Hi all, I am thinking about leasing a prius 2, but wanted to see what others have paid first. I know right now the southeast ad (us car & rankings/tv ads) is 249 a month with 2,280 down. Went to a dealership today and got them down to 287 a mo w/1500 down. I don't really want to put anything down, but I'm thinking if I can get to 275-280 with 1000 down then that's pretty good? That's including first months payment, no tax, etc. Any thoughts on this? Oh, and this would be including not having to make my final lease payment on my camry. Thanks!
I think 38 months. The remaining payment is 250. No, not trading it in just turning it in. The last payment is due now so I'm trying to get it within the week since its silly for me to make that payment. Oh, I guess I should edit this to say if I get another Toyota they make the last lease payment for me, so I was factoring that into the down payment. Sorry if that wasn't clear
Leasing is never a good idea. People claim for business use it is a better tax write off. This is not true. It is an easier tax write off. Leasing forces people to get a new car every 3 years. This makes the consumer eat most of the depreciation of the vehicle and start doing it again after 3 years. If you cannot afford the payment of buying compared to leasing, maybe you’re trying to get more car then you can afford.
By focusing on the monthly lease payment, you're falling into the dealers leasing shell game. The important variables are: selling price, money factor, lease term & miles, and residual--plus a few others. The lease payment is the result of these variables. I've attached a spreadsheet I put together a few years ago when a friend asked me to help her lease a car (it's not rocket science, but I had not leased a car prior to that so it was a good way for me to understand all the moving parts, and keep one step ahead of any dealer sleight-of-hand). I also used it when I leased my Prius a few years ago. The input section is in the upper left corner. My advice is to get all the variables from the dealer and go through it in the calm of your home, and also bring the spreadsheet loaded on your laptop to the dealer when you go to get the car, just in vase. Good luck.
