The Royal Screw Over? Lexus Plans To Lease All 500 Examples Of The LF-A For 2 Years?

Is there really that much demand that Toyota expected people to be reselling the cars with huge premiums tacked on? The whole lease only thing is really silly in my opinion. Didn't Ferrari do that with the F50?

Yes Ferrari did this with the F-50 when Pierro Ferrari was in charge of Road cars, not Montezmolo. Montezmolo now has too much power and is making way to many cars and over saturating the market. Also they are not supporting the older Ferrari's like Mercedes and Porsche do with their vintage cars.

HSCenterconsole -Good lord yes!!!!!!!!!! If I had the money to flip it EVEN I would buy THIS Lexus to flip for cash.

I guess that ends the EBAYERS and their auctions selling this for $500k and better....lolol

Seems like you missed the point as your title makes one think that you can only have it for 2 years. After the 2 years, the owners can buy it for the residual value. This keeps speculators from buying the car to resell immediately for profit.

You are correct PPower.

correct the word "ONLY" has been struck from the title

This is true, but how do they limit people selling lease contracts for $?
What about letting people assume your lease for profit?
There surely is a way to make profit for speculators.

Shredmo- You have a point but there probably is a provision to even prevent that. Basically Lexus will hold title on the car for 2 years, so even though you drive it, you won't own it. Though I haven't seen the terms I venture there even is not a buy out early option.

Why are most Autospies article headlines designed to incite flame wars?
I used to like this site.

Why is the sky blue?

who cares?

obviously YOU DO. LOL!!! despite your anti-toyota/lexus views, you NEVER manage to stay away from these threads. LOL!

just continue reading and weeping. we all enjoy your sulks.

Marketing stupidity, that's what this is. Price the car reasonably to be sold, this is Lexus' first attempt in this market and I'm sure the LFA although will defeat its other competitors in quality and reliability, but I don't think it will in performance and this market is all about that. So, lower this stupid high price so the car would be priced right. In my opinion, this car should not exceed $100k.

Not Exceed 100k for a full carbon fiber monocoque Tub! Jesus man the engine alone is aver 25 grand in parts to make!

That photo of the Lexus LF-A looks like it has camouflage on it.

There's only 500 of them...you guys act like dealer lots will be scattered with 100's of these cars, each...that's not the case.

There are more than 5 billion people in the world. In my conservative estimate, there's probably 100 million millionaires of the 5+ billion people. So finding 500 people to buy the car would not be a problem.

brembo:

you're seriously out of touch. 100 million millionaires?

oh...and makers like ferrari, lamborghini and aston are concerned about sales declines. if they are, shouldn't lexus be worried too?

most dealers will never see one. they're only making 500 for the whole planet. perhaps a third might make it to the US.

My definition of a royal screw over- charging one million dollars for a Reventon. How the heck is that worth it? By the way the R8 V10 was 1.9 seconds per lap slower than the GT-R at Top Gear's track.

I could care less if some rich guy wants to screw a richer guy.

And secondly, this can't be about preventing speculation. What does Lexus care? Either way, THEY don't get paid anything more than the list price.

I think that this is a way to sell the vehicles. Leasing is a way to get them all "sold" as quickly as possible with the least amount of up-front cash from customers.

It's all about Lexus controlling who owns the car. They don't want collectors/speculators owning the car...they want enthusiasts owning the car. Have you seen the questions that they ask prospective owners? If you answer that you're buying the car for a "collection" you get stroked off the list of buyers. They want people who show/drive/race the car to own them. Not someone who'll put it in their car barn and where it'll never see the light of day.

All I have to say is who cares how Lexus want's to see the LFA? Really, is the dilemma of leasing vs. buying a LFA going to really matter to anyone here? can anyone here afford a LFA???

