Griffey222

Does anyone have an idea when the best time (Month) to try and lease an IS might be? Very end of the year? September? What kind of lease deals have people signed up for so far without rediculous amounts of cash out of pocket? 36 months, $1,000 out of pocket type's of deal? Or do these not exist in Lexus land? Thanks for the advice in advance!

Threxx

I personally found my local dealer to be almost laughably difficult to deal with when trying to lease an IS350 - what they wanted amounted to almost TWICE as much per year as I lease my Audi A4 for. Granted I think the IS350 is for the most part a nicer car, but sticker price to sticker price the IS350 was only about 10% higher, plus I'd think it'd have a BETTER resale value since Lexus on average has better resale than Audi - so where are they getting off quoting me nearly twice the rate (and that's not even with all maintenance included as was on the Audi).

I'm almost halfway through the 24 month lease of this A4 and when next time rolls around I'll give Lexus another chance.*shrug*

Griffey222

Yea, this has been my experience. I recently sold my VW Touareg and talked to the folks at Lexus about an IS 350. Based on past experience leasing an Audi TT and A4, I thought I knew what I was gettin into...Not the case. I nearly fell over when the numbers came back...Is this just not a leasable car? Bad timing? Dealer leverage due to demand? Does this change?

liverichly

Not sure what you guys are expecting or how the conversation went, but if you have decent credit (680+ score), with nothing down on the cap cost you should expect a payment of about $580-650/mo (depending on your cap cost negotiating skills) on a 4-year lease, 15k miles a year, for an IS350 with the LT (lux/nav/ML) package.

Threxx

I was quoted IIRC 8000 dollars down and 400 a month for 36 months, 15k miles a year for an IS350 with nav, no ML (I don't think they were building them with ML at the time). Yes, over 22 grand for more or less RENTING that car for 3 years, not including maintenance, either.

But even 580-650 a month is bad IMO for a 4 year lease.

You can get a brand new Mercedes E350 nicely equipped with navi and such for I think $605/month with zero down.

Now while you may still prefer the IS350 to the E class, lets just consider the sticker price, which on the E class is over 50 grand, and the month terms - the Benz is 27 months, the Lexus is 48 months.
Roughly the same deal for the Acura RL, too.

diablo1

You pay a price to get a new model. Lexus is probably charging higher money factors (interest rates) compared to Audi or Mercedes. If you do the math, payments of $550-700 are correct, with $0 down, depending on your options, credit score, etc. You can lease other Lexus models for cheaper even though MSRP is the same or higher. Lexus has a high-demand product on their hands and, like any good business, they are cashing in on it until the demand goes down. Try leasing another popular vehicle like a Saturn Sky. I guarantee the manufacturers aren't making any concessions on money factor for these vehicles. Cheap money factors are basically a way for manufacturers to discount the cars without explicitly taking money off the MSRP. You may see Lexus doing this on the remaining '06s once the '07s start to show up, but I doubt they will offer low money factors before then.

Threxx

I'm not necessarily faulting Lexus or their dealers for trying to 'cash in' on a popular product, BUT I'm simply saying that to me - somebody who doesn't have unlimited money - there's no way in HELL I would pay almost twice as much to lease a 37k dollar car compared to a 32k dollar car. This Audi is more fun to beat on anyway since it's a stick and has a great chassis/steering feel. Would I dare to own it? Heck no, I knew it was gonna be a POS and I can already tell that's what it's going to be later on in life. But for a lease, what do I (and most other people) care most about?
-How much does it cost me to own?
-How enjoyable is it to drive?

Reliability, which is Lexus' #1 selling point, is an afterthought.

With that said, their RX lease deal they're offering at the moment is pretty good IMO - and it's by far their best selling model, so what does that say about 'cashing in' on popular vehicles? Sounds to me like they want an increase in volume over profit margin. I'd think they'd want the same for the IS since it seems they'd love to topple the 3-series in sales some day.

DirtySouth

If you guys are going to make comparisons, you have to include all of the factors that come in to play with the lease.

Cap Cost
Money Factor (based on interest reates)
Residual
Mileage per year
Lease Length

Each one of those factors could totally change the monthly payment.

liverichly

In May the money factors Lexus Financial is quoting for tier 1 is .00265, 48% residual factor on a 48 month lease with 15k miles per year.

