worldly1 wrote:
I've been seeing posts related to the amount put down, the "drive-off cost", being taxed, somehow. My question is this: I see that everyone here is striving for the $0 down lease. Why is that, versus the money down lease?
That was answered above. Any money that you put down (down payment) is "at-risk" in the event that the car is stolen, totaled, etc.
Here's an extreme example. You lease a car and pay the entire lease up front (yes, this actually happens). Then you drive off the lot and and a truck plows into it, and subsequently the insurance company writes it off as a "total loss".
Can you see whatt happened to your money? You never owned the car, so you see absolutley zero insurance money from the total loss.
Toyota cracked down on out-of-state leases in October 2013. You will have to "scam the system" someway, or buy a used Rav4 EV and ship it.