I thought not!

they are definitely concerned about resale value. the question is...are they concerned about LOW or INFLATED resale?

do they really think people are going to pay over asking for a car that's more expensive than a comparable ferrari?

or are they concerned that people will resell a car a year or two later for far less--and the buyers who are still waiting for their car will cancel?

even 'comparable ferraris' will NEVER be as EXCLUSIVE.

if anything, this plan will move the cars EVEN FASTER than outright selling. leasing will expand the pool of people who'll be able to drive off in one.

the rich who can afford to buy this car outright, may be trampled on the way to lexus stores by those not quite able to buy, but able to lease.

never as exclusive? really?

aston is only making (77) one-77s. ferrari only made (400) enzos--and makes similar limited quantities of top-flight cars like the 612 and 599.

and the makers of these stunning cars are concerned about sales. they're having trouble.

so explain how 500 of these ugly LFA are going to fly off the shelf....

there may have been only 400 Enzos, but there are TONS of other model, run-of-the-mill ferraris.

there is ONLY ONE lexus supercar. and its high price further guarantees that the few lucky owners will be recognized as having a fast and beautiful car that is exclusive AND very expensive.

laughing...still laughing....

another thing genius...ferrari's highest production year EVER was 2008 and they made 6,500 cars split across 7 models. since math is tough for you, that's an average of 900 cars per models. TONS right?

aston, bentley, rolls and lamborghini made considerably fewer cars.

so, at best, the LFA production is average for a car in it's price range.

feel free to dispute the facts.

well, einstein, unless ferraris break down and get scrapped after just ONE year, your 2008 figure is MEANINGLESS. count ALL the ferraris on the road, not JUST last year's production, THEN you'd have a meaningful figure for comparison.

after all, who among the general public can identify ANY ferrari by model year? ditto ANY of the other exoticars. so yes, the LFA WILL BE far more exclusive than ANY of them.

and you may argue that counting ALL lexus models over the years, they are far more numerous. BUT there is only ONE lexus v10 supercar. (and only 500 examples will be made.)

IF you were to pursue the argument that lexuses in GENERAL are common, that would be like saying Ford GTs are not very exclusive because there are MILLIONS of fords around. and any intelligent person would see you as a total dimwit if you equated the GT with all fords.

come on guys dont be mislead...all 500 LFAs will sell Period. The Lexus LFA halo car will become an instant icon, legend and collectors "gotta have one" purchase. The rich, famous & collector will jump on these cars because they can afford them. Lexus will roll the red carpet out to the select few/high profile individuals. Catch 22?...you betcha...#1)must have seriously loaded vaults #2) cant be a Toy/Lex hater #3) must be a famous/high profile individual....Dont worry guys Agent009 definately wont be in the line-up. Niether will you or I for that matter(smile).

out of touch.
read above post.

Looks good in matt black!

if anyone doubts that lexus will succeed spectacularly with this car, in spite of the price, consider the Toyota 2000GT.

it was considered overpriced in its day. but the few surviving samples, if and when they are offered for sale, will bring MULTIPLE TIMES the original price, even allowing for inflation. it WAS a supercar 'exotic' for toyota back then.

i predict that once the 500 examples are gobbled up, lexus WILL plan on a successor. and while it will not take 10 years to get to market, neither will they rush it thru and disappoint the 500 owners. 3-4 years sounds about right. (and IF lexus gets ambitious and/or greedy, it will hit the market in just 2 years, just when these leases run out!

Toyota did a market research and found out that at $375K, nobody would buy this car. Think Bugatti - they are still struggling to find buyers for the original 350 cars. There are only that many sheiks in the world !

On the other hand, even at $375K a piece, a limited run with an estimated development cost of 1 bn (including the F1 flop cost, which gave the engineering content for this vehicle), they'd have to sell 2,667 cars just to cover fixed investment.

By leasing the vehicles, they are much more affordable for the public. After the two years, Toyota can still sell them to Mannheim or any other wholesaler and save their faces.

2667 assuming free labour and material costs.

Hey JW....get a clue. You think a 24 month lease on this car will be less than a straight finance? Guess again. The lease will be > finance! You really think they did this because they're worried about the price....wait till you see how many people they turn away. You think anyone at the end of 2 years won't buy it out? Even if they hated the car they'd still buy it....and then flip if for more than the buyout. I wouldn't be surprised to see them selling for more than $375k the day after the 2 year mark...

