I'm shocked, Lexus wasted no time offering a lease for the new IS. In Los Angeles, it's $349/mo. with $3492 down for 27 months. This is for a base car of course, but is extremely aggressive and not too far off from the 2013 offer. I don't recall any new Lexus model getting a subsidized program so soon. I'm at a loss. This is LEXUS!
Ideas?

 

My thoughts are that I would never put that money down on a leased car. I might as well open a window the window to my car and throw the money out the window. Anyone who puts more than minimum drive off fees down on the lease does not understand the concept of leasing

 

It's financial legerdemain.

 

Very odd there would be incentives this early.I thought the 'December to Remember' would be when the bigger incentive would arrive.
I guess Toyota wants to get more on the road to be seen and pump up sales/leases.

 

I wonder if I can lease this from Toronto..

 

I'm highly considering this car so I'm already asking around for prices (financing). Lexus of Westminster in OC here is offering $1.5k off MSRP per my talk with the web sales manager. But that dealer isn't getting a lot in yet so would have to wait regardless. That's great considering it released just last week. I'm holding off until late December though haha.

 

Very smart, they have to have a good lease to compete with BMW, because they have great leases on the 3.

Sure you would never put that money down, but thats how all the manufacturers advertise their leases.

Good to see their aggressive leases on the GS trickling down to the IS.

 

I think the problem maybe that they can already see that the 2014 isn't selling ala the 4G TL -- very controversial styling. Here in LA it seems that most of the 2IS owners are women. Do you think women will love the 3IS -- which is very masculine? Acura sold a ton of 3G TL's to men and women. I seldom see a woman in a 4G TL. Truth be told I seldom see 4G's anywhere. The styling killed the brand.

 

you can get the current bmw 328i or mercedes c250 for as low as 199 month on a 27 month lease for I think 4000 down, or around there.

They have to be competitive, its a competitive segment

 

That is hardly an aggressive deal IMO. Remember you are putting down money in a LEASE and that would put the dealer ahead already.

 

I agree with you 100% I would never put money down a leased car.

 

I don't think thats the case at all, too soon to tell anything about sales...

Anyways...the styling is not that controversial really...

 

If this is a base IS250 RWD, then this isn't much of a deal at all. It looks like it's not discounted from full MSRP at all.

 

Advertised lease deals are never discounted from full MSRP at all...from any manufacturer. The payment is low because of high residuals and low money factors and money down.

 

A couple of counterpoints...

The new IS has only been on sale for two weeks. How can anyone conclude it's not selling well? I have to lol at that.

As far as putting money down on a lease... there are a lot of misconceptions here. Leasing is different for everyone. There are many advantages to leasing, and the main appeal is a low monthly payment. Someone may be able to afford $350/mo, but not $400 or $450/mo. This is where and when additional down payment comes in handy. For those who think all leases should be drive off fees or no money down, few people lease that way. For example, if the newly announced lease involved no money down, you are likely looking at $450+/month. That's in a whole different bracket than $349/mo. Money down is needed in order to keep leasing attractive with that low monthly payment. And as far as advertising, the first and last number people hear is the monthly payment. This is the main draw used to suck people in. The fine print will have the down payment. Again, this is all done because people lease on monthly payments, not on down payments.

Lastly, we are not talking apples to apples when comparing lease programs with Mercedes and BMW. The C has been out forever and is about to be replaced. The BMW is relatively new, but not brand new.