FatherTo1

I haven't seen any loyalty rebates either, but they currently are offering rewards if you'e coming from a competitor or if you're a recent college grad or in a graduate program. My screenshot isn't attaching for some reason, but it's on the Lexus.com site for NX offers.

danmm7

This is an extremely useful discussion! Thank you to all the people who have provided so much sound advice to all of us.

Here is my situation and huge dilemma.

- This will be my wife's car. The car will not be tuned/modded or abused.
- We like cars, we enjoy & appreciate nice features and quality in cars and we seem to get "bored" by cars within 3-4 yrs of ownership.
- We NEVER leased a car before. We always bought slightly used cars (or new) and usually have been very successful negotiating a great deal.
- I do all maintenance and 95% of repairs on my cars on my own and i have done some pretty advanced DIY projects. In other words - oil changes, brakes, belts, coolant changes, radiators, hoses, etc.... i will NOT be paying a dealer or shop to do for me. I like to work on cars and keep them in top shape.
- She will put 14-15k miles/yr, no less.
- We are trying to stay around the $500/mo payment + some moderate (<5k) down-payment.
- We have excellent credit

One option for us is to get a CPO 2013/14 GS450h ($32-34k + tax) and pay it off in 4-5 yrs.
Nice car, wife loves it, but it is obviously used and if she gets tired of it in 3-4 yrs and we sell it, who knows what a depreciation hit we'll take when we sell it to a private party (i dont trade in cars). So far, with all cars we bought, when we sold them in 3-4 yrs of ownership, we've realized that the depreciation hit is always significant. Will this be the case with the GS450h in 3 yrs..... i have no idea, but since we won't be keeping it for many years, from everything i read, the fact that we'll sell it rather quickly, "owning" the car will not provide any savings, due to depreciation, loan interest paid, sales tax, etc.

Second option: If we lease a car, we are OK buying the car after and then selling OR simply swapping the car at the end of the lease for a new lease, as long as they don't punish us for extra miles and wear/tear. It almost seems like that with leasing, as long as you keep leasing from the same company, you will never get penalized with the lease restrictions (miles, wear, etc). At least this is what all my friends with BMW leased cars say. They are VERY happy with the fact that they put 40-45k miles on their leased BMWs and a bit before the lease is over, BMW offers them a brand new car with the same lease terms, with no questions asked about the car they are returning.
Does LEXUS behave the same way with leases? Do they offer the same "incentives" if you decide to stay with another Lexus lease? Or are they a lot more picky about miles/condition of the returned car? I read that not all luxury brands are the same when it comes to leasing their cars. Some brands (like BMW) are great to lease.... and some are NOT. Where is LEXUS rated when it comes to lease deals and conditions?

I saw that currently Lexus advertises some lease 'deals' on their website. They have a nice brand new Lexus RX450h AWD for $500/mo + $5k down. $5k down seems like a lot and there is ZERO info on how much the residual is. But even if we go with this deal vs buying the CPO GS450h, we are looking at the same payment/mo and my wife will be driving a brand new car, and when she gets bored in 3-4 yrs, we can either swap it for a new leased lexus or buy it off and sell it for decent price.

In our case, how is the 'lease option' in this case comparing to the buy CPO option....... financially? It almost feels, at the end, we won't lose/save much $$ either way. Am i missing something?

In general.... given all the info i shared above..... are we a good fit for a leased vehicle or we better stick to CPO/Used cars in good shape?

Thank you in advance!

F1Driver

It's nice to know you can negotiate on the capital cost. How often do people do this or do they just accept the lease payments based on MSRP most of the time?

SW17LS

Anybody who doesn't absolutely should.

wasjr

The dealer will prefer to talk payments, whether it be a lease or purchase. IMO the first thing to do is to negotiate the price of the car. Don't tell them if you are buying or leasing. Your negotiated price (plus any acquisition& other fees) is the capital cost, and the capital cost is about the only thing you can negotiate with a lease. One caveat is that you should be aware if there is dealer lease money that will reduce the capital cost further. When I leased my MDX last summer there was $1,000 in dealer money from Acura, and naturally with my luck, in three months it was up to $3,000.

You can get residual and money factor information from the forums on the Edmunds website, and any lease and other fees from the dealer, so you can check the dealers payment number.

ladesantis

Anyone PLEASE have issues with Lexus Financial and their lack of customer service and and any support. I have issue with them billing me for damage that I did not have when turned in car to Longo Lexus, I have made 4 calls, have been very nice, they are just brow beating me for the payment, they cannot do the simple thing to show me the proof and then discuss, they just want the money. I am posting right now all over social media for someone to step up, anyone here on this forum have any suggestions/ideas/names/numbers??

F1Driver

When you're financing through the dealership do you need to include some sort of profit in the negotiated/capital cost price? In other words, should you let the dealership make some money for having sold and help with financing the car to you? Or should you just lowball them and make monthly payments based on the dealer invoice plus taxes?

SW17LS

The dealership won't agree to a deal that doesn't involve them making profit. Even at invoice the dealer makes profit. Just negotiate as good a deal as you can.

FatherTo1

I don't think you need to be concerned with profit for the dealer. You can't force them to sell to you at a loss, and they can't force you to buy anything. The dealer knows what they can sell for and may take a loss if it means they make it up through meeting a sales goal bonus from the manufacturer. In any case, the dealer can take care of themselves and you just worry about your side of the equation.

wasjr

I agree with the two comments above. Negotiate your best deal. Also, in addition to the vehicle sale, the dealer is most likely going to get an origination fee from the finance/lease company, which he "may" consider in your negotiated price, as well as lease money I mentioned above.

nightdiff

Would a 42 month lease have lower payments then a 36 months lease on the same vehicle?

solo118

Depends on the month, but usually yes you will get a better price on 42 months.

mikemu30

I don't lease but presumably you lose some residual value during those additional months?

JDR76

Most likely yes, But you also need to consider your state license fees. Not sure what they are in NY, but they're very expensive here in Washington State.

For example, on my Highlander the yearly tabs are over $700. With a 42 month lease, I would have to pay that extra $700 at the 36 month mark, meaning I'm paying a full year of tabs for a car I'm only going to have for another 6 months. If NY tabs are lower, then it may not be a factor for you.

mikemu30

$700/year for vehicle registration? Wow.