TonyGulati

I presently have a 2010 ES 350 under a lease with 15K miles a year. However, due to work and commute it has gone way over 15K allowed for the year and I still have till august for the first year to end. I was debating whether I should turn my lease into a finance deal with the way things are going. Just wanted to get two cents from other Lexus enthusiasts. My concern is 2013 the new re-designed ES comes out and by then this one would be under high miles and older persay. Let me know you're thoughts please. Thanks!

GoingHaam

honestly if you want to keep the ES, finance now as soon as possible, because the longer u wait the more money u waste to the lease.

but if you want to continue leasing you should get a second car and only drive the lease on the weekends until the mileage balances to the allotted time

in anyone's case that has a somewhat lengthy commute to make on a regular basis, should have a second car.

personally i would get something under $8k like an 03ish, camry, acura TL,or infinti i35, something comparable to what u have as far comfort, MPGs, features, etc...

use that a commuter, and continue leasing.

rx300mm

Why don't you wait till your lease expires and then put the various options on paper and decide. If you have really high miles then just buy back the car or trade with another Lexus they maybe fine. You will not get anything special from Lexus now that you are leasing .. maybe 2-3yrs down they might call you to make a deal with a new car .. my 2 cents worth.

TonyGulati

@Going Haam,

Thank you for your feedback. I am definitely going to look into a secondary car regardless because the miles only will keep going, just need to figure out whether I want to buy it out or keep leasing, Even thought of just returning the vehicle due to job contraints right now but maybe not a good idea. Thank you again!!

TonyGulati

@rx300mm - Thank you for your 2 cents, advice is always worth it. Thanks!

GoingHaam

although while some money goes towards an ending balance on your lease when paying for it, its no where close to the amount you are actually paying in monthly payments, Example if you pay 550 per month on a lease, maybe 300 is actually going toward the car's balance. the rest is just profit going in the finance company's pocket. the sooner you turn the lease to a finance the sooner the full amount of the payment will being going toward your car's balance.

For the ideal lease candidate, the lost money doesnt matter because u get a nicer car for less than u would be paying otherwise...

people always say leases are a waste of money. but i look at it as paying the cost of depreciation!

TonyGulati

@GoingHaam
Leasing is definitely worth it because at the end of the day the car only oses value.Totally makes sense, the other thing is that - If I finance it my monthly payment will definietly go up as from what I know the financing is always more expensive. .

safford197

Goinghamm: I'm not positive how the lease is structured but I believe you are paying for the anticipated use of the car so part of the fee is depreciation and some of it is interest - isn't it? Essentially you're paying the same if you financed it because you'll loose when you trade it in vs. turning in the lease you just walk away only having paid a portion of the total purchase price.

Didn't mean to get side tracked...
TonyGulati: I hope this helps but I leased my '07, then three years later financed it. I had no issues and Lexus was not involved with the transaction except to send me the release and their copy of the title. (I did it in Maryland). I can tell you that at least in Maryland, the state's DOT treats it like a new car purchase so you've got a bit of leg work to do. You're going to have to register it, get new tags (the old were not allowed to be transferred), get inspection. And hope you kept your bill of sale and lease paperwork because if you can't prove you've once paid sales tax you'll have to pay it again.

Good luck.

GoingHaam

in a lease the is no interest, because no money was borrowed and there is no principal to pay back, a lease is exactly what it seems, which is renting a car for a long time. at the rate you are going you will probably be paying around 4k at the end of your lease.

frankbcnt

A lease does have an interest rate it's just not called that don't be fooled because it's one of the the factors to argue when buying. Leasing is paying on the anticipated depreciation of the car. Therefore imo leases are only good on cars that hold their value. Also when you negotiate the lease you also negotiate the buyback price at the end of the lease and the buying price that they figure all the numbers on. This is what you have to figure out: are you going to buy the car at the end? Yes, then drive 100k a year it doesn't matter because your buying the lease out. If you are going to turn it in then you have till the end of the lease to keep the miles down. 15k a yr for 3 yrs so you need to have no more than 45k. Some say the dealers don't care if you go over and rebuy but do NOT believe this because the car is NOT the dealers car when you turn it in it's lexuses car and most likely goto auction not back on their lot unless they buy it from Lexus. In the cases were they say don't worry about miles you had bet they are adding that cost in somewhere on the new deal don't believe a salesman. You need to go on the Internet and there are spreadsheets you can download to wrap your head around all the figures.

EJC

You seem to have a pretty good understanding of your situation and options.

To me the only reason to switch to financing would be to get a lower interest rate now. The games Washington is playing with the economy are driving up inflation and interest rates. Otherwise I'd probably run out the lease and worry about the miles later.

That said, how long do you usually keep a car? I have both leased and financed vehicles. My daily driver is leased, I don't mind turning it in for a new vehicle. Last year I turned in my '07 IS for a '10 IS for LESS of a monthly. The dealer bought out my lease a year early. BUT MY MILEAGE WAS LOW.

My wife's car a '10 ES350 we bought. It gets low mileage, her '02 ES only had 39K on it. We figured the car would be kept 8-10 years and the finance rate was low. (BTW my mother drives my wife's old '94). Our '09 Porsche Boxster we bought for similar reasons and 1.9% financing.

BTW, in picking up the Porsche the dealer bought out the lease on my '03 SC430 and picked up my property taxes. There was a year to go on the lease.

IN THE END ALL IS NEGOTIABLE!!!!!!!!!!

TonyGulati

@EJC I know this is a deeeeeeeeeeelayed response but I had forgotten my PW and user name and just logged on and finally recovered it. Anyhow, Interesting to see how you had things worked out but more interesting to know that A DEALER can buy out my LEASE early as well. Thank you for your feedback.

EJC

It all comes down to numbers.

The lease company will not want the car back, so a simple early turn in is not an option.

But if the dealer can make a few bucks on the car he can buy it from the lease company. He now sells/leases you a new car and has a clean low miles used car (probably certified) for his lot. This basically is a private sale and has nothing to do with the lease company except for the need to pay them.

Most leases like mortgages are front loaded. Somewhere around the mid-point of the lease you will typically find that you are no longer upside down and the buyout price will be in the rnage of market value. Once you pass this point it becomes possible for dealer to take the car in early and make a profit. I believe you can get an amortization table from the lease company that will map it out for you.

TonyGulati

Yeah but its only been a year since I have had this lease so I don't think the dealer is going to want to pay 32K and change to Lexus Financial. I am just screwed on my mileage because I ended up getting a job so far from home. I will figure something out eventually.