Lease Questions - Ask Here

CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi javagirl1. This is an excellent time to lease a 2005 Honda Accord. Not only are dealers selling them for very low prices, but Honda has a decent level of lease support available on them. Are the 2006 Accords even out yet? I didn't think that they were.

American Honda Finance Corp.'s current base lease money factor and residual value for a 36 month, 15,000 miles per year lease of a 2005 Honda Accord Coupe EX V6 should be .00112 and 51%, respectively. Using these numbers, an MSRP of $26,950, and a selling price of $23,741, I estimate that this car should have a zero down, pre-tax monthly payment of around $320. This is obviously a lot lower than the payment that you were quoted, so you should either renegotiate or comparison shop with a few other dealers. By the way, vehicles' residual values are a percentage of their full MSRPs, including destination charges and any options that can be residualized.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

You're welcome holdenout4les. BMW Financial Services' July lease money factor for the 2005 BMW X5 4.4 is .00100, but its factor for the X5 3.0 is slightly higher at .00125. These factors are the same for leases up to 42 months in length and the mileage allowance that you choose has no impact upon them. I am not aware of any dealer cash incentives on the '05 X5 at this time.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi evan2. As you are already aware, Volkswagen is dunning a special lease program on 2005.5 Jetta sedans. It is not however providing any sort of lease support on the old 2005 model sedans. Instead is it providing dealer cash on them. If you were to lease a 2005.5 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5L (not the Value Edition) through VW Credit right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00045 and 54%, respectively. When negotiating your lease on this car, keep in mind that Volkswagen is providing a $750 bonus on leases of it through VW Credit right now. This money will help you to negotiate an attractive capitalized cost. The numbers for an otherwise identical lease of a 2005 Jetta GLI Sedan should be VW Credit's standard .00255 and 47%. Even though there is no lease support on this car, VW is providing $2,000 dealer cash on it. It is difficult to say whether VW's August lease program will be any more attractive than this.

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sofakingcool · July 2005

Car_Man,

Could you please supply me with the MF and residual for a 2005 Lexus IS 300 with automatic transmission. I need them for a 2 yr./15000 mile a year lease and 3 yr./15000 miles a year lease. Location: Michigan (48867). Thanks in advance.

CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

No problem Chris. I am not surprised that you can't find any Saab 9-2X models out there. According to what I have heard, dealers couldn't sell them at all so they weren't ordering very many of them. However when the Employee Purchase program was introduced they were such a good deal that they began flying off of lots and now there are none to be had.

I am not surprised that the salesperson who you spoke with was trying to steer you towards financing the Scion tC that you are interested in (nice car BTW) rather than leasing it. Toyota has not been providing any sort of lease support on this car. As a result, if you were to lease one through Toyota Financial Services, you would have to use its standard lease program. If I was in the market for a tC, I would personally finance it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

You're very welcome mnjoe. Thanks for taking the time to stop back and let us all know how everything turned out. Congratulations and enjoy your new car!

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

No problem Pacer. I have not heard anything about GMAC being unreasonable in assessing vehicles at lease-end for excess wear and tear. I suppose that it is possible that it is, but I suspect that this is merely a sales tactic being used by the import dealers that you are speaking with because most manufacturers' captive finance companies are fairly reasonable when evaluating vehicles at lease-end for excess wear and tear.

Gap insurance is not a bad idea to have. Most captive finance companies automatically include it. I believe that this is the case with GMAC.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

