Questions about Lease and Maintenance

Did he also ask you to bend over and hold your ankles?

Have you checked the maintenance booklet to see what recommended @ 30K? I wouldn't do anything more than that (except the tires, if they're worn to an unsafe state--but mine have 31K miles and are far from worn, so not sure why yours would be).

Cabin air filter and engine air filter are part of the 30 K service. I replaced both myself--paid ~$8 for the cabin, and ~$10 for the engine at rockauto.com.

Are your wipers working? If so, why replace them?

Alignment? Are the tire wearing unevenly? If not, no need.

Honestly, I'd find another dealer.

Most leases don't allow you to return the car before the end of the term without significant expense (like having to pay the sum of the remaining monthly depreciation, at a minimum). I'd suggest reading your lease, because early termination may be prohibitively expensive.

 

If you're going to re-lease from the same dealer .... they'll forgive just about anything.

Not sure why you'd continue renting a car at 15K miles per year. Why not buy a car and keep it ... especially if you're just going to re-lease the same vehicle ?

That said ... I wouldn't do one penny's worth of maintenance to a leased vehicle that wasn't specifically written down in the factory manual. And I'd do everything I could do ... myself ... with parts from rockauto as another member mentioned.

REV

 

If by forgive you mean rolling the outstanding costs of the existing lease into the cap cost of the new lease...sure.

 

That's not what I meant. If you just drop the keys on the desk and want to walk away ... they'll ding you for all kinds of stuff. Tires, dings and dents, every cent for excess mileage, reconditioning, etc, etc. If you're re-leasing or buying from them again ... most dealers just eat all that stuff within reason. Toyota regularly does this if they have a surplus of a certain vehicle or NEED a certain vehicle in used form. They'll call you after a certain time in your lease and offer a brand new car for the same payment or less just to get YOUR car back ... or get RID of a car they have a surplus of.

REV

 

All that is required is the minimum maintenance in the maintenance book. We have leased many cars and have never had any fees charged other than excess miles. Never any checks regarding what maintenance was completed.

This is a common problem with leased vehicles -- no maintenance done. Toyota had the sludge problem with the V6 engine in the 2000 era ........ many found with the problem had the original oil filter at 30k ... People who lease don't do maintenance. We buy a lot of CPO cars .. never look at any above 15k unless maintenance was included.

 

You can replace the wiper blades, cabin and engine air filters yourself, without tools -- not even a screwdriver. There are videos of this stuff on YouTube.

Throttle body cleaning -- that's how you know the guy is lying. That doesn't even show up on the 100,000 maintenance. Don't let a liar work on your car.

Tires at 30,000? Not likely. Put a penny in the tread and see if Lincoln's head touches or goes into the tread, or check to see if the wear indicators have reached the surface. This is explained in the manual, or search YouTube for some video help.

 

I could not imagine getting a new car every 2-3 and eating all the residual value. Or paying a dealer for items that are not part of scheduled maintenance. Why do you do this?

 

Alighnments are techincally not any kind of part of any sort of "Scheduled" maintenance.

They are only a recommendation / another way for dealers to make money.

If you car drives in a straight line down the road when the steering wheel is in default position then you know the car is aligned....

 

Well I hope you learn WHY lease is not a good idea unless you KNOW a head of time what you are going to use the car for ... just curious your driving pattern/job situation changed ??? And of course if you are willing to pay the premium for driving new car is a different story. Your car in good condition at the end of the 3 years should worth somewhere btw 15000-17000 purchase price would have been something 23000-26000 depending ... so after 3 years ... you are almost even but the penalty will make it negative ... so yes lease ONLY works if you actually do not need to drive the car !!! then why have one ????

OK so 5k would cost you 1350 or the full 44K but that also mean that you are driving quite a bit more than a usual lease for three years allows ... makes no sense to me.

