Do Prius leases suck?
Just not worth leasing?I was helping a friend shop for a new hybrid. She's interested in both the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry hybrid, and she wants to lease either vehicle as a small business write-off.
Unfortunately, Toyota just doesn't want to lease these vehicles. I'm kidding. Of course Toyota will lease these vehicles, but one could lease many luxury vehicles for less. The lease deals on these two Toyota hybrids just suck.
Nonetheless, my friend is probably going to lease the Toyota Camry hybrid because she can actually lease a loaded Camry hybrid - not the Special Edition - for slightly less than the Prius, even though the Camry costs more.
Now, we live in California, where hybrid vehicles are hot, especially the Prius. Have others had similar experiences outside of California trying to lease either the Prius or Camry hybrid?
Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, toyota camry hybrid, toyota prius
posted by Dahcredyns at
1:59 PM
3 Comments:
One reason might be the company's lack of faith in the long-term reliability of the vehicles mechanical and electronic components.
Toyota would prefer to sell, rather than lease you a car that has been experiencing odd malfunctions around the 100k mile mark. That way, it's the consumer's problem to deal with.
Consumer Affairs actually recently published a list of the 10 worst used cars to buy, putting the Gen1 Prius at #4 (http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/06/10_used_cars.html#prius)
Telling?
Part of the reason the lease payment is so high is that the short-term residual is so low. That means if your company leases the vehicle and then you get the option to buy it, then you make out great. The lease is a deductible business expense for many people, and the residual ends up being out-of-pocket.
Don't lease...I just traded in my Prius after 14 months and 28K miles and got almost the same amount as what I paid for it! We now have our 3rd and 4th hybrids...zero problems. unhookt is completely wrong...check out the Prius's that work as taxi cabs, well over 100k miles with little to no problems. EVERY new model car has bugs to work out in the first year or two
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