get them excited about halogen lights. Also, it is a complete insult to my intelligence to try to tell me I am actually going to notice a difference between Lexus and Camry halogen lights when they probably use the same bulb!
Then again, maybe she thought I would fall for it, after all I went in there thinking I could lease a hybrid for $500/mo
Having them appraise my car for $3000 less than I owe on it was a wake up call, I have 4 years and 100,000 miles left on it's warranty (that I paid $2000 for when I bought it) but apparently you can only transfer it to another person, not a dealer. So if I sell my car I will NOT trade it in.
Anyway, thank you for the advice all.
Last edited by druid0; 08-02-12 at 12:16 PM.
08-02-12, 02:31 PM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
Sorry it didn't work out, but I think its for the best.
For the future, never negotiate a lease based on the payment. Always work on the price first, trade next, then see what the payment will bring. When you negotiate by payment, they've got you because they can do BS like try and roll negative equity into the lease.
For the future, never negotiate a lease based on the payment. Always work on the price first, trade next, then see what the payment will bring. When you negotiate by payment, they've got you because they can do BS like try and roll negative equity into the lease.
08-02-12, 02:50 PM
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I'm working and can't afford a $330 a month car payment, I leased my 04 ES then bought after a divorce, car is been paid for since 07, I'll keep driving it as long as it last.
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