You're welcome taitando. Sorry that I didn't have better news for you.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi c21bryan. While Audi's lease program has varies by region in the past, it is currently only running one national program. Audi Financial Services' current base lease money factor and residual value for a 3 year, 15,000 miles per lease of a 2005 A8 4.2 long wheel base are .00090 and 54%. In order to use this factor, you must pay AFS' lease acquisition fee of $575 and a security deposit at lease signing. If you are being charged a higher factor than this, it is possible that the dealer that you are working with is marking-up AFS' base money factor for this car to add additional back-end profit to your deal. This practice is perfectly legal, but can usually be avoided if you know what the base factor is for the vehicle that you are interested in.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hello jegpgh. You never mentioned whether this is a 2005 or a 2006 M-Class, but since most of the '05 models have already been sold I will assume that it is an '06. Correct me if I am wrong. Mercedes-Benz is currently not providing any sort of lease support on the redesigned M-Class. As a result, if you were to lease one through Mercedes-Benz Credit, you would have to use its standard lease program, which is not that great. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2006 Mercedes-Benz ML 500 with an MSRP of $51,590 and a selling price of $48,750 through MBC right now for 39 months with 12,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $711. This payment assumes that you qualify for MBC's stop credit tier, pay a security deposit, and pay MBC's $795 acquisition fee. With a $2,000 capitalized cost reduction, this truck's payment would drop to around $649. I always advise consumers against making any sort of down payment when leasing though. I do so for two main reasons. The first is if your vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen during your lease, your insurance company pays off the bank that you were leasing it through and your down payment essentially disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased vehicles do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So your lease-end purchase option price for your M-Class would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $2,000 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi rohit1. I do not personally keep tabs on manufacturers incentives and lease programs for the Canadian market, so I cannot comment on whether the interest rates that you were quoted for this truck are in line with Lexus' current offers. I can tell you though that both of the interest rates are very attractive. Whether you should lease or finance this truck really boils down to a matter of personal preference more than anything.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hey sofakingcool. I heard that Lexus just introduced a new enhanced lease program for this car a couple of days ago. Let me make some calls and see what I can find out about it for you. Please post a reminder in this discussion for me on Monday and I will let you know what I have been able to find out about the new program.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

I am sorry to hear about your mother's situation meredith07. Mercedes can't get her a part to fix her truck's air conditioning until November?!?! That's pretty terrible service. Has she tried going to a different dealer for repairs? Perhaps she would get better results if she went elsewhere. I doubt that Mercedes will allow your mother to end her lease a year early because of this situation. If there really is no possibility of getting her truck's air conditioning fixed until November, she should see if they would be willing to give her a loaner vehicle or something in the meantime. This situation is unacceptable and if no solution can be reached she should complain to the service manager, if that doesn't work the dealership's owner and Mercedes-Benz.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Yes, akr, the 2006 Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic does qualify for the special lease money factor that you mentioned. Mercedes' July lease program was originally scheduled to run through August 1st. So even if you didn't finalize this deal on Saturday, there is a good chance that you would be able to do so on Monday. Let's calculate a sample lease payment on this car for you and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2006 Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic with an MSRP of $55,975 and a selling price of $53,000 through MBC right now for 39 months with 10,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $621. As you can see, a payment of $599 per month is very attractive.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Here's the information that you are looking for ehw99. If you were to lease a 2006 Infiniti M35 AWD through Infiniti Financial Services right now for 42 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00207 and 56%, respectively. Vehicles' residual values are always based upon a percentage of their full MSRPs, regardless of how good a selling price you are getting them for.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Congratulations on your new car mbx4steve. Thanks for taking the time to share the details of your deal with everyone. Enjoy!

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi doctorevil. Unless Nissan is running some sort of special early lease termination program at this time it will likely be fairly expensive for you to get out of your Pathfinder lease seven months early. In order to do so, you need to purchase the vehicle that you are currently leasing from the bank that you are leasing it through. It often turns out that it costs more to do so than your vehicle is worth on the open market. Furthermore, many banks expect consumers who end their leases early to still make all, or at least the depreciation portion of their remaining lease payments. As you can see, this can get very expensive.

