Lexus - 2018 Golden Opportunity Sales Event around the corner

what state did you get 18% off?

What are going to replace it with that’s equivalent for $350/mo? Doubt you’ll be able to pull that deal off now, sounds like allot of hassle.

New York. …

Most likely won’t be able to do the same deal now. Worth selling since I’d be effectively driving the car for free (along with a $500 profit) the last 10 months. I’m getting enough positive equity to cover DAS + all payments made + $500 cash in my pocket.

RX is no doubt nice, but I’m also cool with just picking up a used CUV as a family car and investing the savings. Cars are really a dime a dozen and I only really buy when I know I’m getting a great deal where I can sell the car and essentially drive for free. Otherwise years and years of payments on a depreciating asset really kills your ability to create wealth.

can you provide an example ?

The 2017 RX I’m talking about is the example. Leased it in Oct 2017. MSRP was $45k, got them down to $39.8k before $2500 Lexus lease cash. Also put 6 x MSD’s to get MF down to 0.00007.

Cost of ownership
$1500 DAS (includes first month) + (8 months * $378/month (including tax)) = $4524 total paid out of pocket to drive the car between Oct 2017 and today.

Selling the RX350
Current payoff to LFS: $35k
Vroom.com offer: $40k
Net positive Equity: $40k - $35k = $5k

Net Profit
$5k check from positive equity - $4524 total cost of ownership = $476 net gain
Will also be getting my 6 MSD’s back

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you were talking about “buying”, not leasing in your previous post that’s why I was asking

Buying is the same, but it depends on your timeline. You can usually get out for even if you’re buying a late model used car with a good depreciation schedule (eg - CR-V, Civic, etc) at a decent discount and driving it for a short period of time.

Before the RX, I bought a 2011 CR-V in late 2015, drove it til Oct 2017 and was able to sell it for only $750 less than what I bought it for. Owning it for 2 years only cost me $375 a year + a few oil changes.

Interesting, come with risk of repairs though. Car was out of warranty when you bought it. Worked out for you in this scenario but you don’t know what could happen on a used car.

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Hence why the model you choose is important. No way this strategy works with a BMW or a Merc, but stuff like Corolla’s, Civic’s, CR-V’s are fairly bulletproof. Luck withstanding of course.

Probably not a popular strategy with LH’ers though. Most here seem hell bent on getting as much car as they can get for a certain payment, whereas I’m trying to get as much car as I can get for as near to $0/month.

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Some guy I know does that with cars he buys at dealer auction. Drives them for a few months then sells them for break even. I’ve never had lucky getting out at break even.

Do you have to payoff the lease first before Vroom buys it or how does it work?

Nope, they pay off the lease and wire me the positive equity amount

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Well if you want anything half way decent that isn’t a complete pile you’ll have to spend $15k, how you weren’t better off in the RX lease is beyond me. If you wanted to go the cheaper used car route why mess around with the lease on the first place. Personally I’ve done the used car thing, even if you do find the right car there’s no guarantee it won’t crap out. I like the cheap lease route, I know exactly what my costs are and don’t worry about repairs.

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So all of the 2018 models don’t have Carplay? Will December to Remember have incentives for 2019 models? Just want to refresh my 2016 Rx350 lease with another RX350.

agree, having to fix a car is a headache, getting to old for that Shhhhhh

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Don’t you have to pay sales tax when you buy a car? This usually kills most of the instant equity you get from finding a good deal. Also, you forget the cost of capital. If you pay 15K cash for a car, you forfeit about 1K that you could potentially earn if you just invested in the S&P 500. I lease for the following reasons:

  • I don’t have to tie a large amount of money into a depreciating asset
  • I pay sales tax only on the portion I use
  • If the car gets involved in an accident I don’t take an equity hit
  • I don’t have to worry about getting hit on the back end when it’s time to trade in the car and buy a new one
    That all being said I don’t think that you made a mistake by selling your lease. At the very minimum you should be able to get a similar payment if you put most of the equity down.
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Sign of a bubble. Giving a guaranteed rate of return in the s&p

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Do you see a guarantee anywhere in my statement? While not guaranteed it is highly probable that over a 10 year period the SP 500 will return about 8% per year. Now if you are looking for a guarantee here is one for you - the Lexus that you bought cash will lose about 4/5 of its value over the same 10 year period.

Theoretically, leasing is more expensive in the long run. Sure, you don’t have to worry about repairs, most maintenance etc, however, you always have a car payment.

Any financial advisor worth his weight in gold will tell you to buy a 2-3 year old used car (preferably with cash), and drive it till the wheels fall off.

With that said, I get bored easily, don’t have the time or patience for long expensive repairs, and like the peace of mind that the car will not break down (in theory) over the life of the lease. I end up paying a premium for that over the long haul, but I’m ok with that

Everyone has their reasons on buy vs lease.

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