boxed

Local dealer offering a certified 12' LS 460 L currently 25k miles 2 year 15k miles/yr lease for $500 0 down sign and drive do it?

They're selling the car for 45k. I'm offering $400 a month 2/12k.

Dr. Jekyll

iTrader: (1)

Is you only option a lease? And if so I think your counter is far lower than what they would accept but it never hurts to ask. Worst they can say is no.

R Z

I'm not a fan of the "fleece". But that's not to say others prefer not owning a car. If you're ok with it and get a decent monthly rate, why not.

boxed

Yup, I know lol I pretty much low balled them.

They were saying $500 lowest.

Lexuslsguy

Agreed. Being fleeced or renting the car is just a bad idea. Look elsewhere and buy the model year / mileage you can afford.

dlbuckls10

Why lease a 4 years old LS with 45K miles for 2 years? $0 down and $500 or maybe $400 a month? I think I would find a vehicle I could buy and own.

SW17LS

Yeah they've just started leasing CPO cars. Its intriguing.

I don't want this to turn into a lease vs buy debate, there are plenty of reasons why leasing makes sense, it just depends on you as the buyer and what your plans are, how you use a vehicle, whether you can deduct a vehicle for business, how long you keep a vehicle, etc.

Leasing a used car does away with some of the plusses, such as always driving a new car in the most economical way (understanding that always driving a new car is very expensive), but if the certified warranty is going to last the term of the lease thats something.

Essentially you're driving an LS for what an ES costs...

Lexuslsguy

For business purposes the write off can be good. Otherwise, it's usually a bad idea.

http://lifehacker.com/5858640/should...or-lease-a-car

SW17LS

If you're going to buy a new car every 2-5 years anyway specifically a luxury car, I have done the math all over the place and leasing is cheaper, whether you can write the lease payments off or not. If you're going to keep it longer that's a different story.

Bear in mind too many manufacturers including Lexus offer high residual leases which means that you're actually not even paying for all the depreciation that occurs during the time you have the car, which makes it even more attractive. An example, you can lease a $60,000 Lexus GS for $500 a month. At 3 years the actual depreciation of that car is 50%, so if you drive it for 36 months at a lease cost of $18,000, or if you buy and pay cash it's cost you $30,000. If you've financed if and have finance costs, it's more.

The link you put up makes a lot of assumptions that aren't realistic. One its comparing ownership with only a 3 year finance term, the average finance term is 5 years. They are also looking at lower prices cars with less attractive lease terms and less depreciation than we are talking about here. They're also not talking about the costs of tires, brakes, more expensive maintenance you can typically avoid in a leased car.

When you do the numbers on a $50k+ Lexus I've found you need to get up to 6-7 years of ownership before buying vs leasing starts to make sense financially. Of course I'm comparing it to a 5 year finance because that is typical. If you're paying cash or financing on a short term that changes the numbers. You have to factor in the opportunity costs on your money though.

Lexuslsguy

What I'm getting at is that it's a poor financial decision to keep switching cars every 2-3 years. Obviously, the more affluent an individual is the less they care about the expense but it does not make it any smarter of a financial decision.

SW17LS

But here's the thing, what is a "smart financial decision" is relative to the individual, their means, and their life goals.

If all we did was make smart financial decisions we would all be living in small homes eating boiled chicken every night driving depreciated 4cyl Toyota Camrys.

Life isn't just about getting through it as cheaply as possible. Along the way we all choose things or experiences that are of value to us, and we work to have or do those things. I promise you there are a lot of people out there that spend way more than it costs me to lease my car for a whole year on a one week vacation. Is that a "smart financial decision"? There are plenty of people out there who spend more than it costs me to lease my car for a year on a membership to a country club. Is that a "smart financial decision"? How about people that have boats? Or second homes? I guarantee you that I get as much enjoyment out of that expenditure on my car lease as they get out of those things. Those things are important to them, this is important to me and to each their own.

I don't consider myself an affluent person but I do make a very good living, I don't want to drive an old car, I don't want to buy used cars, I derive a lot of enjoyment out of driving nice new cars and replacing them every few years. I have researched and found that the least expensive way to do that is to lease, so I lease. It doesn't impact my financial health as that cost is built into my overall plan. So...how can you say its a "poor financial decision" for me? Could I spend less by buying a used one and driving it forever? Sure but I would also loose a big part of what makes it enjoyable for me. Those people who take expensive vacations can stay at the Holiday Inn at the Jersey Shore too, but thats not what they want to do.

Bottom line is, you can't make blanket statements...everybody decides what is important to them in their life and they spend money as they have it available and can allocate towards those things. I promise you, whatever you are doing or buying, driving a Lexus LS of any age or type there is someone sitting over there with a 4cyl Camry and saying "look at all the money that guy is wasting, what a poor financial decision". Do you feel driving a Lexus LS is a poor financial decision? I'd guess not since you have one.

If what you do works for you great, but people aren't wrong because their priorities are different than yours.

cstone3636

SW that was pretty much spot on....

Lexuslsguy

Being wrong is not the same as making a poor financial decision. The reality is, 80% of self made of millionaires buy used cars rather then new or lease / rent vehicles. Obviously, this is not relative... If someone chooses to lease it is perfectly fine but I seriously doubt you will find financial advisors recommending it. I know mine don't.

SW17LS

My financial advisor recommends it because of my goals. He knows that I want a new car every 3 years or so, so his recommendation is that I lease because of that. If a financial planner couldn't create a plan for me that accomplishes my goals both for the future and for the present I wouldn't employ them as my financial advisor.