You know very little about leases. While you can typically choose to execute the purchase of a lease during or at the end of the lease period, the intent is not to build equity. It’s not a purchase. It’s a long term rental.

For a lease, you pay a combination of the estimated depreciation of the vehicle over the period of the contract + interest + taxes/fees. You will pay minimal regular maintenance. Most leases are short enough to avoid any major maintenance, and leases are notoriously poorly taken care of by owners as they just hand the vehicles back in a few years. And that is generally with very few consequences, short of anything major.

For a purchase, you are paying the entire value of the vehicle + interest + taxes/fees + full preventative maintenance, major maintenance and part replacement, etc.

The value of a lease is nearly entirely dependent on the money factor (interest) and the estimated depreciation curve the leasing entity is currently using. A $25k car that’s expected to lose 40% ($10k) in value over a 39 month lease is going to have a higher lease payment typically than a $30k car that’s expected to lose 30% ($9k) in value over the same period.

Leases are not always worse than purchasing. It really does come down to a vehicle by vehicle basis, and is entirely dependent on what the manufactures offers are currently. It’s the same as the math for rent vs buying a home. Not every vehicle, manufacture, or market is the same or even static.

$269/month for 10k miles annually. $275/month for 12k miles annually. $286/month for 15k miles annually.

All lease prices for an ~$25k Corolla …

You are wrong twice. I showed you the math, for a $25k vehicle that exists for both leases and finance via Toyota. And leases are typically cheaper unless you are talking an outlier vehicle with seriously abnormal depreciation curves. So yeah, no. YOU are wrong. Twice.

🙄

$269/month for 10k miles annually. $275/month for 12k miles annually. $286/month for 15k miles annually.

Any other excuses you’d like to find for a legitimate pricing offer? Arbitrary rules? These are pretty basic rules for how a lease is handled. And the mileage terms offered as standard (10k, 12k, 15k) absolutely are the industry standard.

And your point is? You are still talking about the purchase of a car. OP clearly stated lease, and you can lease a Toyota around $25k for not much more than $250. So your entire premise is incorrect.

Currently the lease on a (just barely—$24,100) sub-$25k Corolla with $3k down for 39 months is $269/month direct from Toyota.

The same car financed for 60month/4.99%APR and 3k down would have a payment of $384.

All of that will be plus your local taxes and any fees of course …

Those numbers and offers are all direct from Toyota (and are going to be credit dependent of course).

Not saying OP did any math of value, but they did state a lease vs the math you did for financing (“auto loan”), so you aren’t exactly comparing apples to apples here …

Currently the lease on a (just barely—$24,100) sub-$25k Corolla with $3k down for 39 months is $269/month direct from Toyota.

The same car financed for 60month/4.99%APR and 3k down would have a payment of $384.

All of that will be plus your local taxes and any fees of course …

Those numbers and offers are all direct from Toyota (and are going to be credit dependent of course).

I also found it interesting that the US’s share of the top 10 companies (9/10) alone accounted for over $8t in value, or nearly 10% of the $81t in market value across over 7100 companies.