You can determine approximately how much it will cost you to get out of your current lease by comparing its purchase price to its value on the open market at this time. You should place a call to the bank that you are leasing your vehicle through to find out its exact price. Once you know exactly how much money it is going to cost you to buy your leased vehicle you need to compare it to its current value on the open market. You can find out approximately what your vehicle is worth by looking up its Edmunds.com True Market Value in the Used Vehicle Pricing section of this site. You also may want to stop by the following discussion: "Real-World Trade-In Values". One of our most knowledgeable community members, Terry, frequents that discussion and he is often kind enough to give community members who give him an accurate description of their vehicles with his opinion on their value. Don't forget to check to see if you are still on the hook for your remaining lease payments. The difference between your leased vehicle's current value and how much it will cost you to buy it plus any remaining lease payments that you are obligated to pay will equal the cost of getting out of your lease right now. You may find that you are better off waiting until you are closer to the scheduled end of your lease to get another new vehicle.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi Greg. The highest mileage allowance that most banks publish residual values for is 15,000 miles per year. Consumers can lease vehicles with higher mileage allowances than this, but in order to do so they have to purchase additional miles on a per-mile basis. It is less expensive to purchase additional miles at lease signing than it is to wait until lease-end and have to pay a penalty for excess mileage. The exact cost per additional mile varies depending upon which bank you lease through. The the per-mile cost is low enough high mileage leases can be very attractive.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hey mbx4steve. All consumers who lease vehicles through American Honda Finance Corp. have to pay its lease acquisition fee of $595 and a security deposit that is equivalent to their vehicle's monthly payment rounded up to the nearest $25 increment at lease signing. AHFC will waive these charges in exchange for an increase in the money factor that is used to calculate their vehicle's lease payment. For a waiver of the security deposit, AHFC's money factor increase is .00010.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi in2carz. You would be much better off leasing this van for 36 months instead of for 48 months. I believe that Toyota Financial Services' special lease money factors for it are only available for leases of up to 36 months in length. You never mentioned the selling price of the car that you are interested in leasing. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing the price of the car that you want to lease you don't know how good a price you are getting it for. The second reason is that one needs the selling price of a vehicle that they want to lease is that it is necessary to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in for you if you let me know what its selling price is.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi lagatta. I would be happy to give you an idea of what Chrysler Financial's current residual values for this truck are like. However, in order for me to do so I need some additional informaiton from you first including the exact model that you want, i.e. a Durango Limited 4WD, SLT 4WD, etc., as well as the number of miles per year that you need to be able to drive it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi mikeeau. Even though Acura is not currently providing any sort of lease money factor support on the 2005 Acura RL, the factor that you were quoted is way too high. Its base lease money factor for this car for for consumers who pay a security deposit and acquisition fee and qualify for its top credit tier is currently only .00235 for 36 month leases. It would be in your best interest to comparison shop with a few other dealers in your area.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi cmks02. Unfortunately, it is difficult to say what Ford Credit's future residual values for the Freestyle will be like. I suspect that they will be lower than they are today, but just how much lower is impossible to say.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

You're not trying my patience at all, holdenout4les. I'm happy to help. According to the latest informaiton that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Infiniti FX35 RWD through Infiniti Financial Services on or before August 1st for 39 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00153 and 59%. The numbers for an otherwise identical lease of a 2005 X5 3.0 should be .00125 and 61%. BMW FS will lower its lease money factors for consumers who pay additional security deposits. Specifically, it allows consumers to make up to 5 additional deposits, providing a .00005 money factor reduction for each one, for a total possible reduction of .00025.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Here you go will2702. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Volvo S40 2.4i through Volvo Finance right now for 2 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00250 and 62%, respectively (unless you are talking about a stripped version of this car which has a lower money factor). The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease should be .00250 and 53%. If you were to lease a 2005 Volvo S40 T5 2WD through Volvo Finance right now for 2 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00245 and 59%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00245 and 51%. Volvo is not providing any cash incentives on leases of these cars, other than owner loyalty cash.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Will2702, Mazda Credit's 2 year residual values for the 2005 RX-8 are 2% higher for models that are equipped with manual transmissions. Its 12,000 miles per year residual values are 2% higher than its 15,000 miles per year residuals, but I have not seen any information on its 10,000 miles per year residual values (if it even leased vehicles with that low a mileage allowance). This month, Mazda's base lease money factor for a 2 year lease of any 2005 RX-8 is .00019.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi fizzyhair. I am sorry to say that I do not personally keep tabs on manufacturers' Canadian lease programs and as a result I cannot give you an informed opinion of your deal. Sorry that I could not be of more help.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi Brian. If I was in the market for a truck that was not scheduled to be delivered until a few days after GM's employee purchase program is scheduled to end, I would probably sign a lease contract and lock in the current deal. As long as you have not physically taken delivery of your new car or truck, your dealer really cannot hold you to this deal. This will protect you in case there is some sort of problem with this truck when it arrives.

