Lease the Lexus LFA for $12,400 per month, $298,000 due at signing
Source:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/17/lexu ... -at-signi/
The rich are very different from you and we, now more than ever. First off, we don't have the mental fortitude for jumping through all of the hoops that Lexus is making potential LFA customers limbo beneath. Let alone the cash. Thing is, the rigamarole involved never mattered because Lexus is only making 500 examples of the LFA and we're simply not going to lose sleep over the process it takes to park one in our garage. However, a potential LFA owner sent us a copy of his order guide, and like any good train wreck, we can't look away. Also, remember, this info ain't intended for public consumption.
For your living-vicarious pleasure, here's how it works: As reported, you cannot buy Lexus' first ever supercar. You have to lease the mostly-carbon-fiber-and-unobtanium LFA. That's sort of good news for the non-disgustingly wealthy, right? After all, leases are the cheap and easy way to get into a new car. Are you sitting down? The monthly lease payment on the Lexus LFA is $12.398.44. For 24 months. That's $297,562.56 worth of lease payments over two years, at the end of which you own nothing. However, Lexus is quick to point out that the LFA's MSRP is $375,000, so you're technically not paying full price. And at the end of 24 months, lessees are free to plunk down an additional $93,750 (more than the base price of a very comparable Nissan GT-R, we should mention) and buy their LFA outright.
Of course, you can't just waltz into your local Lexus dealership with $12,398.44 and rocket waltz out in an LFA. Lexus has to actually select you to lease its (admittedly awesome) car. Once you're chosen, you've got 10 days to drop off a $10,000 deposit at your local Lexus dealer and submit to a credit check. We should mention that this will not be the only deposit and credit check Lexus requires.
Once your credit checks out, you then have to deposit an additional $50,000. To mini-recap, that's $60,000 down on a $375,000 car. Sounds reasonable (from a detached, algebraic ratio perspective) until you remember that you're not buying the car, just leasing it. All of this will be/is happening from March–June 2010. Production of the LFA doesn't start until December. We don't know how long each car will take to build, but customers lessees will be required to go through a second credit check immediately prior to delivery. We're not entirely sure you really want to pass the second credit check. Here's why.
Remember the $12,398.44 per month lease payment we mentioned a couple paragraphs up? That's just the breakdown. All LFAs are being doled out via Lexus' 1Pay Lease Program. Meaning that to lease the LFA, you hand Lexus a check for $237,562.56, which is the full amount of the lease minus your $60,000 pair of deposits. Oh, and there's a $700 "aquisition fee." Plus tax, title, license and registration. The good news? Even though you have to lease the LFA, because of the lengthy approval/deposit process, each car is still made to order. Meaning that even though you don't own the car, you can still order it in Passionate Pink, a $3,000 option.
FIAL!
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