Thinking about leasing a RAV4

[kman]

I live in Temecula and work in San Diego [I know move closer to work] and my daily commute is 110 mile round trip. I also found out that my company is planning on installing chargers in the parking lot, I said playing not already installed. Anyway I'm wondering it there are any RAV4 EV owners with a similar commute, that would like to share their experiences.

The reason what the RAV4 peaked my interest was two fold, the rage and the lease offers of unlimited miles and 16.5 K is lease back cash. I'm also looking at the Corolla, Jetta TDI and maybe the Prius. My other cars is a 335d which gets a mixed driving rage of 31 MPG, usually we get ~35.6 MPG on the highway, but I don't want to put too many mile on the 335d.

All opinions welcome. :?:

 

[bruin nut]

Even without a charger at work, you'll be fine with this car. I get about 110 miles on mixed freeway and city driving, and that's on the regular charge. With an extended charge, I get 130 with a lead foot, and 140 if I just drive normally.

And if you don't need to drive during the day, you might be able to find a place to plug in the 120 volt charger before the EVSE is installed. That way you'll get another 30 miles or so during the day.

The lease deal is really amazing. It is even slightly better than what was offered this summer. I'm paying 474/month, including tax, with unlimited mileage, with a pure "sign and drive lease." That means you get the car for free for the first month, then pay 35 more payments for the remaining months. Then you'll get the $2500 check from CARB two months later. That's another 5+ months of payments. So, essentially, this lease is free for the first 6 ½ months, then you pay a low rate for the rest of the term. On top of that, you will save on gasoline (especially with the charger at your employer's worksite).

Quite frankly, I don't see the downside.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Since you're driving over 2000 miles per month, you'll have 75,000 or more in 36 months when you turn it in. Get the appropriate warranty:

http://www.toyotafinancial.com/consumer/tfs.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pg_newVehicleComparisonChartPage


T3-TOYOTA RAV4 EV
3 YEAR 50,000 MILES $359.00
3 YEAR 80,000 MILES $399.00
4 YEAR 65,000 $409.00 4 YEAR 100,000 MILES $529.00
4 YEAR 125,000 MILES $659.00
5 YEAR 80,000 MILES $474.00, 5 YEAR 100,000 MILES $629.00
5 YEAR 125,000 MILES $799.00
6 YEAR 75,000 MILES $509.00, 6 YEAR 100,000 MILES $749.00
6 YEARS 125,000 MILES $1,019.00
7 YEARS 75,000 MILES $594.00, 7 YEAR 100,000 MILES $889.00
7 YEARS 125,000 MILES $1,169.00
8 YEAR 75,000 MILES $709.00 8 YEARS 100,000 MILES $1,039.00
8 YEAR 125,000 MILES $1,424.00

 

[kman]

Thank you for the feedback. I also looked at the Volt, I liked the idea of the range extender but 30 MPG while in range extender mode turn me off.

Even without a charger at work, you'll be fine with this car. I get about 110 miles on mixed freeway and city driving, and that's on the regular charge. With an extended charge, I get 130 with a lead foot, and 140 if I just drive normally.

And if you don't need to drive during the day, you might be able to find a place to plug in the 120 volt charger before the EVSE is installed. That way you'll get another 30 miles or so during the day.

The lease deal is really amazing. It is even slightly better than what was offered this summer. I'm paying 474/month, including tax, with unlimited mileage, with a pure "sign and drive lease." That means you get the car for free for the first month, then pay 35 more payments for the remaining months. Then you'll get the $2500 check from CARB two months later. That's another 5+ months of payments. So, essentially, this lease is free for the first 6 ½ months, then you pay a low rate for the rest of the term. On top of that, you will save on gasoline (especially with the charger at your employer's worksite).

Quite frankly, I don't see the downside.

 

[pchilds]

Do it, you won't regret it. It will be nice having another RAV4 EV in the area. I can help with your EVSE install and if you want OpenEVSE, I have built 2, a 40 amp for the RAV4 and a 20 amp for the LEAF.

 

[cwerdna]

I'm also looking at the Corolla, Jetta TDI and maybe the Prius. My other cars is a 335d which gets a mixed driving rage of 31 MPG, usually we get ~35.6 MPG on the highway, but I don't want to put too many mile on the 335d.

Why a Corolla and esp. why a Jetta TDI? VW reliability is ranges from horrible to just so-so, for the most part. And, as you've discovered, diesel is often much more than expensive than regular unleaded. See http://fuelgaugereport.com/.

Thank you for the feedback. I also looked at the Volt, I liked the idea of the range extender but 30 MPG while in range extender mode turn me off.

Where are you getting this "30 mpg" figure from? Volt's EPA rating is 37 mpg combined, and is higher than that of the Jetta TDI and Corolla (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=33900&id=34400&id=33817&id=34489).

