*EDIT: It is done* I can't believe I'm creating this thread. And neither can you.

[SearchMaster]

how is leasing a prius going to be cheaper than your maxima (which im assuming you have paid off)

Skoorb effect?

 

[StageLeft]

Skoorb effect?

Not Skoorb effect, I'm afraid!

I already said above, the net cost as far as I can see it is $80/month to have the Prius, though with that cost comes some unquantifiable benefits like reliability/predictability in operating budget and safety and what not. It's mostly a wash, really.

 

[Pliablemoose]

It gets more interesting if you consider selling the Maxima.

Of course, the real problem is you'll fall asleep and die in a fiery wreck driving the damn thing because its so boring...

 

[Throckmorton]

It gets more interesting if you consider selling the Maxima.

Of course, the real problem is you'll fall asleep and die in a fiery wreck driving the damn thing because its so boring...

So maybe he should buy a sports car

 

[PricklyPete]

Yep, you forgot depreciation of Max and also the maint/repairs, primarily. Here is what I got:

*BASED ON 12K/YEAR LEASE* for 3 years

Prius:
$1950 up front (this covers taxes and all the rubbish doc fees, etc. and one payment)
+ 6615 (35* 189)
+ $2212 in gas (48 city/51 highway and it takes 87 grade)
+ $360 insurance premium
= 11137 total cost ownership

Maxima:
$2000 repairs, cost of tires being more (this is a crapshoot, though, it could be more/could be less)
+1800 in depreciation selling then vs selling now (guess)
+5154 in gas
= 8954 total cost ownership

That difference of $2100 shrinks to about $1100 if I pay $25/month more to get 18k miles/year and start using it in place of our minivan.

I did these calcs on $2.95 87 grade gas, which is what we have now.

I have to emphasize there is nothing exciting about this car. If I'm under any fever it's not new car fever so much as boring old family man fever. Above all else in life I like financial predictability and this gives it to me for a very small premium and reduces all risk of major repairs or highway breakdowns. Those are not really possible to put a cost on. Costs alone the math is in favor of the Maxima I would say, overall.

Yeah...our math is pretty close. I just basically said you'd have to incur $5.5K of depreciation/maintenance/etc just to break even...which I really have a hard time believing you'll in cur.

I understand you're "predictability" argument...but honestly you sound like my 72 year old dad who is considering trading in his perfectly good car just to maintain a warranty on a car. This is a man who has always kept cars 10-15 years with little issue with this practice. I just tell him he is getting senile.

 

[Pliablemoose]

So maybe he should buy a sports car

2 seaters are out, with a wife & kids, no true sports cars for Skoorb for a decade & a half or so...

 

[EightySix Four]

2 seaters are out, with a wife & kids, no true sports cars for Skoorb for a decade & a half or so...

There are some 4 door rocket ships which have depreciated quite nicely these days.

 

[StageLeft]

I understand you're "predictability" argument...but honestly you sound like my 72 year old dad who is considering trading in his perfectly good car just to maintain a warranty on a car. This is a man who has always kept cars 10-15 years with little issue with this practice. I just tell him he is getting senile.

It is difficult to argue this point to be honest.

There are some 4 door rocket ships which have depreciated quite nicely these days.

Like a Maxima?

I'd like a G but I am not right now looking to buy a car just to have something more fun to have. I could push that with Mrs if I really had to (I think, maybe not!) but really it would feel a bit over the top at the moment.

Mrs drove the prius this morning and generally liked it. She appears mostly to be on the fence like I am. Thus, I have now cleaned the car outside and am doing the inside thoroughly. I am going to try and sell it first and see how that goes. If I can get a good price I'll offload it. If all I get is freaking idiots offering $1500 or ("well KBB say's it's only worth $2500 and since it's been in a crash here's $1800 cash") then I'll probably just shoot them in the knees and keep it.

And please, God, please. Please don't have anybody offer me "cash", as if that was an alternative to anything else like bags of beans or payments. All I'd ever take is cash or a cashier's check, but the key word there is it has to have those four letters in it. I'm going to put on my ad nicely worded for idiots to stay away.

Just replaced rear brakes this afternoon. Body is rust free except for where chips and things have started to erode it. Honestly more of them than I thought before but still it does present very well for a 10.5 year old car. This northern climate is a real gang rape on cars, though.

 

[vi edit]

I have to say that the $199 Prius lease was also piquing my curiosity as well. That's just a ridiculously low rate for a car of it's price. If not for the fuel savings I'd be interested in giving it a shot just for the geek appeal and see how much of a hypermiler I could be.