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dishwasher · July 2005

Could you assist me with a lease option for a toyota car - 2005. cost is 25K with no down payment and a risidual of 14K. Zero down payment. What are the deals and what would the payments be? Three year and a four year lease amount s would be great. Also, do all dealers negotiate on leases for the price?

CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi carcrazy8. It sounds like you are new to leasing. If that is indeed the case, you definitely should check out the following informative articles that are available here at Edmunds.com prior to visiting any dealers: 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car and Calculate Your Own Lease Payment. Once you have checked out these articles, stop back and I will be more than happy to answer any specific questions that you have.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

That is a very good question, CRJ. The exact policy on the use of OEM parts to repair leased vehicles varies from bank to bank. I do not know Infiniti Financial Services' (I assume that this is the bank that you are leasing this car through) policy on this matter, but I suspect that you will not be assessed any sort of penalty for using an aftermarket windshield to replace your broken one. You might want to check directly with IFS to make sure though.

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CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi Jamie. Let me begin by saying that I always advise consumers against making any sort of down payment when leasing. I do so for two main reasons. The first is if your vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen during your lease, your insurance company pays off the bank that you were leasing it through and your down payment essentially disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased vehicles do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So your lease-end purchase option price for your Altima would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put several thousand dollars down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all. If you really want to trade your current vehicle in when you lease your new Altima, just have the dealer that you are working with cut you a check for it rather than using the proceeds from it as a capitalized cost reduction for your lease.

Also, you never mentioned the selling price of the car that you are interested in leasing. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing the price of the car that you want to lease you don't know how good a price you are getting it for. The second reason is that one needs the selling price of a vehicle that they want to lease is that it is necessary to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in for you if you let me know what its selling price is.

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avineberg · July 2005

I'm down to the wire trying to decide between an Audi A6 (2005) and an Infinity M35X (I think it's a 2005). Do you know how much different the lease deals will be after August 1?

CarMan@Edmunds · July 2005

Hi jnijankin. I like your slip up in the title of your post ("A$") because the A4 is fairly expensive to lease right now. If you were to lease a 2005.5 A4 2.0T Quattro through Audi Financial Services right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00135 and 58%, respectively. The lease program on the 2005.5 version of this car is indeed more attractive than the program on the 2006 version right now. I would be happy to work up a sample lease payment on this car for you, however in order for me to do so I need you to provide me with its full MSRP and selling price.

Getting out of your current Audi TT lease early probably will not give you any additional room to negotiate on your new vehicle. On the contrary, consumers who end their leases early usually end up losing money. It is difficult for me to say how you will make out with getting out of your TT lease early without knowing how much the dealer that you are working with is willing to give you for it and how much Audi Financial Services will charge you to buy it right now. With only four months left on your TT lease, it might be easier for you to pay your remaining lease payments on it rather than messing with trading it in. You can either pay your remaining payments out of your own pocket, or roll them into the capitalized cost of your new lease. Having the dealer that you are working with "pay them for you" is a misnomer because in reality all they would be doing is taking money that you could have saved on your new car and using it to make your payments.

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G1rlFm49 · July 2005

Thanks for the response. This lease is for my younger brother who prefers a smaller monthly payment....there is an advertised lease for 89/month with 4000 down, but we've talked him out of that. They told us the selling price for the car was below invoice around 18,300 (and some change...)

