I've read some great posts here on leasing and wanted to see if I could lay out my situation and get additional suggestions. I'm a road warrior that drives about 30-35k miles each year. Have a 2002 ES300 going strong at 370,000 miles (these babies keep going if you take care of them!) but its time to send it to pasture. So, I tend to put a lot of miles on a car but also keep it a long time.

Considering the 2015 ES, but since I will probably use the car for 10 yrs+, I'm more inclined to wait until the 2016 mid-cycle refresh is out for a purchase (so it is more up-to-date for the long hold). That leaves me with a plan to lease a 2015 for a year or two.

Does it make sense to acquire a 2-year lease (that effectively will be for 1 yr, given my mileage will require a lease turn-in sooner) and pay the lease forward in full on Day 1 (to save financing costs)?

Have folks found dealers to be receptive to negotiating lower per-mile costs over the pre-set mileage limit, or should I focus on negotiating other aspects of the lease to maximize value?

Does pre-paying the lease result in significant savings?

 

As a general rule leasing is not a favorable option for someone who puts a lot of miles on a vehicle. It's not like you can drive it to X miles and then simply "turn it in" and be done. You would still owe the balance of the payments regardless of the time or miles on the vehicle.

Say you take out a 27 month lease ($500/month to make the math easy) with the additional 5K miles taking a 10K lease to 15K/yearly (read as higher payment) but then you "blow through those in the first year. That's only 12 months into the contract (12x$500=$6,000) and you are already at 30K miles so you will have "used up" your mileage allotment. You still owe the balance of he monthly payments (15x$500=$7,500) and you essentially can't drive it anymore so at that point you would have a $500/month "paperweight" sitting in your driveway.

You may be able to "buy out" the balance of the lease and then buy the car for the end of lease buyout. That would simply "differ" a HUGE chunk that you will (eventually) have to pay for. Why are you wanting to do a lease (other than the mid-year refresh?) because just wanting a new car after the refresh would be more feasible if you simply bought (e.g. made normal payments on) a used CPO now and then trade it in when the time comes

 

I also doubt leasing is the way to go given the miles you drive. As an **** financial guy I will throw out another idea. Buy a 2011 ES 350. It is a very comfortable car, uses regular gas, and gets about 30mpg in highway driving (based on a buddy's 2011). Your cost to own will be substantially less than a 2015 lease. Drive it a couple of years and then buy new.

 

You drive too many miles to lease, I agree.

 

With the kind of mileage you're putting on a car a lease is not for you, you'll take a beating.

370K on your 2002 is incredible..

 

Thanks for the insights, folks. I'm leaning towards the suggestion to buy used then upgrade in a couple years.