Leasing an FR-S

[thill]

Originally Posted by Nevermore

I don't know how relevant this will be because mine is somewhat of a special case, but the lease I'm going to get will end up being about $313.00 a month and I was told it's 30k miles a year, four years, insurance included.

How much are you putting down? Are you sure it is 30K miles a year? That seems really high?

[Nevermore]

Originally Posted by thill

How much are you putting down? Are you sure it is 30K miles a year? That seems really high?

As far as I know, there's no money down. And 30k is what I was told.

[Kobayashi]

I am leasing, 300 month 3k down no gap,.0 002 money factor, car price 25k 12k miles/yr.

[JD121]

Well, talked to a dealer who already had a car in stock. There is NO lease option on the FR-S. They say its still too new and there's no previous cars to estimate the value etc. If anyone can shed some light on when a lease would be available please let us know.

[ruskymx]

Originally Posted by JD121

Well, talked to a dealer who already had a car in stock. There is NO lease option on the FR-S. They say its still too new and there's no previous cars to estimate the value etc. If anyone can shed some light on when a lease would be available please let us know.

Absolutely there is a lease available! Was it a salesperson that told you this? If so, find a different one that knows what is going on with this car. Call them up and tell the that you know for a fact that there is a lease available and that you know that the residual for 36 months, 12k per year is $16,698 for a manual transmission. Call the sales manager or internet manager and throw the salesperson under the bus for being a schmuck.

Ruskymx

[Deepmist]

Originally Posted by frs23

450 x 36 + 2500 = $18700 and no car at the end of the deal.. one word: wow!

Even at 300 per month it works out to $13300

Someone has money to give away

Well, in 36 months your brand new frs is going to be worth just below 17,000 dollars by Toyota's estimate assuming you only drove it 12,000 miles a year. With a sale price of about 25,000 you "gave away" 8,000 dollars. I will probably never lease a car in my life, I think it's a terrible idea for 99% of people, but I think the argument for it is a little more complex.

[ruskymx]

Originally Posted by Deepmist

Well, in 36 months your brand new frs is going to be worth just below 17,000 dollars by Toyota's estimate assuming you only drove it 12,000 miles a year. With a sale price of about 25,000 you "gave away" 8,000 dollars. I will probably never lease a car in my life, I think it's a terrible idea for 99% of people, but I think the argument for it is a little more complex.

Comparison of leasing vs buying FRS. Both scenarios are going to use $600 out of pocket at the start of the contract, use Tier 1 + rates, and PA tax rates.

Lease Payment = $361.10

Buy Payment = $471.77

Lease - 36 * $361.10 = $12,999.60

Finance - 36 * $471.77 = $16,983.72

Difference = $3,941.12 less in payments made over 3 years.

The principle balance after 36 payments on the finance is $10,949.17 assuming no additional payments were made (i.e.-extra principle). A lease would be great for someone that would want to buy a new vehicle every 3 years say for example, if there's a TRD version, STi, etc in the future. If a new model like that is introduced, people are going to want the new model and get rid of their current one. This influx of used FR-S's into the market would drop the value of them. I'll use $15,000 for this example. If you leased the car, the residual is $16,698 and that is the buyout at the end. Uh, oh....someone is upside down by $1,698. Guess who that is?

NOT YOU! Toyota Financial is on the hook for that loss! Oh yeah, and you paid $3,941.12 in payments over 3 years. Now lets look at he guy who financed the car. The payoff in 3 years will roughly be $10,949.71. Ok, so you are in good shape. The car is still worth $4,050.29 more than you owe. SWEET! Wait a minute....but you paid $3,941.12 more in payments over the 3 years. The net benefit is only $109.17 so the math isn't as skewed as many people think.

My second example will be if the car is worth $18,000 at the end of three years. The lease guy would owe $16,698. Oh no! Toyota is going to make money off the car after I made all those payments! WRONG! The equity in the car is YOUR money. You just got back $1,302 of the payments you made over the last three years. The finance guy has the same payoff as before at $10,949.71. This example grosses him $7,050.29 and then subtract the extra $3,941.12 in the higher payments and the benefit is $3,109.17. Now subtract the $1,302 that the lease person got back and the final benefit amount is $1,807.17.

The second example does favor the finance guy more than the first example. It is a more substantial amount, but with the residual at 67%, which is a high amount for a lease already, is it really going to be worth much more than that in 3 years. Nobody really knows. If you do know, then I have some stocks I want to run by you and let me know where they will be at in 3 years. It's just an educated guess by the Automotive Leasing Guide.

If you are going to keep this car for the long haul, then by all means finance it. You will pay more over time of you lease it, then buy it out at the end. That is a FACT! If you may want to trade it in for a new car, whether it's a new FRS, BRZ, or you knock up some chick and she has triplets and you need a Sienna, leasing will give you greater flexibility in 3 years and pay less in payments now. You would also need to drive a reasonable amount of miles per year. I have a feeling though that most people aren't going to be buying this car to drive it 30-50k per year. The more mileage that you build into a lease, the higher your payment will be.

