Thinking of leasing Toyota Mirai

I am considering leasing the hydrogen fuel cell car Toyota Mirai. Right now it’s only available in Los Angeles/Orange County and S.F. Bay area. I live close to a couple refueling stations and I really like the car and the range (about 300 miles).

The lease deal is as follows:

MSRP: 58335 (no discount is offered and dealers aren’t budging)
36-month lease, 12 k miles per year
$3649 down, plus tax, license, and registration (no security deposit)
$499 per month, plus tax (9.25% where I live)

There is a $5,000 rebate from CA Air Resources Board that will basically wipe out the drive-offs. The check arrives about 2 months after purchase. There is also an $8,000 federal tax credit, but that’s only for purchasers of the vehicle. By the way, purchasers get 0% financing for 60 months, plus $7500 instant rebate from Toyota. The car has an 8 year/10k warranty on the propulsion system.

The car comes with lots of other goodies, like free fuel for 3 years (lease or purchase), 7 days of rental car per year, 24/7 roadside assistance, all maintenance, and a few other things.

Is this a good or lousy deal?

Thanks for your time.

No offense, but I don’t understand why you would consider a Mirai when there are much better alternatives out there. The ONLY reason you get a Mirai is you absolutely NEED a hydrogen fuel cell car for whatever reason.

It has a range of ~300 miles…but realistically the range is only half that, since you have to get home.

So if you never drive more than 150 miles from home…I guess the car would work for you? But then let’s compare it to a 2016 ELR:

MSRP $65k 2016 ELR

12k miles/year
$499 due at signing (after all offers)
$499/month for 36 months.

Assuming the drive offs are a wash for both cars (due to the Mirai’s larger CARB rebate), would you be rather drive a Mirai or an ELR? ELR will cost more in fuel, but then you aren’t restricted to a 150 mile radius of your home. And you would be driving a car that doesn’t cause most people to shield their eyes in terror and dry heave.

And don’t get me started on the styling of the Mirai. barf

I see your point, but the ELR is a 1st gen Chevy Volt with different skin and amenities. Since CA is all out of “green” stickers, it does not get carpool lane access or free FastPass access (the Mirai and purely EV cars do). Also the gas is not free on the ELR; it is on the Mirai.

I also don’t concede the point that the range is really 150 miles. There are several refueling spots and more to come over the next several months. I’ll have more than just the local one to refuel. The bottom line is a 300 mile range is similar to what one has in a gas car. And in those situations most folks fill up at the same station nearly all the time, absent a long day trip. My guess is re-fueling with the Mirai won’t be any different.

I’m not saying I’m definitely going to get the Mirai. But I am intrigued. I’ve driven it and it’s very nice – kind of like a Lexus inside.

I can’t speak to the deal, but I suppose $500/month, net $0 drive-off, and $0 fuel cost during the term of the lease is pretty compelling for such a unique, low-volume vehicle.

It’s comparable to what most will pay for a similarly sized and priced BMW 5-series, Mercedes E-Class, or Lexus GS. It won’t be as dynamic on a twisty road, but it’ll be a more serene driving experience. With standard adaptive cruise control, I’d imagine it’s excellent for the daily commute.

Aside from Model S, Mirai is arguably the only other large, spacious car that offers an EV driving experience. All other BEVs and PHEVs with a useful range (i.e., Volt and i3 REx) are compacts.

Thanks for the response. The Mirai is like a Lexus, but a small Lexus. I would equate the size to a BMW 3 series (slightly larger in the back seats). I’ve sat in the rear seats of the i3 and I would say the room is comparable, but the Mirai has much better fit and finish, and is more comfortable.

I am in a similar predicament. To move forward with the Mirai or not. My biggest issue with the car is how it looks. Question for me is whether the dollar savings justify looking the other way.

Is the lease transferable?

I hadn’t heard about the $5,000 CA Air Resources Board rebate. That makes the choice even more difficult now.

Financially then - running the numbers - isn’t purchase better than lease.

$58,335 less $5,000 (CA Resources Board rebate) less $8,000 (Fed Credit) less ($7,500 instant rebate) means the real out of pocket expense is $34,845.

