So confusing… everything feels like dealer trying to mark up… gap insurance, lease end protection, tire and wheel protection, windshield protection, dent and ding protection, key replacement… and so on.
Experienced lessors, please advise which ones make sense.
None of it as long as you can mange to take care of your car. Gap is included with most leases. I believe Mazda and Toyota do not?
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If a toyota, then GAP.
Otherwise? Nothing. And don’t fall for the high pressure tactics of Finance
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Thanks. One more question - I’m not a very heavy long distance driver and my commute is 3x per week of 25 miles round trip, with local errands on other days. does it make sense to go with the lowest mileage deal of 7500 miles per year or choose 10000 or 12000 miles, for just in case?
To save the most? 7500, and pay the diff.
The biggest issue usually is 3 years from now you will post about how to get around the extra 1k you put on the car and not pay the $250 fee 
To go from 7500->10000 can be as low as $360 extra on the lease (10/m). So 360 vs a possible $625?
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Even GAP for Toyota is much cheaper from insurance companies. Or just plain unnecessary if you got a good deal.
OP, are you actually getting a good deal?
It depends on the car. In some cases (i.e. eqs back in the day) it was cheaper to go with a 7500 and decide to pay the difference. If youre driving a lot, id go with 10k or 12k.
5k miles over is only 1250 at lease end, but i was over on one of my leases and couldn’t get over the feeling that every drive cost money (even though it also cost money when I was under miles).
It really comes down to your usage, history, and the overall added costs. I add tire/wheel with dent/ding onto all my leases. At my cost, it makes sense since 2 tires is a break even. And in Chicago, it is easy to pick up nails, road debris, door dings, etc. For other people who live on smooth, barren roads, tire/wheel might not make sense. I will say if you do wheel/tire, add the windshield/key/ding. It is usually packaged with it for not much more.
Same with lease end. If you have a history of banging up body panels, it might make sense at the right price. If you don’t, then it isn’t worthwhile.
And just remember, with the exception of a few items (i.e. prepaid maintenance), you can negotiate in the FI office. How much and how successful you will be is a bit of a mystery, but if you find value in a product, you can try to negotiate it down.
I’ve leased several Toyota’s, and GAP was always included.
Toyota finance does not include GAP. It’s well documented that they are one of the few.
Are you in Florida? South East Toyota Finance might include it.
Or if you used a 3rd party leasing like Ally?
Upstate New York
Mileage usually 7.5k or 10k would work fine in most cases. I did get the tire and wheel on my M5 back in the day since those large wheels and thin sidewall tires were very prone to damage - it totally paid for itself over the 3y
But otherwise doesnt really matter. Stay away from all these add-ons at finance
7.5k will make it harder to transfer. Get nothing unless it’s a higher end car like other posters mentioned. Get Audicare if it’s an Audi.
What year/make/model are you leasing? I never got any “protection” packages for any of my car, with the exception of Macan, where I added 20000 mile service package. You can get windshield protection for few dollars from your own insurance (I have Travelers with $50 deductible. I had a chip that flew from under 18-wheelers tire and struck my windshield few months ago, had it replaced by mobile service provider who got paid by my insurance and cost me $50).
You don’t need wheel protection, unless you don’t know how to drive and hit curbs all the time. Tent and ding? Most of these are waived at the end of the lease term, unless the size of dent exceeds a quarter. If you get bigger dent hire local guy (used car dealers use them all the time), they will repair it for you for $300. Key replacement? I never needed that one. Just don’t loose your keys.
I’m leasing a Taco right now and I’m paying $23 extra a month to TFS because it was not included. And State Farm doesn’t offer GAP insurance for some reason, and I wasn’t going to switch insurance companies and agents just for it.
My Toyota leases were always through Ally Bank. GAP was always included
Assuming that’s a 36m lease that’s $828 wasted.
Why do you think GAP is waste of money, especially when it isn’t included?
Go look up the insurance payout for a Taco vs the balance owed on a good deal.
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