Well the cabin air filter ... first you do not need it really you can clean it yourself or buy a new somewhere around $25 and really easy to put in. Wipers ... you can get a full insert set about half the price and not too difficult put it in (you need to be a little handy 10-15 minutes for the three) . If they offer the whole blade set not just the rubber part it is fair price).

Tires ???? you should be able to judge it yourself but 30k ... would be little premature ... but that depends how you drive the car ... and what general road condition you have.

My car is almost 3 years old I am about 37k I predict that my tires will be fine till at least 40k but will check then. Dealer wanted to sell me at around 30k .... went to an independent tire shop they told me I have at least another 10k .... SO get another opinion 4 tires is a big chunk of money and if you do not intend to keep the car might not a good investment.

 

OH YEAS be very careful with that ... if you are not sure or have any doubt check carefully they will "forgive" by meaning you pay for it by the next loan and you are even happy since you got a brand new car ...

If you drive anything more the 10k a year, lease makes no sense unless you love new cars and you are able to pay the premium ... but otherwise .. try to get a car loan from your credit union (join one if you have to) even local bank will give you a better deal than the dealership ... (IF money not an issue please ignore my comments). If you can not get a car loan that almost surely mean YOU CAN NOT afford one ... sorry

 

If money was no issue they OP probably would not be driving a Prius and would not be asking about paying for over mileage and extra maintenance.

I believe the number one reason people lease a car is because they are enticed with the low car payments. It bites them down the road.

 

Auto manufacturers put money into leases just like they put money into financing and rebates -- like anything else ........you have to crunch the numbers. Over the years we have leased many vehicles -- your total costs are known especially the end value and you only pay the sales tax on the lease portion of the deal .... People who buy and sell in a few years should often lease. Purchasing and keeping is the cheapest - but many times this is not practical or desired.

 

A lease forces people to get a new car every few years. The first few years of a car is when it deprecates the most. The person that leases loses. The person that buys the car coming off the lease makes out the best, along with the dealer.

 

If you do your own maintenance, keep the receipts and record the date and mileage when the work is done.

 

A car does not care if it is purchased or leased -- it depreciates at the same rate ... the rate of the depreciation changes from year to year and actually will increase for some models at certain miles and or years. It all depends on what you want -- We lease some vehicles based on miles and some on time ... it is actually cheaper for us to lease a vehicle and turn it in prior to the vehicle requiring any major maintenance then for us to purchase it and then sell/ trade. Leasing is not always more expensive. This is especially true as the cost of the vehicle increases.

 

It is true that a leased car depreciates at the same rate a car you buy/finance. The average deprecation of a new car is 20% the first year, 10% to 15% the second and third then it drops off from there.

What is the Average Car Depreciation Rate?- CarsDirect

Most people that lease a car lease it for 36 months. This is when most of the deprecation happens. Then they turn it in and lease a another new car. There is a huge savings buying the car and keeping it for 5-6 years.

There are very few reasons to need a new (Toyota) car every 3 years. Here are a few:

- You work in the sales field and you believe the image if a luxury car will show you are successful. (The Prius is the wrong car for this)

- You work for a company that reimburses for business and requires you to have a car less than 5 years old. (People claim there company demands a new car every 3 years, they are not truthfull.) Buying is better for this example.

- You like to have a new car every three years to impress neighbors and friends. Again the Prius is not the best car to do this with.

- You can not afford the car and the dealer convinces you to move to a lease for a lower car payment. Down the road it will catch up with you and it will cost you more.

- You are independently wealthy, have zero debt and love the feel of a new car every three years. Most of these people do not buy a Prius.

 

Cars have milage hits --- 35k 50k 60k 100k -- hitting them pushes the value down. We lease many vehicles with the 35k limit -- they are the most affordable for our situation. Normally a car need nothing other then an air filter and oil changes in that period and has no down time. So we have no expenses. The upfront taxes and the selling of the vehicle are more than you would think when you factor them into a purchase.