PRESS RELEASE:
Toyota Announces Zero-Percent Offer
TORRANCE, Calif., Oct. 2, 2008 – Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today announced a zero-percent interest rate offer on eleven Toyota models for qualified buyers. Expiring November 3, 2008, the loan offer varies by model, with terms ranging from 36 to 60 months.
Taking aim at the credit squeeze which has sidelined many of today’s new-car buyers, the attractive offer is unprecedented for Toyota.
“Not only do we have the inventory of today’s sought after fuel-efficient models, but we have the capacity through Toyota Financial Services to finance or lease them,” said Toyota Division General Manager Bob Carter.
The Toyota models qualifying for this offer are: Matrix, Corolla, Camry, RAV4, Highlander, FJ Cruiser, 4Runner, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma and Tundra.
Toyota
Smart Car…Is it really?
If you haven’t heard, Daimler-Chrysler has officially brought the new Smart ForTwo model to the USA. It seems like a good idea. With fuel prices skyrocketing with no end in sight, why not bring a super compact, efficient automobile to America. They’ve been selling the Smart Car in Europe for about a decade now and it’s been reasonably successful.
I thought it was a pretty good idea as well. What’s there not to love? You get German engineering, great fuel economy, and it’s got to be one of the easiest cars to park. However, once I looked at the spec sheets and comparable “normal” cars, I had my doubts.
| Smart or Not? |
||||||
| Base Price | Powerplant | Performance | Fuel Type | Seats | EPA | |
| Smart ForTwo | $11,590 | 1.0L, 71HP, 3 cyl, 5 sp auto | 0-60, 14.1 secs | Premium | 2 | 33/41 |
| Nissan Versa 1.8S | $12,990 | 1.8L, 122HP, 4 cyl, 6 sp manual | 0-60, 9.5 secs | Regular | 5 | 26/31 |
| Toyota Yaris | $11,550 | 1.5L, 106HP, 4 cyl, 5 sp manual | 0-60, 9.48 secs | Regular | 5 | 29/36 |
| Honda Fit | $13,950 | 1.5L, 109HP, 4 cyl, 5 sp manual | 0-60, 9.0 secs | Regular | 5 | 27/34 |
| Scion xD | $14,550 | 1.8L, 128HP, 4 cyl, 5 sp manual | 0-60, 8.4 secs | Regular | 5 | 27/33 |
| Ford Focus | $14,395 | 2.0L, 140HP, 4 cyl, 5 sp manual | 0-60, 8.3 secs | Regular | 5 | 24/35 |
The problem I have with the Smart car is that I expected more. I’m not saying that the mileage isn’t great. An EPA rated 33/41 for a non-hybrid is pretty awesome, but when you take into consideration that it only seats two and requires premium fuel, you start to furrow your brow a little. Maybe it’ll make up in sheer price? The price is pretty low at a base MSRP of just $11,590, but then your eyes look down the list and you see that the Toyota Yaris is around the same price, has more power, better performance, seats five, drinks regular fuel, and still manages to get 29/36!
September 2008 Lease Rate for 08 Toyota Highlander & 4Runner
My Take: There is some cash rebates available for the 4Runner and the Highlander. With the 4Runner getting a $2500 rebate and the Highlander $1000. Low MF and the rebates help offset the uninspiring residual values. The 4Runner seems to be looking better than the highlander. Without options, you’re looking at mid-$300s after taxes for 36mo/15k. Add a few options and drop to 12k per year and you should be a well equipped 4Runner at around high-$300s after tax.
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| At Invoice | At MSRP | ||||
| Make/Model | MSRP | 24-month | 36-month | 24-month | 36-month |
| 08 Toyota Highlander Sport 2WD | $29,895 | $435 | $360 | $576 | $455 |
- MSRP $29,895 ($30,895-$1,000)
- Invoice $26,578 ($27,578-$1,000)
- Standard inception fees + tax not included
- Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year.
2008 Toyota Highlander Sport 2WD
24 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00081 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 48% of MSRP – .00081 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 40% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 32% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
| At Invoice | At MSRP | ||||
| Make/Model | MSRP | 24-month | 36-month | 24-month | 36-month |
| 08 Toyota 4Runner Sport V6 | $30,845 | $378 | $325 | $537 | $431 |
- MSRP $30,845 ($33,345-$2,500)
- Invoice $27,087 ($29,587-$2,500)
- Standard inception fees + tax not included
- Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year.
