cheewy

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum as I am looking to lease a new 2012 RX 350AWD during their DTR event.

The MSRP on the configured RX was $49360. So far we've negotiated the price down to $45400.

The lease numbers are (3yrs, 12k miles) ; first month payment waived, no security deposit, taxes/fees due at signing ($2723), $580/mo.

Is this a good deal? If not, what should I negotiate upon?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

UCSB

There are many tutorials on how to evaluate a lease on the internet ... I would start there. Some items are missing from your data like the car's residual value at the end of lease and the lease rate being applied for the financing of the lease. Your local tax rate is needed also. A friend of mine did a single payment up front on his 3 year lease and the actual cost of the lease was basically zero ... it seemed like a good strategy, if you want to lease. I purchased my RX, but I did look at leasing and could not figure out how to make it favorable to me. I didn't factor in the single lease payment up front to see how that would have compared because I did not think of it until my friend told me he went that way.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...alculator.aspx

MX5NES350

I never lease vehicles since I don't like limiting my mileage or paying the price for wanting to drive my car. Having said that agree w/ above we need more info. I've calculated leasing on every vehicle I've owned and w/ mileage, residual, etc. I never came out ahead (in theory)

But for some people leasing is the way to go. Some folks will say leasing is bad b/c you will ALWAYS have a car payment. Yes... BUT so you will if you flop cars every 4 years (like me). I just enjoy the fact I OWN the car - after I pay the bank back I think this RX of mine is one that I can keep until my payments are done, pay myself the car payment for a couple years then have a nice down payment and trade/private sale and move on up to something different. Hope it works out for you.

cheewy

I'm not sure about the lease rate, will have to find out tomorrow. But I know the residual was 61%. If the lease numbers don't work in my favor then I may opt to purchase at the .09 apr which is a killer deal too. I was thinking about leasing because with my past history in owning cars, I switch about every 3-4 yrs. Not a good habit, but I'd say reliability had a big part to play.

InRBigness

I was going to pay cash for mine and my accountant lost hair over that choice. I ended up leasing it at the max price per month for write off here in Canada which is 900/month for 4 years at 1.9%. I then prepayed all the lease payments up front, put a refundable deposit down on the car that goes toward the end buy out.

This did a few things for me. I have four years of writeoffs as per my lease contract and then I have the 27K buyout in four years (Revenue Canada max is 30K) I can depreciate it for 3 years again at 50% , 30%, and 20% in last year. The interest works out to about 3K but I get the equivalent of an extra 42K write off by doing this.

I wanted to pay cash as I hate making payments and love the feeling of owning it. I know I will buy it at the end so I put the extra 27k in investments and as long as I make more than 2% I am golden plus the additional deductions.

TampaOwner

if you can get the .09%. id go with that...

markrivers

Does your 580/ month included the tax?
If so, I think that's an ok deal.
leasing works for me personally since I change cars/SUV every 3 years.
And we have a couple of vehicles that we own so the limitation of the mileage is not a concern.

When we used to live in Connecticut. We pay property tax for every vehicle we own every year.
Mill rate depends on which city or town you park the car.
For example ur mill rate is $76/ $1,000 so if you purchased yours for $45,000.
That's 45 x 76 = $ 3,420 in a year.

And you pay that every year . Succeeding years will be lower factoring in the depreciation of the vehicle.

so that's how leasing is cheaper for me.

TampaOwner

paying almost $600 a month just to borrow someones elses car seems crazy to me... buy the car you can afford, dont just throw the money away in a lease to get a nicer car...

cheewy

Ok, so I spoke to the sales guy and got some final #'s.

MSRP: $49360
Final Sales Price: $45400

36mo /12k miles Lease
Money Factor- .0015
Residual - .61

Monthly Payment - $550

Due at signing - $2699.51 (Tax, title, registration fees)

What do you guys think?

TampaOwner

i dont understand why you pay full sales tax on something you dont own... it should be the tax rate on the $550 and not the whole car. thats BS

markrivers

Leasing is not for everyone. And I do get your point since I used to think like you.
After "buying" and proudly owning a Range Rover, I also get to enjoy the pricey tag for maintaining it after the warranty expired.
It's like a ticking time bomb, it's just a matter of time.
My brother had the same fate with his 7 series BMW.

And cars are not investments. they depreciate in value the moment you drove them off the dealer's lot. So I dont think we're missing a lot by OWNING them. And, At the end of the lease, you have the option to purchase the car you're driving anyway. If you still like it.

Evitzee

BUYING a vehicle is the cheapest way to provide transportation to yourself IF you keep the vehicle for a long time, 8-10 years or you drive a lot of miles.

LEASING is cheapest if you just have to have a new vehicle every 3-4 years and can stay within the mileage allowance.

By definition your lease is based on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and it is a fact that most depreciation occurs within the first few years, so how can leasing be cheaper than owning? It can't unless the term of the lease/ownership is short.

I buy a vehicle and finance it for no more than 3 years, and then keep it at least 10 years, so I have absolutely no car payments for 7 years. I don't need a new vehicle every few years, and cars like Lexus are very reliable over a 10 year period. But to those that have to have the 'latest and greatest' every few years leasing may work, but you will perpetually have a pricey monthly payment and that is ugly for me. Who wants to pay for transportation forever?

For those that like vehicles like a Range Rover or most of the German cars you may think twice as these cars are money pits. Remember the slogan, "Never own a German car outside of the warranty period". It will eat you alive in maintenance costs which is why I don't even look at these sorts of rides.

cheewy

Actually the tax quoted was for the $550 amount and not the entire car.

$2699.51 due at signing includes the following:

1842.01 - taxes
12.55 - tire disposal
75 - doc fee
10 - inspection
700 - bank fee
60 - plate transfer fee

TampaOwner

tire disposal? what tires?

cheewy

yep that got me as well.. wierd huh?