Here again is the additional information:
36 months, 12,000 miles/year
$180.00/month
$2600 payment
55% residual value at $11,368
MSRP: 20,670

Thanks again for your help,
Jamie

karl4 · July 2005

Is this a good, great, or so-so deal?
$199/month (including everything, taxes, tags, doc fees, etc.)
36 months
12Kmiles per year
Out-the-door cost $2000.
They are taking back my 2003 Jetta early with 24K miles and two more monthly payments to go.
Also, they are throwing in one free oil change, and fixing $300 worth of paint chips on my trade-in.

Should I wait for the "new" model in October?

sanders21 · July 2005

Hi Car man, new member here and new leaser here.

Im about to lease an 05 Toyota 4 Runner Limited V6. The MSRP is $38,735 I believe. Right now they have me at $518 a month for 39 months, 15,000 miles a year. 0 down.

I was also looking at the Nissan Pathfinder LE with an MSRP of $36,020. I had them down to $475 a month for 39 months, 15K miles a year. 0 down. I went to another Nissan dealership and they said they could not do any better than that for me.

I liked both vehicles very much, each had their pros and cons. Which one do you think I am getting the better deal on? Can I do better?

Thanks!

imartin · July 2005

CarMan: I'm in Houston looking at a 2005 RX330. I had $4750 neg equity in my trade vehicle. I put $2000 down on the deal. A 48 month 12K mi/yr lease has a monthly pmt of $650 and residual of $19043 at the 48th month. If I purchase on a 72 month loan at 5.14%APR (same $2000 down), monthly payment is $648 and payoff at 48th month is $14,750. We drive less than 12K mi per year, and most likely will like a new vehicle in 48 months, but will keep it till 48 months. Checked on a 2001 RX300 with 48K mi, trade value was $21500. I'm thinking I'll have equity in this 2005 RX after 48 months.

Should I lease or buy the vehicle? Thank you....

in2carz · July 2005

Thanks Car_man. Just forgot to include the selling price...for now, I'm using the Edmunds TMV of $31212.

holdenout4les · July 2005

Car_man:

Thanks for all your help. You do all here a great service. Picked up my FX today and am very happy with the deal I made, thanks in part to your information. (X5's a great truck. A little bigger than I need and, although a fantastic value, a little more than I wanted to pay.)

jasonhersh · July 2005

Car_man,

I've been researching "Mom" SUV's for my wife and come down to these three that she likes. At this point, I'm looking to get the one with the best lease rate. Unfortunately, the lease rates for each are not available on the edmunds incentive section and dealers are giving me numbers all over the place...could you please do your voodoo?

Acura MDX:
Base level
MSRP $36,900
No lease quote as of yet

Envoy XL:
1SC or 1SD, either one
Sun, sound and entertainment package*
Luxury package*
*note, was told there was a discount of almost $2K when these two packages were purchased together
Side curtain air bags
Lease quoted between $370-$395/month incl. tax plus $1,500 out of pocket total

Honda Pilot EX-L:
$32,835.00
Lease quoted $379/month incl. tax plus $1,500 out of pocket total

Think I can do better, what do you suggest and did I miss a killer SUV?

Many thanks in advance....

CarMan@Edmunds · August 2005

Hello dishwasher. I would be more than happy to try to give you an idea of what Toyota's lease program is like on the vehicle that you are interested in. However, manufacturers' lease programs vary from model to model. So I need you to tell me exactly which car or truck you are interested in. I also need to know how many miles per year you need to be allowed to drive your vehicle, 12,000 or 15,000. If you would like me to approximate a monthly payment on it for you, I will also need its full MSRP (with the destination charge added in) and an approximate selling price. The selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Toyota's July lease program was only scheduled to run through today, August 1st. If you plan on leasing your new Toyota in August you will have to use its new August lease program, which I have not seen yet. I should have an opportunity to take a look at it within the next couple of days. Post a reminder in this discussion with the above information and what state you live in (Toyota's lease program varies by region) and I will let you know what I have been able to find out for you. Talk to you then.