Threxx

I don't care about cap cost and money factor. Money factor should be even assuming my credit score is the same with each dealership and considering it's almost at 800, it should be rated excellent no matter where I go.
Residual should be in Lexus' favor if they're being realistic. Don't tell me an Audi has better resale than a Lexus - I've never heard such a thing.
Cap cost - that's up to the dealer to play with to make a deal I'm willing to take. My dealer insisted on a cap cost of sticker price. That made a bad deal even worse. Then they had the nerve to tell me that the money factor was so jacked up because that's where they "make their money"... oh sorry, thought you made your money by essentially selling me the car at STICKER!
Milage per year was identical in my comparisons.
Lease length if anything has been in Lexus' favor. I've been quoting them with 36-48 months whereas the competition is giving me shorter preferable lease rates of 24-30 months.

I always compare leases with zero down as that makes for a more balanced monthly payment comparison.

And you know what? In the end none of the above matters to me - some of it would if I was planning on buying the car after the lease was over because it affects the selling price of the vehicle afterward... but I'm not intending to buy it afterward, so to me all that matters is what it costs to drive me per month and how well I like the car.

In the circumstance of the Lexus IS vs the Audi it was a very easy decision. The Lexus was not worth TWICE cost per mile/period of time to me. I can't honestly see how it would be to anyone making the comparison.
If I were BUYING, you bet your *** I'd get the Lexus, as the BS lease values wouldn't affect me at all, and well, I'd never want to own an Audi. But that just wasn't the case.

diablo1

The IS is their hot new vehicle. It is in short supply and high demand. This allows them to, as you say, "rape" customers on the financing. The RX is their most popular model. It is not in short supply. All dealers have tons of them. It's the balance of supply and demand that set how much dealers and manufacturers can make on cars. There is a high demand for paper towels too, but guess what, there is also a high supply, so paper towels are cheap.

This is just not true. A better credit score in general will help you get the best MF, but some of it is set by the car company too. The base rate is different for each car and each company. According to your logic, every credit card or mortgage company should offer you the exact same interest rate. It just doesn't work that way.

I'm glad you like your A4 and feel that you got a good deal on it. But you have to realize, it's been out for a while, and it was never in as high demand as the IS. The lease price is high because people are willing to pay for it.

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

Typically the best lease programs are in August (Lexus Golden Opportunity Sale) which is the "end of model year sale" or in December (Lexus December to Remember Sale) which is the "end of calender year sale".

However, this past December the money factor wasn't anything special due to the fact the new IS had only been out for a couple months and the car is too hot.

I'm hoping by August there will be enough inventory for Lexus to include the IS with other program specials. If so I will get a '06. If not, I'm going to see if there's one in December and I'll get a '07. Whatever, I'm not in a hurry and am happy to wait.

Kermee

iTrader: (1)

Money factor, or "rent charge", is affected by your BEACON, Emperica or FICO score but only to a certain degree and isn't the huge influence in how "expensive" it is to lease a vehicle. Money factors are rarely the same between lenders and can easily vary wildly for a particular model. The MF is ridiculously high for the 2IS. Why? Because they can "get away with it".

You could have the best credit score in the world and the MF on a 2IS lease from TMCC/LFS could be triple that of someone with a Tier III rating with another vehicle or brand. It's not your credit rating which is the problem. It's all about supply and demand.

Cheers,
Kermee

Threxx

Yes I understand money factor inside and out.
I worded that poorly. What I was trying to convey was that my relative interest rate payed on 'borrowing' the value of the vehicle in a lease SHOULD be roughly the same no matter where I go - any extra added to that is just icing for the manufacturer/credit union/dealer and should be regarded no differently by me than any other portion of the payment unless I want to buy the car afterward, in which case a high money factor with great residuals would make for a much less appealing buyout at the end.

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

FYI, money factor has no influence on buying the car at lease end as MF is on a month to month during the 36 or 48 months you lease.

A high residual is good if you lease only since the remaining is figured into part of lease payment, a high residual is bad if you buy at lease end as that is the amount you pay if you buy.