0% financing, $7,500 instant rebate means a monthly financing charge of ~$580.

Over 36 months this would mean having to pay $6,480 in total finance charges.

Assuming the car loses an unheard of three quarters of its value. You could sell the car for $14,580. Leaving you with a tidy profit of $8,100.

Add to this the $15,000 worth of free fuel card Toyota gives you, free service, 24/7 assistance, 7 days rental per year anywhere in the country…why would one not get the car.

Do folks agree this is a no brainer?

As an aside, I really enjoyed the recent Autoline After Hours show with senior engineer Jackie Birdsall from the American part of the Mirai team.


OR

It might give you some additional information to consider for anyone interested in this vehicle.

Here is another cool video direct from the actual Mirai factory where these cars get literally hand built.

Alfanut - so did you purchase or lease your Mirai?

I haven’t done either yet. Just pondering really. I think I will lease if I do get the car. I know there’s some money left on the table but some of that is put “on the hood” for the lease. Plus, it’s not a car I would want to keep for more than three years with the emerging technology.

Some discrepancy in the lease deal posted by Toyota.

If you do the math…

Residual I got from all dealers $37036, not a percentage of msrp

MF of 0.00001. Not a typo… 4 zeros…I asked why not zero then… Toyota system can’t use zero so they use that number.

With the advertised numbers, not counting the sales tax, license, reg, tire fee, doc fee, tax on doc fee, etc.

$3649 down of that $499 is first month.

So cap reduction is $3150.

To hit $499… The sale price of the car is actually $57500 without the destination fee…does that mean Toyota decided to give the dentation fee for free or messed up… You decide…if you use the the full cost with additional $835 destination fee… You can’t hit the 499…

So what have people been seeing…has dealer tried to add the destination charge or not. One is insisting that it was website mistake and you need to pay destination upfront or roll it in, therefore it’s not matching advertised deal.

Moolman…have you considered the finance option. assuming one could live with the hydrogen fueling hassle, the looks of the car, what do those numbers look like with all the rebates accounted for.

That’s a pretty strong residual value and surely is just a “guesstimate” from Toyota. The lease deal seems very good in terms of pricing, but the car is still expensive for what you get.

I ended up leasing the car, if anybody else in the future, please post the numbers you got. That destination charge discrepancy is weird.

This car is the first generation hydrogen, I would never buy it… This car is actually very cheap if the fueling doesn’t bother you. I did zero down and my payment is about $600 a month. The CA $5000 rebate is about $140 a month… So down to $460… Then free fuel…I use about $300 a month I gasoline… So my net cost on this lease is $260… No more than $300…free maintenance for the full 3 years not the 2 of other Toyotas…I drove a couple Lexus before, quality of the car is Lexus quality not Toyota.

I felt uneasy buying the car even if it works out better because you won’t know the cost of hydrogen will come down in 3 years, probably will but not the first I’m willing to take.

Did you go with the 12K miles / year option on the lease? Given you current fuel costs - it suggests you are doing more than 12K per year. I ask because I am wondering what the overage charges are. Which color did you get. Is fuel for three years limited to what you can purchase on the fuel card which is credited with $15K. Confused about how the fuel card works. thanks.

They only have the 12k per year option… It’s 15 cents a mile for overage… Not bad… Toyota usually charges 2% on the residual for going to from 12k to 15k anyway… The fuel is still free when you go over, so overage is essentially free since you’re still getting free fuel. You’re limited to 15 thousand dollars over 3 years… That should be about 50k or more miles at current prices…assuming prices don’t drop as the tech matures. You get a credit card with 15k balance on it… Pretty simple.

Excellent job on getting the Mirai. I agree that it’s really a Lexus in Toyota clothing. A couple questions:

How long was the wait from getting approved to getting the car?
What dealership did you use?
What color?