Or I could give it to my wife and with her stop and go commute that's 3 miles down the road she could drive without using hardly a drop of gas.

 

[MJinZ]

I might lease a 2010 Prius.

Yes, it's me the person who said in the "your next car" thread I'd buy a G35, the one who mocks with glee people who buy new cars, especially those who lease, the person who in a Prius leasing thread just four days ago said



And yet here I am. Whether it's because of the economy or Toyotas that don't need brakes, Toyota is just giving some absurd lease deals now. They are silly, silly cheap. The math that is normally so damning has been suspended, the world torn asunder. On the radio I heard about Prius leases at $179, so I looked into it assuming it was a scam, but it really isn't. My local dealerships (I just called them) all have these Priuses for $189/month, $0/down. There are taxes, aquisition, doc fees, etc. for maybe $1700 or so. Or you can finance all that junk for a single monthly payment of $259.

This has nothing to do with the environment. I hate the environment, never saw a smokestack that didn't bring a tear to my eye or deforested acre that didn't make me smile. This is all about the Benjamins.

I am not in the market for a new car and if I was it would not be a green car with less power than a bicycle but the fact is this is exceedingly hard not to bite down on. The gas savings and maintenance when run against cost of ownership and depreciation and gas on my Maxima over the next three years are close (not at, but close) to a wash.

Anyway, I'm off to read that other prius thread now.

$259 a month... is a lot.

You might as well lease a BMW 3 series for $350 a month or whatever.

 

[MJinZ]

I'm in a similar position skoorb. I find myself having just bought a car with 75k miles that gets 26mpg... and a yearly mileage of ~35k. Do the math and thats $280/mo just in gas at $2.50. That's $40 more than my car payment.

Now if this were temporary, it'd be fine. I drive the car for a year and dump it with 110k before I lose my hat. But I'm spending almost $300 a month in gas alone. That's ridiculous. I could lease a hell of a lot of car for $300 a month.

I would really love to lease a new golf TDI. That'd give me a new car, in full warranty, with free service, and drop my monthly gas bill to ~170. I could probably break even on my loan if I needed to, because I had a large downpayment, but that seems like money wasted. Problem is I don't know if I'd even get approved for a lease (long story short, parents neglected paying for my school without my knowledge causing me to get a collection, dropping me from ~725 to ~625)

Plus if I leased something I'd have to go into it knowing I'd buy it out. Turning in a car with 100k when they expect 50k would get me hosed in fees

Argh. Rock---me---hard place

Driving 35k miles a year means you're driving nearly everyday. And if you're not getting those mileage reimbursed (50 cents a mile), time to find a job that will.

 

[Perknose]

(long story short, parents neglected paying for my school without my knowledge causing me to get a collection, dropping me from ~725 to ~625)

Hah, my parents screwed me like that too .. I moved out when I was 18, but when I was 17 I had some dental work done, and they didn't pay, and put it in my name, and let it go to collections...

In this thread I have been casually introduced to the heretofore unknown to me concept of serious slacker parents from the 'regular' middle-class.

It is one thing to stupidly complicate your own life through your own lazy but highly avoidable "whatev" slackerdom ignornace, quite another to do it to your children.

I am now inconsolably sad.

Hold me?

No, wait, not YOU pliable! You smell like cheap sex, bad diesel, and Miata touch-up paint, you lascivious manwhore, you!

 

[StageLeft]

$259 a month... is a lot.

You might as well lease a BMW 3 series for $350 a month or whatever.

Impossible (?) without additional costs/fees/downpayments/taxes. Anyway, it won't get 50 mpg!

BTW does anybody know how much wiggle room there is on leases? One of the places I spoke to said all the local dealers have the same overall prices/margins and he impressed upon me that he could work aggressively on numbers, but I've not followed up until I decide I want to go this route; then I can have two dealerships see which gives the best price.

EDIT: I am surfing leastrader looking at those giving their toyota leases away. Quite funny. One person has a 2008 prius with 30 months left and wants $380/month. He's screwed. Probably bought it when oil was at $140 and Priuses were worth their weight in gold (or oil). Another lovely one: 27 months left on a 2010 and all this for only $600/month. HAHA. Some MORON got 60 months (has 57 left) on a 2010 and wants $560 to take it over. This site is kind of sad.

 

[ElFenix]

Now we really know who has the balls in the Skoorb family

what do you mean now? that was apparent back when he was returning banned member BiB. heck, it was probably apparent back when he was just brooks.

