With great anguish, I have to ask a serious question...

Rich, I have also been following this thread.

Just wanted to comment about your situation, as I have been in a similar one: check the local Honda and Toyota dealerships because you can probably pick up a decent used vehicle for under $8k- this will allow you to take time to evaluate your situation and put money aside for a brand new family mover for your wife.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

So, wouldn't insurance pay for a replacement new (or slightly used) Pilot?

 

Get a 4Runner. Very safe.

 

I should add that sometimes a car company will subsidize a lease by setting a residual higher than what the market will likely support. This gives an artificially low lease payment. Also car companies often have lease conquest incentives that can make a big difference with payments. Another thing a car company will do is offer lease again from us incentives.

I should stress, you generally should not lease if your plan is to buy at the end of the lease. If you figure you will pretty much always have a late model vehicle that you are not going to modify. Then a heavily subsidized high residual lease, combined with high incentive and or conquest money, on a vehicle you are leasing at a low/invoice price can be the best way to go.

However, you have to walk into that dealership knowing your shit. A lot of these royally fucked up lease deals you hear about are because people leased a vehicle either at or above, possibly well above, the MSRP. Or a trade in was upside down. You need to negotiate price just like you do when you buy. Figure the lease numbers ahead of time. Figure at invoice and at MSRP. Figure the realistic value of any trade. No your trade is not worth some stipid high price nor is it worth next to nothing. You waste your time being a dumb ass on what your trade is worth. Then armed with real numbers and real payment numbers, you walk into a dealership and you know where you need to be.

 

Hello All.
Some good news and full disclosure... We got our Pilot back last evening (delayed with the holidays) from the shop doing the evaluation on it. Our Pilot is mechanically and structurally sound and able to be fully repaired (by me) and put back on the road. Good news and quite a relief for us. It will cost us about $600.00 (2 salvaged doors and taillight) and a fair amount of my time, but well worth it in our opinion. We do not carry collision on the Pilot so there was no insurance money. Best of all, we don't have to get rid of our Tacoma!!!
And as far as leasing goes... Thank you for all of the information in this thread. If and when we lease again, we will be much more knowledgeable on the subject than this time around. Thank you all so much again...

Peace.

Rich