Another reason to buy it is if you are going to do a lot of mods to it. If you lease the car and it gets returned to the bank, Toyota will want the car are stock as possible. All your mods will not add value and if anything, they may charge you for missing items, non-oem parts etc. Word of advice, if you are going to mod the car, keep your original parts!

Ruskymx

[JD121]

Originally Posted by ruskymx

Comparison of leasing vs buying FRS. Both scenarios are going to use $600 out of pocket at the start of the contract, use Tier 1 + rates, and PA tax rates.

Lease Payment = $361.10

Buy Payment = $471.77

Lease - 36 * $361.10 = $12,999.60

Finance - 36 * $471.77 = $16,983.72

Difference = $3,941.12 less in payments made over 3 years.

The principle balance after 36 payments on the finance is $10,949.17 assuming no additional payments were made (i.e.-extra principle). A lease would be great for someone that would want to buy a new vehicle every 3 years say for example, if there's a TRD version, STi, etc in the future. If a new model like that is introduced, people are going to want the new model and get rid of their current one. This influx of used FR-S's into the market would drop the value of them. I'll use $15,000 for this example. If you leased the car, the residual is $16,698 and that is the buyout at the end. Uh, oh....someone is upside down by $1,698. Guess who that is?

NOT YOU! Toyota Financial is on the hook for that loss! Oh yeah, and you paid $3,941.12 in payments over 3 years. Now lets look at he guy who financed the car. The payoff in 3 years will roughly be $10,949.71. Ok, so you are in good shape. The car is still worth $4,050.29 more than you owe. SWEET! Wait a minute....but you paid $3,941.12 more in payments over the 3 years. The net benefit is only $109.17 so the math isn't as skewed as many people think.

My second example will be if the car is worth $18,000 at the end of three years. The lease guy would owe $16,698. Oh no! Toyota is going to make money off the car after I made all those payments! WRONG! The equity in the car is YOUR money. You just got back $1,302 of the payments you made over the last three years. The finance guy has the same payoff as before at $10,949.71. This example grosses him $7,050.29 and then subtract the extra $3,941.12 in the higher payments and the benefit is $3,109.17. Now subtract the $1,302 that the lease person got back and the final benefit amount is $1,807.17.

The second example does favor the finance guy more than the first example. It is a more substantial amount, but with the residual at 67%, which is a high amount for a lease already, is it really going to be worth much more than that in 3 years. Nobody really knows. If you do know, then I have some stocks I want to run by you and let me know where they will be at in 3 years. It's just an educated guess by the Automotive Leasing Guide.

If you are going to keep this car for the long haul, then by all means finance it. You will pay more over time of you lease it, then buy it out at the end. That is a FACT! If you may want to trade it in for a new car, whether it's a new FRS, BRZ, or you knock up some chick and she has triplets and you need a Sienna, leasing will give you greater flexibility in 3 years and pay less in payments now. You would also need to drive a reasonable amount of miles per year. I have a feeling though that most people aren't going to be buying this car to drive it 30-50k per year. The more mileage that you build into a lease, the higher your payment will be.

Another reason to buy it is if you are going to do a lot of mods to it. If you lease the car and it gets returned to the bank, Toyota will want the car are stock as possible. All your mods will not add value and if anything, they may charge you for missing items, non-oem parts etc. Word of advice, if you are going to mod the car, keep your original parts!

Ruskymx

Thanks for the info! I hope I can get the dealer to get it down to less than 300 a month, after the 2500 down, 36/39 month lease with great credit.

I started going through other car options and Volkswagen was happy to give me a 2 door GTI Auto lease for 36 months, 10k miles per year with 2500 down for $219. Good deal if you ask me so I'm on edge for what will happen with the FRS lease...

[PBM317]

Lease pricing estimates are up on Scion.com

3 year lease, 15K miles a year, 2,500 cap cost reduction

$264/month. I don't think this includes tax..

[JD121]

Originally Posted by PBM317

Lease pricing estimates are up on Scion.com

3 year lease, 15K miles a year, 2,500 cap cost reduction

$264/month. I don't think this includes tax..

Sounds good. I will inform my dealer about this. Could you post a link on where you found those numbers. I didn't seem to find it browsing scion.com on my phone. Thanks!

[konichiwaa-B]

I don't see any advertised special. I think he is using the Financial Tools->Payment Calculator. That would be nice if those estimated payments are correct.

[PBM317]

Yes, I was using the Easy to Buy -> Payment Calculator. http://www.scion.com/buy/payment_calculator/

Chose FRS Manual. Selected Term Duration and Miles/Year.

[JD121]

Yup, I just saw that now. I wonder if anyone has actually leased the car already. Seems like the people snapping up these first couple cars at the dealers are paying the 25k in cash.

[BronxBomber13]

Well I think leasing is better than buying used. If your waiting to buy used in a few years, be ready to spend money on repairs. My parents for example only finance used cars. They're always dumping so much money just keeping the car running. By the time it's paid off, it'll be so crappy that they're already looking for the next car to buy. If you can only afford to buy used/higher mileage, leasing might be better. I rather spend thousands of dollars every few years to have a brand new car, than to keep an older car running.