 

[StageLeft]

what do you mean now? that was apparent back when he was returning banned member BiB. heck, it was probably apparent back when he was just brooks.

You remember more about my posting career than me sometimes. I had completely forgotten about BiB.

 

[ElFenix]

You remember more about my posting career than me sometimes. I had completely forgotten about BiB.

you should see harvey's file on you

It gets more interesting if you consider selling the Maxima.

Of course, the real problem is you'll fall asleep and die in a fiery wreck driving the damn thing because its so boring...

i think you've stumbled upon the real issue :awe:

 

[StageLeft]

My car is now officially for sale but so far only window stickers and on craigslist, so I'm not really trying. Asking $4900 but would accept less, though not less than $4k. Still really on the fence with the whole thing

 

[foghorn67]

pussy






Just kidding...but we will mock you no doubt.

That really is a ridiculously good deal...but do you really want to sign up for 2-3 years of driving agony? Remember how much you love the pull of your VQQQQQQ? You will be financially bound to not getting that feeling for 2-3 years. Are you just giving up in life?

bwahahahaha.
You are so polite, this actually made me lol.

 

[StageLeft]

Leaning more toward this now. Waiting on a call from another dealership but one is able to do:

$1750 down
$236/month for 18k miles/year.

First dealer was $1750 down and $189/month for 12k/miles but that was their out-the-gate offer so I'm waiting to see what they can do on the 18k. I have to say it's fun reading on edmunds townhall what people were paying last year for these cars--a ton more because the money factor (interest rate) was higher and residual value was considered a great deal less. Much of the reason the current lease rates are so low is because Toyota is giving huge residuals, like 72% or more on a 3 year old car. Then I can always decide to scrap the car or keep it depending on what's going on in three years.

 

[yh125d]

Driving 35k miles a year means you're driving nearly everyday. And if you're not getting those mileage reimbursed (50 cents a mile), time to find a job that will.

Yeah, you go ahead and convince my boss to give me a $12k raise (about 24k of the ~35 is my commute).


Better yet, find me a job that pays mileage for employee commutes! I mean those jobs are so common amirite?

 

[StageLeft]

35k/year is on the high side but not totally absurd. I'd not want to do it, though. I used to do 20k on my daily driver and it felt like a lot but it would have felt like less if it was mostly at highway speed. Unfortunately it was heavily at bumper to bumper speeds...now is not a good time to ask if I miss Alabama unless you're looking for a "no".

 

[PricklyPete]

Leaning more toward this now. Waiting on a call from another dealership but one is able to do:

$1750 down
$236/month for 18k miles/year.

First dealer was $1750 down and $189/month for 12k/miles but that was their out-the-gate offer so I'm waiting to see what they can do on the 18k. I have to say it's fun reading on edmunds townhall what people were paying last year for these cars--a ton more because the money factor (interest rate) was higher and residual value was considered a great deal less. Much of the reason the current lease rates are so low is because Toyota is giving huge residuals, like 72% or more on a 3 year old car. Then I can always decide to scrap the car or keep it depending on what's going on in three years.

Financially this sounds great. So do you deposit your balls at the dealership too with an option to get them back when you return the car? I kid, I kid.

 

[StageLeft]

Financially this sounds great. So do you deposit your balls at the dealership too with an option to get them back when you return the car? I kid, I kid.

I believe you can either turn them in up front for $1500 off or when you return the car get back $500 if you return them with the car based upon relative size now vs after three years driving the car. This is in contrast to Dodge's testicle incentive program (TIP) in which most of the depreciation in an SRT Challenger can be absorbed by turning in your gems. They have a tendency to grow, you see.

 

[PricklyPete]

I believe you can either turn them in up front for $1500 off or when you return the car get back $500 if you return them with the car based upon relative size now vs after three years driving the car. This is in contrast to Dodge's testicle incentive program (TIP) in which most of the depreciation in an SRT Challenger can be absorbed by turning in your gems. They have a tendency to grow, you see.

LOL...awesome. So are you going to bite on this even if you don't sell the Maxima first?

 

[TraumaRN]

I believe you can either turn them in up front for $1500 off or when you return the car get back $500 if you return them with the car based upon relative size now vs after three years driving the car. This is in contrast to Dodge's testicle incentive program (TIP) in which most of the depreciation in an SRT Challenger can be absorbed by turning in your gems. They have a tendency to grow, you see.

But please if you get said Pruis please do not try and race with it. Had a 2010 Pruis try to race my Fusion Hybrid...lets just say it wasn't pretty for him. Though it's strangely absurd because neither of us can rev our engine while stopped...