i really do love my 01, its really been my dream come true.

however, i saw an ad by the dealer i bought it from advertising the lease of a 2004 sport edition for $239/month.. thats a tiny bit more than i pay now for a new car.

included in the lease deal is free tune ups, oil changes, tire rotation / balance / alignment, brake change, etc. only catch is you must put on a set of new tires before handing it back over.

isnt that a ridiculously good deal, or is it just me?

that ends today, by the way, so its not like im taking it seriously.

 

Sounds like a great deal.......but, how much do they want down and is it a 4x4?

 

its a 4x4 and i think its 3500 down, which is what id expect.

 

If you drive your vehicle at all you will quickly exceed the 15K mile per year limit. I leased three vehicles and had negative equity and high mileage penalty when they were returned. Instead of paying the mileage penalty they conveniently get you into a new lease and waive the mileage on the old lease. It is a vicious cycle.

Bottomline...I got burned on leases. Be careful and paying $3000 up front is a buttload considering you don't even own it. Capital cost reduction....BS. They andnobody knows what the vehicle will be worth in 3-4 years, its all speculative and you pay for the guess.

Look at the fine print and handle the lease like a purchase. Determine price first and then haggle about financing. Signing for a new car based on monthly payment vs. actual cost will always lead to spending exzorborantly more money than necessary.

Believe me, if you extend those $239 payments plus the $3K up front and then any mileage penalty you will end up paying $50K for the Runner. Of course they will give you a 'free' $30 oil change, they want you to drive the wheels off the thing and then plug you on the mileage overage at $20-.25 mile.

Mileage penalty too high, guess what, for another upfront $3K we can put you into another Toyota. Basically you are paying top dollar to rent the vehicle from Toyota, or the lease company.

Its probably cheaper to rent the vehicle from Alamo or Hertz for 3 years.

 

ouch. im convinced!

 

<-- used to sell cars for toyota. Never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever lease a car.




I would go into a better explanation, but the other guy did a pretty good job.

 

Totally agree. Leased twice, third time shy!!!