I am interested in obtaining the best lease deals for 2006 Prius. If you think you have a great lease deal please share it with us. It wll be very helpful in negotiating the best lease deal in California. Please indicate MSRP of vehicle, ultimate sale price, total drive off including first months payment and any cap reduction. I am looking for a 36 month lease and would like to get all my ducks in a row before contacting any dealers. Thank you.

 

Anyone who leases a vehicle doesn't have much in the way of ducks being in a row. Any two ducks are colinear, and any three are coplanar, but that's as close as one will get when leasing a vehicle.

If you can't afford to buy the vehicle, you certainly can't afford to lease it.

 

I've been coming to greenhybrids for a few months.I seem to be seeing more people who have Honda hybrids rather than Prius. Is this the reality?

Also, I'm thinking that the Insight might be really unstable on a windy day. Does anyone have real world experiences? (wind/icy road)

Harold, Illinois

 

Hi Harold,
Use the "Compare" tab and add up the number of cars in each group. This should give you a credible count. For grins, post the numbers here.

There is an "Insight" group and posting your question there is more likly to get an accurate answer.

Bob Wilson

 

Gee, Alaric, that's really nice.

I'm sorry I can't help, mheyman, but good luck anyway.

 

Because of the lack or very slow depriciation that the Prius has been seeing I don't think leasing is a good idea unless they are really cheap. The idea of the lease is that you only pay for the part of the vehicle cost that you use. If the car is worth 85% of its initial value after 3 years then the lease should have very low monthly payments. I'm not sure what the actual Prius depr. is but I know they have been selling at nearly new prices after a year and 15k mi. is put on them. (I just guessed at the 85% for illustration purposes) If they try to give you a standard lease like other cars have they will have you paying a lot more than the vehicle is actually depriciating. In this case you are better off buying and selling when your done.

Again I'm no lease guru...

 

It's not just me who believes leasing is a bad idea. Suze Orman is a recognized financial expert, and lays it out pretty plainly why leasing is not a good idea: http://biz.yahoo.com/pfg/e16buylease/

 

It does well on windy days from a stability standpoint. It gets less fuel economy on those days just like anything else.

 

Alaric, my concern was more with how unwelcome your reply was to a first-time poster on this message board, not with whether or not leasing a car is a good idea.

Anyway, I have an necdotal "exception to the rule" rebuttal: I have a coworker who leases his A4. His commute is very short (i.e. he'll come in well under the maximum mileage at the end of the lease and therefore avoid any penalty) and the car will be worth well above the price he would have to pay to keep the car at the end of the lease (whatever the term is for that payment). His ducks are in a row.