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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Toyota Highlander Prices Paid and Buying Experience
3882 messages, Last post on Jul 04, 2009 at 2:15 PM
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Replying to: stoneridge1 (Dec 02, 2008 10:07 pm) I just traded from a Camry Hybrid to a Highlander Hybrid. The Highlander difference is not as bad as with the TCH because you can get the HH at a discount and the cars go at MSRP. However, with that said, it is difficult to get a HH in trim levels you may want. They seem to either come in a base level with no leather, or loaded up (moonroof, leather, NAV) if you go with the Limited. I wanted leather but did not want the other options so I eventually went with the HH base (although it was as loaded as you could get it). Study the Toyota site to see how you'll have to option them out. My base HH was about the same MSRP as a Limited ICE only model. However I wanted the Hybrid system and if it wasn't for that then the Highlander would probably not have been on my list anyway. Milage will vary a lot between people and their styles of driving, however I would say that you'll do around 20-25% better overall on FE with the HH over a gas only Highlander, maybe more so if you're in the city. I did not want the DVD system and it is possible to find a HH Limited without that option. However every HH Limited I saw had the NAV system and moonroof. My past experience with the NAV was that it was complicated to use and I never used it for anything but the energy screens (which were great). It did have a lot of features the garmin did not have but the garmin's are pretty cheap right now and you can move them from vehicle to vehicle. With the built in, the best case is you'll lose 50% of that cost in depreciation and have nothing when you dispose of the vehicle. If you want a moonroof, leather or Navigation system in a Hybrid model you will have to go with the Limited, which will put you in a $47,000 Hybrid. I think there are a lot of other vehicles out there competing in that price range and unless I was simply hot on the FE I would go probably have went with them (ML, FX to name two). I was able to get a substantial discount on my 2009 HH and that sealed the deal for me. After some research it seemed to me that the HH would hold its value a little better than the Highlander and with that and the new model year and the gas savings I decided on a 09HH over a 2008 model of the other options I had. I figure at worst case it will be a wash over time, but if (when) gas prices rise the FE will become an important plus once again.
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Replying to: Lego74 (Nov 29, 2008 8:51 pm) I'm not a lease expert but will comment since no one has yet on your topic. My current SUV (Ford Expedition) is my first lease experience. You'd probably have to have a dealer calculate it for you. What I found out last year was the end of the year vehicles already had depreciated and when you figure that into a lease you're paying for that depreciation. So currently if the Highlander is getting a $5000 rebate on 08's but it has already depreciated $10K then you're going to eat the extra $5K over the life of the lease. You're leasing a vehicle that is already a year old. Same deal with purchasing. If you buy an 08 with little money down you can be upside down real quick on the loan. Whereas with the 09 you're paying a year off before the new ones come out. (Yes it will depreciate when you drive it off the lot too but chances are you won't trade it in that first year). The 08 will always be a year behind on depreciation ($2K to $3K) over the 09. The only plus is that when you trade you may have a low milage car with an end of the year purchase where you might have a high milage car if you buy an 09 when they first come out. I used to trade often and when I bought an end of the year car and wanted to trade in 18 months it nailed me pretty good as I was trading a car almost 3 modle years old and only had been paying on it for a year and a half. Had to come up with a lot of cash. Also most postings I have seen say put as little down as possible. Research that some to feel comfortable. There are issues if the car is totaled that you will lose the money you put down. I'm not sure why, if you have $3600 cash to put down you'd want to to save $100/mo on a 3 year lease anyway. It's all about the same and with reasonable rates I don't think the cost outweights the benefit.
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Replying to: wvgasguy (Dec 03, 2008 11:28 am) However, before you make any final decision to lease or purchase, you may want to investigate whether or not it would be prudent to obtain some form of GAP insurance, especially if you're looking at a model year end vehicle and/or a low down payment. This will hedge against becoming upside down on your loan/lease if you were to (god forbid) total the vehicle, especially during the earlier portion of the loan/lease term. Here's some more info on GAP insurance from Edmunds. http://www.edmunds.com/advice/finance/articles/105266/article.html |
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Replying to: wvgasguy (Dec 03, 2008 11:08 am) stoneridge1 |
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Replying to: richmonder (Dec 03, 2008 6:14 am) I am looking for the same thing as what it appears you purchased. How much of a better deal did you get from Leith Toyota compared to the local dealerships around here. I have offers from Haley and McGeorge but they seem a little high. Any help you can shed would be much appreciated.
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Replying to: RIchmondguy (Dec 04, 2008 7:01 pm) If I had to do it again I would do it the same or see if Asheville would meet Leith's price and deliver for $300. Options Installed Fuel Surcharge $0 Tow Prep Package includes: 5,000lbs-TOAT $220 Power Rear Door-PBAT $400 Auto Rear Air Conditioning System-QRAT $585 JBL AM/FM 6-Disc In Dash CD Changer with-EJAT $630 Multi-Stage Heated Front Seats-HDAT $440 Color-Keyed Sport-Styled Rear Spoiler-RFAT $200 Power Tilt/Slide Moonroof w/Sunshade-SRAT $850 50 State Emissions-FEAT $0 All Weather Mats w/Cargo Mat (w/o SDAT)-PW30 $299 Southeast Toyota Distributor Plus-FP50 $0 Special Color-PCAT $220 (FOR BLIZZARD PEARL) MSRP Base $34,350 Options $3,844 Manuf, Delv, Proc & Hndlg $795 Total $38,989 Selling Price $29,761
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Thanks for the help and all the information on this site. I bought my 08 Highlander this week. I live in VA and went to Jim Barkley Toyota in Asheville for the purchase, due to the better rebates in that region. I used frequent flyer miles to fly to Asheville, they picked my up at the airport and took me to the dealership where I completed the paperwork and a walk through of the car and was on my way w/in an hour. It was a very easy transaction and Jim Barkley was great to deal with,esp my salesman Aaron. Here are the details: 08 Limited AWD w/ Navi in Magnetic gray Options Tow Prep Package includes: 5,000lbs-TOAT $220 Navigation System with-NVAT $2,505 Power Rear Door-PBAT $400 Auto Rear Air Conditioning System-QRAT $585 Multi-Stage Heated Front Seats-HDAT $440 Color-Keyed Sport-Styled Rear Spoiler-RFAT $200 Power Tilt/Slide Moonroof w/Sunshade-SRAT $850 MSRP $40, 345 I paid $31,288 + TTL
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Replying to: iwantvan (Dec 05, 2008 9:08 am)
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Replying to: dj_dave (Dec 05, 2008 10:06 am)
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Replying to: RIchmondguy (Dec 04, 2008 7:01 pm) If you buy in Richmond, I've found McGeorge Toyota to be very good to work with. Kenneth Puryear gave me a pretty good price and is a super nice guy. They will be getting all of my service and parts from here on out. I picked up my car yesterday. It took too long but all in all a good experience. FYI - NC taxes the rebate money and VA doesn't...or at least that is what I was told. So the difference is $150 less than I thought. |
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