The Best SUV Lease

Okay, folks. Some of you suggested that I do an SUV lease special article. After looking at how sparse, few and in-between the number of decent lease deals on SUV and Crossover vehicles, I thought I would wait for the new year. The New Year is here, but the new deals are not. Below, is the Top-10 SUV Leases for last year which don't expire for another few days. Realizing, that this would be a great opportunity to see how the latest SUV deals compare for the new year, I changed my mind about publishing last year's deals. If you're reading this before January 5th, 2010 you can still take advantage of these SUV Lease Offers. The problem is, besides the Toyota RAV4 (an excellent lease special), you will be hard pressed to find one that gets you excited. The Toyota RAV4 is head and shoulders above any SUV lease deal that's out there. My LVR (Lease Value Ratio) formula rates the RAV4 deal as Excellent. None of the other SUVs even rank in the 'Good' category. In fact, the Toyota RAV4 is so far ahead of it's closest competitor, the Honda CR-V, that you might think this is a joke. Sadly, it's not. The 2010 Honda CR-V will cost you $40.00 a month more to lease. You will have to put an additional $100 down on the CR-V and its LVR is only1.39 as opposed to 1.11

for the RAV4. If that's not bad enough, here is the real kicker: Unlike the AWD RAV4, the Honda CR-V is only a front wheel drive SUV. I thought about including only SUVs with AWD for this lease feature. Sadly, there were so few decent AWD leases on SUVs being offered, that I had to include all of them. I wonder why the AWD vehicles don't lease as well. I would think the residual value of 4-wheel drives would be quite high. I have to believe that the residual values of SUVs are a victim of other factors such as local climate and geography. Cold weather climates and mountainous states obviously have a higher demand for AWD SUVs. Still, the SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle), represents a hipper, trendier version of the outdated minivan for those who don't require 4-wheel traction. Having relatives and friends in southern Arizona and Texas, I know that SUVs are greatly admired regardless of geography and All-Wheel-Drive neccessity. Finally, I think these difficult economic conditions have played a role in limiting the number of leases on good SUVs with AWD. All Wheel Drive cars get worse gas mileage. At a time when car buyers are trying to save every penny they can, coupled with the fact not everyone requires 4-wheel drive traction, the more fuel efficient SUVs with front wheel drive, are probably in higher demand. This, perhaps, explains why Toyota is offering us such a great lease deal on the 2010 AWD RAV4. The 2010 Toyota RAV4 is rated at 21MPG in the City and 27MPG on the highway; not bad for a 4-Wheel Drive.  By comparison, the FWD Honda CR-V offers 21MPG in town and 28MPG on the highway. So, there is virtually no difference in fuel economy between the AWD RAV4 and FWD CR-V. Besides fuel economy, both RAV4 and CR-V are 5-passenger vehicles offering 179 and 180HP respectively. This one is a no-brainer. It is going to be real interesting to see how next January's SUV lease specials compare. Will there be some new challengers to the RAV4? Will the RAV4 continue to be available at such a low monthly lease payment? Check back soon!

Top-10 SUV Leases

SUV Lease

SUV Lease

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Filed under: Car Leasing • Lease Comparison

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