Year, Make, Model, and Trim: 2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime
M(T)SRP: $49k
Selling Price: $47k
Monthly Payment: $725
Drive-Off Amount: $3000
Months: 36
Annual Mileage: 10000
MSDs: None
Residual: 54%
Incentives: $6500 Federal
Region: CA
We had 2 EVs (sold one) and have had fair share of charging issues during road trips so we were sure we needed a gas vehicle/ phev (due to power and tax rebate). I was looking for a vehicle which holds the value well (keeping it short term about 3 years). NX450h+ and RAV 4 prime was our first picks.
Saturday afternoon reached out to about 6-8 dealerships who had multiple RAV4 prime on the lot in 200 mile radius and they all had markups ranging from 3k to 15k, asked if they would consider a deal under MSRP (my target 5-6% off). Sales guys were snarky and laughed at my offer (understandably so). To my surprise a sales manager contacted me late in the evening and was willing to do 4% under MSRP. Got the car home yesterday I was in and out within couple hours. Yes MF is marked up but buy out should be the play here. May not be a greatest deal (felt like probably left another $500 on the table) but we happy with the discount considering prime market.
If you look at the residual and your interest rate the lease isn’t really that bad…not sure what rate you got but base rate with msds then waiting for 3 years to buy could make sense on these. You already paid the bank fee anyway. Residual is very low hence the high payment on these even with the lease incentive, should still have thousands of equity at lease end of the market holds up.
Agreed base MF with MSDs is lesser than auto loan interest rate. None of the dealerships around me are doing base MF. They have markups+addons+high MF. I mean primes are selling well, some dealerships I spoke to didn’t even try to sell me the vehicle.
Want it? This is our price have little wiggle room in market adjustment but that’s it.
As for resale… I think they will hold up but not like a 4Runner.
There’s post on FB about used Primes sitting for a year (owners sold them) and finally being sent to auction. Stuff like that happened with EVs in 2022.
My 21 Prime XSE had 3.3 kW charging, ear bleeding base audio, no backlight buttons. It was a $27K RAV4 with a $15K drivetrain. A gas XLE Premium was luxurious compared to the R4P XSE and $13K cheaper. I seriously doubt long-term resale will be that great on a 21 XSE but the 23 XSEs have 6.6 kW charging, JBL audio, and backlight buttons. 6.6 kW charging was only found on the Premium Package back in 21.
Regardless… this is one vehicle that I think could last 20+ years if you chose to keep it.
I contacted TFS to start the process, they told me that they cannot help me to do a buy out since it’s a lease and I need to contact the dealer where I leased the car from. Didn’t get any help from them.
Contacted the dealer, he’s saying I need to make at least 2-3 payments for the lease buy out to go through and it’s not possible to do it now. I’m sure it’s bs so asked him if that’s been written in contract and he said “no but that’s how it’s always been done.”
I’m contacting TFS again tomorrow in relating to this situation see what they can do. I read some posts in Reddit that TFS are worst to deal with.
If I do 3 payments essentially I’ll be paying more than $1k in rent fee itself. I am not sure what can be done in this situation.
Need your inputs here or if anyone had experience dealing with these things.
I had an SE in 2021 and XSE in early 2022. The SE was so basic it didn’t even have app access to charging (only the XSE). This was around $45K (due to port add-ons and junk here in Florida) and had cloth seats! When I was given the chance to trade up to the XSE at no cost I took it.
The 3.3 kW charging was borderline. 4-5 hours to fill up the battery just for 48-52 miles so I had to drive in HV/gas mode. After a few months I went back to an BEV as rarely drove more 600 miles in a day and only 2-3 times a year. Charging gets annoying after the 3rd or 4th time but 95% of the time my weekend trips were 100-250 miles so an EV works best for me.
1k in interest over 3 months isn’t the end of the world. How much interest are you losing dropping 50k? At 6% that’s like $750. If you’re financing that 50k you’ll be paying interest regardless.
But your shouldn’t have to wait 3 months…also if they’re forcing you to buy from a dealership that dealer might charge you to do the buyout. Might want to just allow your original dealer to get their but if they will do it free.