2008 Toyota 4Runner Sport V6
24 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00060 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 49% of MSRP – .00060 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 41% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 33% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
Calculate your own lease payments with my LEASE CALCULATOR (requires MS Excel)
Check out THE LIST to see how this car ranks among other models
2008 Toyota Highlander 2WD
24 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00143 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 49% of MSRP – .00143 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 41% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 33% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
2008 Toyota Highlander Limited 2WD
24 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00143 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 47% of MSRP – .00143 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 38% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 30% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
2008 Toyota 4Runner Sport V8
24 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00060 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 49% of MSRP – .00060 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 41% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 33% of MSRP – .00265 Base Rate
Rates provided by Tarry Shebesta from Leasecompare.com
Ford, GM August sales drop
From the AP
DETROIT – Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday its U.S. sales fell 26.5 percent in August, as the struggling automaker’s results — even worse than July’s dismal figures — showed that the U.S. auto sales slump may not have bottomed out.
Toyota’s sales dropped 9.4 percent from August of last year, a further indication that the woes in the U.S. auto market are continuing, but Nissan — the only major automaker to show a sales gain in July — reported another improvement, with a 13.6 percent increase in August sales.
Meanwhile, General Motors Corp. reported a 20.3 percent drop in sales from a year ago but a 31 percent improvement over its July totals, mainly thanks to offering all buyers employee pricing on many models.
Ford sold 155,172 light vehicles last month, down 3.6 percent from 160,990 in July, which was the industry’s worst month for U.S. sales in 16 years.
The Dearborn-based automaker said its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales dropped nearly 9 percent, while truck sales were off more than 32 percent last month.
The company also doesn’t expect a sales rebound in the second half of the year. It said Wednesday that it plans to cut 50,000 more vehicles from its production plan in the second half of the year, reducing its output to 890,000 in the last six months of 2008.
Funny how Nissan is the only automaker to post a rise in sales. I must be because of the attractive leases and low APR financing (Like the EX). Overall, this article clearly shows that most americans are shifting over to more fuel efficient cars than ever before. I just hope most people doing so aren’t panicking and taking a major loss on their SUVs.
The Most Reliable Brand?
Consumer Reports’ most reliable brand is Honda, followed by Acura. No big surprise there. It is well-known that Honda makes great cars, so I won’t disagree with Consumer Reports on this one. A few brands seem out of place, like Buick rolling in at 10th.
Here is a quick summary of the top 10 most reliable brands.
- Honda
- Acura
- Scion
- Subaru
- Toyota
- Lexus
- Infiniti
- Mitsubishi
- Porsche
- Buick
Buick sticks out like a sore thumb here. Considering Buick is a GM, that’s some serious reliability there.
So who are the bottom-feeders of the list?
- Land Rover
- Hummer
- Cadillac
- Mercedes Benz
- Pontiac
- Volkswagen
- Chevrolet
- Jeep
- GMC
- Suzuki
What I find surprising is how GM has 50% of the crappiest brands out there. OUCH! I take back what I said about GM not making crappy cars. What is interesting to see is that only one Japanese automaker on the 10 worst list is Suzuki, which also happens to be 10th worst (not exactly bad if you ask me). We also see only 2 Germans and the rest are all American. That’s 70% of the of that list. Pretty sad.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t mean ALL cars of that brand are bad, the CR report gives you a visual range of how good/bad this brands models are. For example, Pontiac has the widest range of good-to-bad models of any manufacturer, with the Solstice being pure garbage and the Vibe being their best model (It’s no coincidence since the Vibe is the Toyota Matrix’s cousin).
CR brand reliability report [PDF]
Your thoughts?
August 2008 Lease Rates for 08 Toyota Highlander
My Take: Ever wanted to know how much the Highlander Hybrid costs to lease? Lets find out! Just make sure you don’t get your hopes up. The residual is so-so and the MF is on the higher end of things here, not exactly the best combination out there. Seems to me that what you save on gas, compared to the non-hybrid models, you make up in higher payments.
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- Highlander Limited Hybrid 4WD
- MSRP $43,835
- Invoice $39,028
- Standard inception fees + tax not included
- Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year.
2008 Toyota Highlander Limited Hybrid 4WD
24 Month – Residual 63% of MSRP – .00255 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00255 Base Rate
24mo Payment: $645 at invoice, $858 at MSRP
36mo Payment: $586 at invoice, $732 at MSRP
You don’t want any lease longer than 36-month since the warranty is only up to 3 yrs. The numbers look “okay”. Certainly not motivating me to run out and get one since you probably won’t get much of a discount since this IS a hybrid.
In contrast…
- Highlander Sport 4WD
- MSRP $38,240
- Invoice $33,554
- Standard inception fees + tax not included
- Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year.
2008 Toyota Highlander Sport 4WD
24 Month – Residual 57% of MSRP – .00166 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 50% of MSRP – .00166 Base Rate
24mo Payment: $582 at invoice, $785 at MSRP
36mo Payment: $488 at invoice, $626 at MSRP
We’re looking at about $100 bucks per month more on the Hybrid over 36 months. That’s $3600 over the course of 3 yrs. On average, the Hybrid gets about 7 miles more than the non-hybrid version. Meaning, if you drive 12k miles per year, you consumer 462 gallons on a hybrid and 631 gallons on a non-hybrid. Assuming gas prices are at $5 per gallon (I know they aren’t, but this is just to anticipate any price changes for the next year or so), that’s $845 more per year on the non-hybrid. However, you are paying $1200 more per year on the hybrid, making it about $355 more per year.