(FWIW, I've had my 06 Prius since 06 but it mostly sits now that I have a '13 Leaf.)

BTW, for your 110 mile daily commute, if you can't charge at work, you will need to install a 240 volt EVSE at home or have some other 208/240 volts means to charge. If you're charging at 120 volts at home only, you're going to have trouble replenishing charge quickly enough due to the slow charging rate at 120.

See http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=67 under "Miles Gained per Hour Charging".

If you have insufficient range for the next round trip, you'll need to take your other car while your Rav4 EV charges.

And, you should look into whether or not you might be pushed into much higher rate tiers if you're going to charge that much at home.

 

[andy966]

The lease deal is really amazing. It is even slightly better than what was offered this summer. I'm paying 474/month, including tax, with unlimited mileage, with a pure "sign and drive lease." That means you get the car for free for the first month, then pay 35 more payments for the remaining months. Then you'll get the $2500 check from CARB two months later. That's another 5+ months of payments. So, essentially, this lease is free for the first 6 ½ months, then you pay a low rate for the rest of the term. On top of that, you will save on gasoline (especially with the charger at your employer's worksite).

Would you mind telling us what credit level that lease was at? Was that Tier 1+?

 

[mark_rivers19]

+1 it's really not zero down since you'll be paying for the tax/fees of the " lease cash".
In our case that was for the $14,500 back in Aug 2013.

Plus title and fees i think we gave close to $5,000.

 

[MikeyBoy]

The $16,500 makes a HUGE difference on a lease right now! I was able to get a 15k mile/year lease with able $3300 on trade and $4100 out of pocket ($2500 will be coming back) for $296/month. With my commute gas + parking at $400/month and free Park and charge with an even our was a no brainer.

Just got it today so that's really about all the info I have right now.

 

[v_traveller]

+1 it's really not zero down since you'll be paying for the tax/fees of the " lease cash".
In our case that was for the $14,500 back in Aug 2013.

Plus title and fees i think we gave close to $5,000.

In my case it really is zero down, zero out of pocket at drive-off. I'm at $474/mo like bruin nut, including tax, and that was with $0 drive-off on a 12Kmi/yr lease; unlimited miles would have been $30 or so additional. Not one cent out of my pocket until the first of 35 monthly payments, which was this month. Check out Dianne's Deals on this forum. Taxes and fees are rolled into the monthly payments.

Would you mind telling us what credit level that lease was at? Was that Tier 1+?

Mine was at Tier 1 credit, at least as defined by this (seems to vary):
http://www.autobytel.com/car-financing/what-is-tier-1-2-3-credit-100498/

 

[bruin nut]

+1 it's really not zero down since you'll be paying for the tax/fees of the " lease cash".
In our case that was for the $14,500 back in Aug 2013.

Plus title and fees i think we gave close to $5,000.

Yes it is actually "zero down." I brought my driver's license and proof of insurance to the dealership. I showed those two things, signed the lease docs, and drove away in the RAV without spending a dime. My first payment of $474 was made one month later. I could have put money down, but why? The interest rate on the lease (money factor) near 0%. With free gap insurance, there's no need to put anything down.

I've had the car for 5 months, and put over 6k miles on it. My payment next month will be the first time I've actually had to pay for the vehicle, if you factor in the $2500 CARB rebate. Who doesn't like a free car for 6 months?

 

[AvLegends]

With free gap insurance

free gap coverage? I don't think anything is free...

 

[smkettner]

I exchanged NO money. Even rolled the seriously upside down LEAF into it.
Just sign and drive.

 

[mark_rivers19]

Can we ALL agree that nothing is truly FREE, especially from a dealer.
and when you trade in a car, it's always upside down. ( that's why you don't do it, you sell it yourself)
Gap insurance is INCLUDED in all lease deals.
it's when you Buy a vehicle, that's when you can purchase your own Gap

ok let's take the case of Bruin nut "zero" down BUT $474/mo X 35 months = $ 16,590

The normal route is the $299/mo with $ 3,499 due at signing.

http://www.toyota.com/deals/rav4ev/

So that's $3,499 + 299 ( 35 months) = $ 13,964

So there's a difference of $2,626.00

 

[fooljoe]

So there's a difference of $2,626.00

Mightn't that $474 be after tax, while $299 is pre-tax?

 

[bruin nut]

So there's a difference of $2,626.00

Mightn't that $474 be after tax, while $299 is pre-tax?

Yes, it is after tax. It is also unlimited miles. 12k miles per year is about $35 more per month. Keep in mind that when I leased in August, the deal was not quite as good as now. But I had a military discount, which gave me another $500.

The bottom line is I had a great deal and the deal now is even better. And I do disagree: some things are free. The CARB money is free; the gap insurance is free; the money factor makes the interest rate "free," maintenance (not that much is needed) is free, and my electricity (if you look at my electric bill pre and post RAV4 EV) is free.