During June 2010, Subaru is offering the choice between 2.9% financing and low-cost, long-term leases on all of its vehicles. Subaru’s lease deals are for 42 months, where most carmakers lease for 36 months.

So what do those eight months mean to you? First of all, you won’t have a new car as often. That might seem frivolous, but having a new car every few years is one of the major selling points of a lease, and many people prefer to switch cars often. The second effect the longer lease term has is that you’ll save money over the long run. Sure you’ll be paying the lease payments each month either way, but most leases require money down in order to start the lease, usually between $2,000 and $3,000.

If you took on a 42-month lease today, and over the next 10 years, traded in that 42-month lease for another each time it was up, you’d go through 2.8 cars, which means you would be on your second car and due for another in six months.

If you did the same with 36-month leases, you would be on your third car already, and due for another in two years. That means that at the 10-year mark, trading in 36-month leases instead of 42-month leases could cost you between two and three thousand dollars, possibly more with inflation, depending on how much down payment was required at each lease signing.

On a 2010 Subaru Outback, which is being offered during June for $285 a month on a 42-month lease, those three thousand dollars saved is the equivalent of 10 months in lease payments.

The 2010 Subaru Outback.

Subaru is also offering 42-month lease specials on the 2010 Impreza at $179 a month, Impreza WRX at $279 a month, Forester at $229 a month and Tribeca at $389 a month.

Only the 2010 Subaru Legacy is being offered with a traditional 36-month lease, and at $199 a month, it’s an attractive offer.