Rates provided by Tarry Shebesta from Leasecompare.com
Battle of the Sedans: Camry, Accord or Altima
Instead of recommending which car is built better, I’ve decided to take a different approach and tell you which car leases better. For this particular “special competition”, I’ll be comparing the Accord, Camry & Altima. You probably don’t need my thoughts about which car is the better car, after all, there are tons of websites doing that already. I just want to tell you which one will save you some greens. Let’s roll!
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- Camry XLE V6
- MSRP $30,014 ($30,514-$500)
- Invoice N/A
- Standard inception fees + tax not included
- Residuals posted are for 12K miles/year.
2009 Toyota Camry XLE V6
36 Month – Residual 62% of MSRP – .00099 Base Rate
36mo Payment: $337 at TMV, $357 at MSRP
Without an invoice price, it is rather difficult to get a nice range on the Camry. Edmund’s TMV does suggest the sale price to be about $29,317 after the $500 rate. This means you only about $697 off MSRP in most areas.
- Altima Sedan 3.5 SE + Premium + Moonroof
- MSRP $29,685
- Invoice $27,367
- Standard inception fees + tax not included
- Residuals posted are for 12K miles/year.
2008 Nissan Altima Sedan 3.5 SE
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00087 Base Rate
36mo Payment: $337 at invoice, $397 at TMV, $403 at MSRP
TMV suggests the sale price to be at around $29,476. Not much of a discount off MSRP here according to Edmunds. I’m not 100% sold on that fact however. Keep in mind that the Altima is a 2008 model, so I think discounts could be had.
- Accord EX-L V6
- MSRP $28,730
- Invoice $26,086
- Standard inception fees + tax not included
- Residuals posted are for 12K miles/year.
2008 Honda Accord EX-L V6
36 Month – Residual 58% of MSRP – .00129 Base Rate
36mo Payment: $317 at invoice, $341 at TMV, $393 at MSRP
For the Accord, we are looking at a sale price of $26,927 according to Edmund’s TMV. Cheapest of the bunch thus far. But how does it lease with a higher MF and middle of the pack residual? About the same.
My Take: Clearly, the Camry stands tall compared to the other two. At TMV price, it blows away the Altima and is relatively competitive with the Accord, at $4 less per month. The Camry comes in with the highest residual and the 2nd lowest MF (by a hair), making it the more attractive lease despite the fact that it’s the most expensive car of the bunch. The only instance in which I would pick the Accord or the Altima over the Camry is if both could be had at invoice or below invoice price and the Camry couldn’t. In the spirit of the Olympics, here’s how the winners break down.
Gold Medal: Toyota Camry XLE V6
Silver Medal: Honda Accord EX-L V6
Bronze Medal: Nissan Altima 3.5 SE
Lease rates for remaining Accord and Altima Coupe models:
2008 Nissan Altima S w/CVT Manual Coupe
24 Month – Residual 66% of MSRP – .00209 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 57% of MSRP – .00209 Base Rate
2008 Honda Accord LX-S I4 Automatic Coupe
24 Month – Residual 65% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
2008 Honda Accord LX-S I4 Manual Coupe
24 Month – Residual 65% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
2008 Honda Accord EX I4 Manual Coupe
24 Month – Residual 66% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
2008 Honda Accord EX I4 Automatic Coupe
24 Month – Residual 66% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
2008 Honda Accord EX-L I4 w/Navigation Manual Coupe
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 52% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
2008 Honda Accord EX-L I4 Automatic Coupe
24 Month – Residual 63% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
2008 Honda Accord EX-L V6 Coupe Automatic
24 Month – Residual 63% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 53% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
2008 Honda Accord EX-L w/Navigation Coupe Automatic
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 51% of MSRP – .00186 Base Rate
Rates provided by Tarry Shebesta from Leasecompare.com
July 2008 Lease Rate for 09 Toyota Corolla
My Take: ’09 Corollas will probably be difficult to get at invoice. Edmund’s TMV reports only about $300 off MSRP. Then again, I take Edmund’s TMV with grain of salt. Here are the numbers on a very well equipped ’09 Corolla LE.
- MSRP $20,805
- Invoice $18,449
- Standard inception fees plus taxes
- Rates in BOLD
Monthly Payment $218 at invoice, $288 at MSRP, $275 at TMV.
If you tack on your local taxes, you’ll be paying over $300 a month over 36 months at MSRP and TMV. Would I lease it? Probably not, I’d rather buy it since it’s a relatively inexpensive car.
Toyota Corolla LE
36mo/15k – residual 61% – money factor .00188