Advice on leasing a CPO Prius

Lease a CPO is getting screwed twice over. You pay a premium for the CPO label, and leasing is always a bad deal in the long run. The worst case is buying the car at the end of the lease.

There was a point in my life where I had to put 40,000 miles/yr on a 15 year old Mazda 323. It got 33 mpg, but it was a 4 speed. It was two years of misery, but let me save up to buy the 2004 RAV, which I still have, going on 175,000 miles. My advice: buy an econobox beater, like a Corolla or an older Camry, that is old and cheap enough to avoid the need for comprehensive and collision insurance. Then, in a few years, you and the lady can reward your prudence with something better.

 

To minimize near-term expenses pay cash for a used reliable Something (Civic, Prius, etc.). To minimize long-term expenses keep it forever. Lease a CPO only if you have money to piss away.

 

Last May toyota was leasing 2010 Prius's for $199 a month with 2K down 12,000 miles a year residual 15.5 k. With the Tsunami in Japan it will be a few months yet until the supply of Prius exceed the demand and they do that again , if ever.

 

I made the mistake of paying a premium price for a 2 year old CPO car (not a Toyota), I got screwed. It's just a way for the dealer to charge way more for a used car than it's worth.

I have, fortunately, never leased a car but I have researched it a little. Everything I have learned about leasing is that it is a good deal for the car dealer and bad to horrible for the customer.

I would suggest, if you need a car, find a less expensive used car to drive until you can afford to pay cash for a new one. Make sure you confirm it's value on Edmunds or KBR and have it checked over by a good independent mechanic.

 

If you are stuck on a Prius and nothing down you are probably not going to find a decent CPO car.

Listen to the others and find a 5 or 6 year old Corolla, Civic or Accord with 50-60k miles on it. You can pick one of those up for under $10k. A $10k car with zero down if your credit is decent over 5 years and around 6% interest is only $193 per month. That's what I would do. Good luck!