"2667 assuming free labour and material costs."


ha ha! see, this is where you guys who think like BEANCOUNTERS completely MISS the point.

toyota has such deep pockets, they DON'T GIVE A DAMN about making a profit with this car. it is mainly a halo car, to show off toyota's technical expertise.
Lexus/Toyota is prob'ly the ONLY company who can AFFORD to spend so freely on development (10 years!) and also absorb losses as in the current economic climate.

and potential buyers who stop to think about it, may even recognize that at $375,000 the car is an absolute STEAL of a bargain! considering the hundreds of millions it cost to develop and produce. if toyota/lexus actually wanted to recoup the development costs, the car should cost some $2,000,000!

and everyone also KNOWS toyota and lexus will be around for awhile. while aston-martin makes great cars too, that company would be DEAD if not for the cash infusions from Ford, and lately, Tata. if daddy bigbucks of the moment doesn't pump in more money for NEW models, they'll be dead in the water ANYWAY, with nothing new to offer down the road.

even Bugatti ONLY exists because papa VW also has deep pockets. ditto Lamborghini. and yes, even Ferrari too! which is backed financially by the Fiat coffers.

if not for these rich patron parent corporations, these fancy nameplates would follow the likes of Plymouth and Oldsmobile to the Shiny Showroom in the Sky. but no one doubts LEXUS will not only live a long life, but continue to CRANK OUT NEW MODELS more often than the competition.

industry insiders say that EVEN BMW and MB need to hook up with some volume manufacturer. or they will continue to lose ground to audi, to say nothing of lexus.

xyz:

you're clueless beyond help.

two glaring errors:

1. "at $375,000 the car is an absolute STEAL of a bargain! considering the hundreds of millions it cost to develop and produce." so according to you, prices paid should be based on the internal costs of a corporation rather than a competitive marketplace. does that make ANY sense?

2. "but no one doubts LEXUS will not only live a long life, but continue to CRANK OUT NEW MODELS more often than the competition." lexus does precisely the OPPOSITE. they produce FAR FEWER models with VERY LITTLE variation. furthermore, lexus runs most models much longer than the competition (witness the 9 year old SC, the 'new' GX after 8 years, the mid-cycle refreshes that take 4 years to produce, etc. etc.)

separately, we still have no idea if lexus is even profitable since toyota mysteriously won't reveal that information. if it's so good, why not?

like i said, your mental capacity is severely strained by being UNABLE to think other than as a BEANCOUNTER.

that, on top of being too dense to actually get the MEANING of what i say. did i say lexus SHOULD charge $2,000,000? did i actually say they WANTED to fully recover development costs?

and what do you care if the lexus division is profitable for toyota or not? they are enabling lexus DEALERS to make moola hand over foot! have you seen the virtual PALACES that some of the new dealerships have built?

whereas most dealerships change hands for $5 or $10 Million (or even less than a mil in the case of some marginal stores), a lexus store can and has traded for $100,000,000.

xyz:

you are quite correct. and therein lies lexus' success....helping dealers make money hand over fist and building service palaces. it's not about the cars...

such BACKASSwards thinking. you must be a porsche enthusiast.

yes Lexus dealers are vitually printing money. but ONLY because the products they sell ARE SO DESIRABLE.

ask MB and bmw dealers how many sales they think they LOST since lexus came on the scene. while you're at it, ask how much of their revenue comes from their SERVICE vs sales depts.

apparently, at bmw the figures were once so scary, they've had to entice new customers with "free service" --including all the expensive REPAIRS-- to be able to keep moving the product.

800over you are brilliant!...Lexus does indeed want enthusiast that are high profile and famous driving their new halo supercar. However, I do think new President Akio Toyodas strategy is to make sure the LF-A( his supreme baby) survives the political woes among those aging silent generation stiff necks. Mr. Toyoda is the great grandson of Toyotas founder. This man is an extremely competive enthusiast and has vowed to return his company to the days where Toyota reign supreme with fast, fun to drive, durable GT, sports and performance sedans. When you really think about how long it took to bring the LFA to production its has to have a few tricks up its sleeve. The performance numbers dont really match up to the 600 & 700hp supercars on paper but, you can bet that car will run with the best of them and be superior in workmanship..."after all every one of those LFAs will be handmade for only 500 selected and very special individuals'.

This is Lexus' way of eliminating opportunists and Ebay whoring. In a way, Lexus is selecting their clientele by only approving those who can afford a $10,000 + monthly payment.