I have done a lot of research on how leases work and am finally getting to the point where I am trying to find the car I want to lease.
With gas pricing being really high I want to possibly lease a hybrid car.
Just wanted to throw it out there to see if anyone happens to know of the best hybrid cars to lease as I know a large part of getting a lower monthly payment has to do with the car holding it’s value over the years of your lease.
Any insight/ suggestions is greatly appreciated!
I offer leases in your region but unfortunately every hybrid vehicle has a high lease right now.
If you are trying to minimize your gas expense I have lots of low electric vehicle leases available, some even have free charging for 2-3 years
It’s easy to spend more on a hybrid vehicle than the vehicle will save you on gas.
Make sure you do the math.
If you have a solution for the occasional road-trip (such as an ICEV in the household or the ability to rent one or swap with a friend for a weekend), then this is the way to go.
Your driving habits matter a bit, if you are doing a ton of urban/dense suburban driving a hybrid will make more sense.
But assuming normal driving habits you are going to be hard pressed to beat a compact sedan like Jetta or Corrola. They get mid 30s MPG combined. Absent unusual driving habits, the math just doesn’t work out if you are paying thousands more for the hybrid.
And if you want a bigger/more expensive car, well then gas prices are really an at the margin expense. Difference between 25mpg and 36mpg on a $40k car isn’t a big percentage of total cost.
Also depends a lot on how much you drive.
All three of our cars combined see maybe 7,500 miles a year.
Cost of gas is epsilon.
The math gets even more lopsided when the same car is discounted for gas and higher MSRP + ADM for hybrid.
You would need to drive far more than average for it to matter. At 12k miles a year, a Jetta SE has a EPA calculated annual fuel cost of $1301 ((12,000/33) times AAA average gas price of 3.58).
2023 regular Prius fuel cost (assuming 57mpg combined) is $754.
That’s only $50 a month in savings. And I’d suspect it is even less than that. Because to drive 12,000 miles a month you very likely need to be doing a lot of highway driving. At which point the fuel economy Delta between the Prius and Jetta would be smaller - I get 40mpg on highway in Jetta.
As for payments, on a 60 month note, ignoring interest, $3,000 yields a payment increase of $50. No way, today, are you getting a hybrid sedan for less than $3,000 more than a comparably equiped ICE version.
Thank you everyone for your responses.
I can’t say I understand everything that was mentioned 100%, but understand to make sure the monthly cost of the hybrid compared to a non hybrid is not way more than what I would be paying in gas to be begin with.
I live in a large city and end up doing a lot of driving and having to fill my tank $70 every week and a half just hurts so would love a solution that helps mitigate/ remove that.
Is an EV a practical solution for you?
Don’t forget to factor in the transaction costs of getting a new vehicle.
The $85 doc fee alone is a roughly a half month’s worth of gas.
A $700 lease acquisition fee is 10 tanks of gas by itself (roughly 3 months of fuel)
And are you going to end up with higher registration fees and insurance premiums on a newer car?
I am not familiar with all of the various electric car options.
I can’t have full electric because I dont have a place to plug it into over night where I live.
So was thinking of a hybrid situation, not totally sure how a Prius works, but I think it like charges itself when driving, which is an option I can work with since I wouldnt have to plug it in.
I am not familiar with the various types of free associated with getting a car.
Right now I currently don’t have a car so need to get one and would like to end up leasing instead of buying.
Is the $85 doc fee something that is additional when you get a hybrid?
I don’t know what a lease acquisition fee is, is this something additional when you get a hybrid vs a full gas car?
Not sure about the higher registration and insurance, is this something that changes when you get a hybrid vs a full gas car?
There’s a leasing 101 on the main page.
Doc Fee, what the dealer charges to fill out the ‘docs’, most states put a fixed number, FL for example doesn’t.
Acqusition - A fee that the bank charges you to lease this.
Disposition - A fee to return the car (yes it double dips)
And the Prius you are talking about is the Prius Prime, which is in short supply, look at a Rav 4 Prime if you want a Toyota. The other models of the prius don’t plug in, they just save gas.
Can someone please help explain with the math part with this example : Highlander gas Limited AWD (MSRP 50,410 21/28 MPG) vs Highlander hybrid Limited (MSRP 52,010 35MPG) driven for 10,000 miles per year @ $4.50 per gallon of gas
On the Highlander Gas it can be had at MSRP-$4000 and the hybrid can be had at MSRP-$1500 (based on deals posted on the forum)
Is it just the comparison of MSRP + (Miles per year /MPG)x $4.5 x5 years ?
Prius lease is sky high, I’m familiar with all the inexpensive leases in Southern California and there isn’t a cheap Hybrid lease. I know no one likes paying for gas but it’s better to lease a regular vehicle and pay a little more for fuel, the hybrid lease isn’t saving you money
The alternative is to get a low electric lease which comes with free public charging since you can’t l charge at home
And the newer EVs with fast DC charging are quick to charge.
But it really depends on the kind of driving you do.
If you’re open to a PHEV, get a grand Cherokee 4xe. Just search through this forum, there are countless posts on them now. Super good lease deals on them right now, I got mine in March and love it.
is it a 5 seater or 7 seater ? how far is the EV range ?
5 seater, roughly 30 mile pure EV range