Normally, i post all details but behind that only a few people buy the car, I wish to remain more anonymous… Not much… Lol… But but still… I posted the important numbers to calculate the lease… Residual. MF…

Dealers won’t budge much because there isn’t many cars but it’s not in high demand… I did signed up months ago but I checked out other dealerships using another name to shop around, all dealers either had one on the lot to sell me or could get me the car within a week. Many people cancelled their orders or delaying it cause not enough stations yet… They over promised…

Don’t fall for the Jedi mind tricks from dealers… Go find out the numbers yourself and come back… We can discuss

I realized that you’re the one that started this thread… Send me a PM… We can discuss but go and get the numbers yourself and see if what I got is legit.

On Thursday (5/19/16) I leased a Mirai from Toyota Sunnyvale (nearest Mirai dealer to my Palo Alto home).

Why Mirai?

  1. ICEs emit many kinds of carcinogens into my neighborhood, see the book The Harmful Effects of Vehicle Exhaust described at http://www.ehhi.org/reports/exhaust/summary.shtml. Understandably this is not something either the auto industry or the oil industry is motivated to highlight as a beneficial feature of ICEs, and the consumer faced with the alternatives of public transport, a bicycle, or (gasp) a battery electric vehicle (BEV) is naturally in denial about it. Maybe hydrogen producers emit carcinogens, but not into my neighborhood AFAIK.

  2. In 52 years of car ownership, including two new Mercedes, two second hand Mercedes, and a fleet of other vehicles from the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Japan, and the US, it’s the first car I’ve ever owned that didn’t/won’t eventually drip oil.

  3. Refueling time of 60 seconds per kg. That’s 4 minutes when your remaining range is 60 miles. It probably could refuel a fair bit faster in warm weather, this slow rate avoids the risk of icing up the nozzle in cold weather. When full (70 MPa = 700 atmospheres) it gives the remaining range as 342 miles, perhaps because it hadn’t yet figured out that I have a lead right foot. I’ve only had time for one refuel so far, I’ll keep an eye on it.

  4. 300-340 mile range, adequate for me. I drive the 90 miles (in 90 minutes) from Stanford to the Stanford Hopkins Marine Station once a fortnight. Even though the nearest hydrogen stations to the latter are Campbell (66 miles to the north) and Coalinga (132 miles to the south, or 151 via I-5), there are currently two stations each within a mile of my normal route. While I wouldn’t normally do three round trips back to back, each of three hours (540 miles), I do have that option with this car—even with the longest-range Tesla I’d have to recharge at least twice on the way, however long that takes. For just the 90 miles, any BEV less than a Tesla may well have to recharge en route. And even with stations only just starting to come online in the last few months, already I could commute between Reno and Tijuana with stops for “gas” at just Sacramento, Coalinga, and LA. And if you want to take a 7-day vacation each year to places out of range of hydrogen stations Toyota kindly lends you a used Land Cruiser or whatever your trip needs (but you have to pay for the gas then, sigh).

  5. Comfort of a loaded Lexus in a Camry form factor (but only four seats sadly). Everything in driver assistance short of keeping you in your lane if you fall asleep (it buzzes but that might not awaken you). Fully autonomous is still years away.

  6. The price is right: including CA tax ($44/mo) plus optional GAP insurance and excess-wear-and-tear insurance ($47/mo), the driveaway payment after the $5k CA rebate is $500 (which I’d paid two months earlier as a deposit), the monthly is $499 + $44 + $47 = $590, and if after returning it (almost certainly) we get a different brand they ding us for $350 more. Fuel and service are free, but our insurer wants $1200/year for comprehensive coverage on top of that. Plus parking meters and toll roads.

  7. Distinctive styling. I’m ok with it, and my Italian neighbors think it looks great compared to their conservative Highlander hybrid, which either reflects modern Italian styling tastes or they root for Darth Vader when they take their kids to see Star Wars movies. (Surprised George Lucas hasn’t already sued Toyota for infringing his stormtrooper design patent, but maybe he plans to get one—there’s a station near him in Mill Valley.) Anyway it’s only for three years, I’ll check out what Mercedes et al have on offer when the time comes.

  8. Something about CO2 (insert belief here—infer mine from the 7.5 kW solar PV on my roof since 2008).

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