Lease or buy?!?

welcome to the forum...to start with you will have to buy it for tax credit...unless there is a business loophole somewhere for the tax credit...i know for an individual to lease it...you would forego the tax credit...additionally, the battery will last a long time...i know of taxi services with over 250000miles on them and they keep on running...this is the most reliable car ive had...i woulodnt worry about the battery at all...

 

I would never lease, I just don't see the point, it's throwing your money away.

The battery is warranted for 8 years, 125,000 miles I believe. Even then, there's cab drivers with the older models that reached 200,000 miles with minimal problems. By the time you actually need to replace the battery (estimated 19 years) I guarantee the price will drop dramatically.

 

I agree with the others, but I paid cash so I don't have to worry about payments in any case.

A plus for purchasing is that you have more freedom to do mods.

 

I think it really depends how much you plan on using it and if you plan on getting a new car anyways in a few years. Right now with the high residual values on Prius the lease rates are very attractive (and I'm sure you could even negotiate something better than the ~$250/$2K down advertised).

If you can stick to near the mileage limit and you plan on getting a new car anyways in a few years you could save some money in most states by only paying tax for the time you used it leasing the vehicle. Also the used value of Prius are fairly inflated now due to past limited inventory. Now that there are plenty I suspect the re-sale value to go down on the Prius in the next few years making in harder to recop your investment if you buy now and decide to sell later.

 

Hi All,
I made a mistake and gave Nick Info Re. a REGULAR pkg #2 not a Touring Pkg #2. We have recently purchased 2 of the Regular Prius cars with pkg #2.
I sent him a PM apologizing for any trouble I may have caused.
Really know nothing about Touring prices except that they are higher. No idea the amount.
Carl

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(turbonick @ Mar 19 2007, 06:02 PM) [snapback]408621[/snapback]</div>

Nick, I don't know your business situation. For personal use, I would probably buy then drive the car into the ground. Financially that makes the most sense. Even if I didn't keep the car for awhile past the maintenance period, the hit to resale (will be hard when the 2009 redesign comes out) wouldn't justify the lack of equity with the lower payments of leasing the model. If the lease helps your business more, then that is probably the better course. Good luck with whatever decision you make!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(turbonick @ Mar 19 2007, 06:02 PM) [snapback]408621[/snapback]</div>

I'm pretty sure the the financing is 2.9% for 60 months. At least that's what it says on Toyota.com....

My vote is buy! Good luck!

 

The key issue is your own personal car ownership style. Do you tend to like to keep your cars a long time or sell them every 3 or 4 years? How many miles do you put on a car per year? Lease vehicles limit your mileage to typically 10K to 15K per year - after which you have to pay a per mile depreciation fee.

If you lease, you pretty much are committed to the idea that you are going to get rid of the car after 4 years. (Yes, you have the option to buy the car at the end of lease - but that's a separate economic decision to be made 4 years from now).

My sense is that if you are committed to the idea of only keeping cars for 3 or 4 years, in the specific case of the Prius, I would go for the lease - you really can't go wrong. My reasoning is:
- the financial difference between buy and lease (in terms of interest charges and fees) are fairly similar to buying... less than $1000 in difference
- The current resale value built into leasing tables for the Prius are probably optimistic - so here is where you will make out. In other words, I would agree with the comments above, Four years from now, Prius' wont be worth as much on the resale market as they currently are.

Good luck...