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CarMan@Edmunds · August 2005

Hi avineberg. It is difficult to say what the lease programs for the vehicles that you are interested in will be like in August. I suspect that Infiniti's lease program for the 2006 M35 (there was no 2005 version of this car) will be fairly similar to its current program. As for the Audi A6, normally I would say that its new lease program will be fairly similar as well. However we are rapidly approaching the end of Audi's 2005 model year. It has already stopped providing lease support on a number of 2005 models. It would not surprise me if at some point in the near future, either next month or in September, if Audi stopped providing lease support on the '05 A6.

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CarMan@Edmunds · August 2005

Its very nice of you to help your younger brother out, Jamie. I don't believe that you ever mentioned exactly what Altima your brother is interested in leasing. This is an important thing to know because this car's lease program varies by trim level. For now I will assume that we are talking about a 2005 Altima 2.5 S. Let me know if he wants a different model. According to my calculations if your brother was to lease this car, with an MSRP of $20,670 and a selling price of $18,300 through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, his zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $244. With a $2,600 capitalized cost reduction, which I strongly advise against for reasons that I will describe in a moment, this car's monthly payment would drop to around $167. I always advise consumers against making any sort of down payment when leasing. I do so for two main reasons. The first is if your brother's vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen during your lease, his insurance company pays off the bank that you were leasing it through and his down payment essentially disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased vehicles do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So your brother's lease-end purchase option price for this Altima would be exactly the same, regardless of whether he had put several thousand dollars down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

Keep in mind that Nissan's July lease program is scheduled to only run through today, August 1st. There is a good chance that its August program will be different. I should have had an opportunity to take a look at the new August program by the end of the week. Please feel free to check back with me then for an update on what the new program is like.

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CarMan@Edmunds · August 2005

Hi karl4. You never mentioned the selling price or MSRP of the car that you are interested in leasing. These are important numbers for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing this car's selling price in relation to its MSRP you don't know how much of a discount you are getting on it. The second reason is that one needs the selling price and MSRP, including the destination charge, of a vehicle to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in for you if you let me know what these numbers are.

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CarMan@Edmunds · August 2005

Welcome sanders21. Since you are new to the world of leasing, you definitely should check out the following informative articles that are available here at Edmunds.com prior to visiting any dealers: 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car and Calculate Your Own Lease Payment.

It is difficult for me to say which truck you are being offered a better deal on without knowing their selling prices. Always remember that the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Knowing these numbers will show you how much of a discount you are being given and enable me to calculate sample lease payments on these trucks for you. Find out what these trucks selling prices are and let me know. Give me a few days though because both of these manufacturers are scheduled to introduce new August lease programs tomorrow. I will need a couple of days to get an idea of what the new programs are like. Talk to you soon.

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CarMan@Edmunds · August 2005

You're in luck imartin. According to what I hear, Lexus just introduced new special financing and lease rates on all of its models late last week. I do not know the exact numbers yet, but I believe that its finance rates for this truck are slightly lower than its lease rates. Having said this, its special finance rates are only available for loans up to 5 years in length. If you cannot afford a 5 year finance payment on this truck, then you will have to lease it. Check back with me in a couple of days with its full MSRP and selling price and I will be more than happy to work up sample lease and finance payments on it for you using Lexus' actual new program.

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rroyce10 · August 2005

....... The RX330's are stronger then the 101st Airborne in a fire fight when it comes to resale ...... you'll "probably" have equity in 20 months or less .... why lease when you can own ....?

Terry.

CarMan@Edmunds · August 2005

You're welcome in2carz. Thanks for the additional information. Unfortunately, Toyota's July lease program was only scheduled to run through today August 1st. I suspect that you will not finalize any lease on the vehicle that you are interested in today. As a result, you will have to use Toyota's new August program. I should be able to give you an idea of what its new August numbers are like by the end of the week. Please post a reminder for me then and I will be happy to give you an idea of what the new program is like and work up a sample lease payment for you. Talk to you soon.

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CarMan@Edmunds · August 2005

You're very welcome holdenout4les. Thank you for the kind words and for taking the time to stop back and let us all know how everything turned out. Enjoy your new FX35.

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