It's not that complicated. Nissan does it right (for the Leaf) and I believe GM does as well (for the Volt) .
^^^ One can only speculate why TFS does it this way. Possible reasons are they don't want to lease in the first place or they don't want them back after the lease.
The RAV is not a sexy car or sexy enough to Motivate me. It is probably a good deal. I qualify on the income. If I had some tax withholding issue and needed a Car I may be a Player. My Prius Is a 2012. I want to hold out for the Gen 4 Prius PIP and see if that moves me.
for those in CA, it's an amazing deal. You get what is essentially a 40 kWh Model S power train inside a roomy compact SUV with handling rivaling that of many sedans. All for just $28k. Seriously, these numbers make me sad that I don't have a family because I don't have an excuse to have a second car.
It's not 28 out the door. It's 40 out the door. The rest you have to deal with on your tax return. Other companies will give you a incentive and fed tax credit at point if sale. Sure it has Tesla components. But it is priced similar to the base Tesla so why not get the Tesla which is a whole lot sexier car. But grant it no TFS incentive. May be worth it to see what the Model X is. Maybe it is this Rav 4 exterior body style. Perhaps not. You can see I'm not motivated to pull the trigger. To me it is an overpriced Rav 4
Re: the bolded part, not at purchase time. If you want the benefit of the Federal tax credit at point of "sale", then you need to lease and the financing company needs to pass that $7500 fully to you. CVRP still comes later. As for Tesla, similar price? Let's see $59,900 (2013 Model S Price Increase | Blog | Tesla Motors) for the 40 kwh model + (IIRC) ~$900 destination charge - $7500 Federal tax credit (no option to lease yet) - $2500 CVRP. Oh, and turn by turn nav isn't standard on that model, that's $3750 extra, but it's standard on the Rav4 EV. Anyway, w/o turn by turn nav, the 40 kwh Model S net ends up being $49,900 before tax, title and license but after the Fed tax credit and CVRP. ~$21K isn't chump change and not that similar a price. And, they haven't started building 40 kwh models yet, so you'll need to wait until they do to have any chance of receiving yours. 60 kwh models are shipping though, but that's another $10K to upgrade to that. Oh yes, and there's no 0% APR financing on a Model S. 40 kWh Delivery Timing mentions that if you place a reservation now for a 40 kwh model, you'll need to wait until summer for your car. I agree the Model S is way sexier. I'm sure the Model S is a great car but remember that this is from a company that is now doing things that they never had to do before (they bought gliders for the Roadster). Seems folks are seeing some teething issues. My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Tesla Model S is a decent summary of stuff I'd seen on Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues (which I hadn't started skimming until MANY pages into it). I'd seen a mention of some folks having windshield stress cracks as well. Not clear how were due to stone chips vs. some structural prob or defective windshield.
No doubt this is a great deal as long as you can capture the discounts and tax credits. Toyota is obviously having some challenge moving these at the volumes required to satisfy California's regulations. I think they could move them faster if TFS would setup their lease similar to Nissan, US BANK, or ALLY and pass through the $7,500 federal tax credit. I have a call into ALLY to see if they will do the lease but they are checking to see if Toyota will still offer the $10,000 TFS cash if they purchase the vehicle without TFS financing.
Posted this in the wrong thread this morning: IMHO, you have to first like the car, and then like the tech. The new model RAV4 seems much nicer than the prior model on which this EV is based. That said, with these incentives, this is very cheap for 100 mile range EV, has a lot of cargo capacity and flat floor, has a practical, reasonably comfortable layout, and a lot of other nice tech (like an 8 inch nav). I would probably not want to bet on resale value in 3 years, even with the $7,500 tax credit. With that in mind, the $22K+ residual value may actually make up for the loss of the credit. Hard sell outside of CA, without the ability to have it serviced.
If I lived in California I would jump on it. Its a great deal on a BEV even if you don't like the styling, it looks much better than a leaf ggood, yes, I don't trust it in texas with no one to service it. We have no idea what problems may come up, and then what do you do.
Wish the lease took the $7500 into reducing cost. The Ford dealers are leasing the Focus EV for $199 with $2500 down.
Yep on the 1st point. As for the latter, I doubt it. From Toyota Dealerships - New & Used Car Deals & Special Offers | BuyAToyota.com (for the 90024 zip) "PLUS $10,000 Finance Cash" but the fine print says "Finance Cash offers valid through TFS lease or finance only". I remember someone here or on MNL pointing that out. Also to further answer JMD, the Model S also requires one pay either $600/year for service or a $1900 to $2400 for 4-year prepaid service plan (Tesla Service | Tesla Motors and Transforming Automotive Service | Blog | Tesla Motors, see GeorgeB's response about it being required to maintain the warranty).
Yep Tesla is trying to crank a profit this quarter, so expect them to deliver a boat load of cars and fee the core customers within reason. I'm sure the typical Tesla buyer is a Mid level executive making 6 figures and a net worth north of a few Million and that is a guess. Any idea on when the Model X will release? Perhaps 2014. That is targeting the upper Middle Class maybe
A rep from ALLY just called back and they don't seem to be getting any cooperation from Toyota, too bad. They suggested that a Toyota dealership could initiate the lease using ALLY. Not sure if Dianne has that flexability though.