My Take: January rates were much better for the IS-F (for both 08 and 09 models). I would recommend buying or skipping the lease this month. Hopefully they improved down the road.
UPDATE: Found some of the IS250 numbers and they look much worse than last months. The residual values have stayed the same, but the money factors went from .0002 to .00140 for the AWD model and .00135 for the RWD model. These are Lexus’ February sales figures for the IS: (2009) 2,147 sold, (2008) 3,906 sold. Difference: -42.7%. Sales were down almost 43% from last February, so maybe that will mean better leases for us in the coming months.
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2009 Lexus IS
2009 Lexus IS250 AT
24-month | 15k miles | residual 57% | .00135 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 50% | .00135 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 41% | .00135 base money factor
2009 Lexus IS250 AT AWD
24-month | 15k miles | residual 57% | .00140 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 50% | .00140 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 41% | .00140 base money factor
2008/2009 Lexus IS-F
2009 Lexus IS-F
24-month | 15k miles | residual 53% | .00275 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 46% | .00275 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 37% | .00275 base money factor
2008 Lexus IS-F
24-month | 15k miles | residual 50% | .00275 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 43% | .00275 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 34% | .00275 base money factor
Once again you need to slow down before you post. Your title says IS and it needs to say IS-F.
Great website….
I have a question.. have you tried to develop a quick calculation that would qualify a lease as either bad or good? What I’m thinking of is something that incorporates the residual and mf, obviously. This would give you a way to compare cars with low residuals and low mf’s with those that have just the opposite.
@James. Actually, there is a reason for that. I am going to start bundling all IS/IS-F posts into one. Kind of how I bundle the 5-series with the M5 and so on. I will supplement this post if I get my hands on the IS250 and IS350’s numbers. (Which I just happened to find) Oh, the other posts were pretty bad though. Haahaa. I did get ahead of myself there. The mind thinks faster than the fingers can type.
@Dan. I don’t have any an exact formula since people’s leasing habits vary somewhat, not to mention the fact that manufacturer leasing program vary from company to company. Despite that, I am trying to pin point an easy way to spot a good deal without having to sit down and crunch numbers. I’m getting pretty decent at estimating numbers in my head right now due to all the numbers I crunch every month. LOL.
G… my intent exactly. I’m good at crunching numbers too but I really only want to do that when I’m working with the car I really want to lease. I want to be able to make a quick calculation earlier in the process to weed out bad leases. I probably also have to somehow figure in the incentive side of the deal too. As you know, many cars have very poor residuals and car companies try to balance that with low MF’s and incentives. BMW on the other hand keeps their residuals higher but their MF’s aren’t quite as cheap.
When I look at lease rates, the first thing that goes through my head is whether I would consider buying the car at the end of my lease. If the answer is NO, then I seek a car with the highest possible residual value and a the lowest money factor. Usually, I like to keep my money factors below .00200, which is around 4.8% APR. That should be lower depending on what financing rates are available during that month. If I am considering a buyout at lease end, then I would go with a car that has a residual value of around 40%-45% in 36-48 months plus a ultra-low money factor. (We’re talking .00099 or less or 2.3% APR) The logic is simple, you want your payments to go towards the car instead of the interest, whereas if you want to just lease the car and return it, you want to find the best combination of high residual/low money factor. After that, I factor in whatever cash is available. That part is easy since the cash is usually around $30 off per month for every $1000 in rebates. That’s pretty much it. I will probably write a post about that once I have gathered my thoughts on this topic a bit more. Thanks for bringing that up though. I think this will help most people save a lot of time.