60% Down Payment to Lease a Car Now — Does Financing Still Make Sense?

Since May 2026 the Central Bank has capped vehicle financing at 40% LTV for cars, SUVs, vans and three-wheelers, down from 50% earlier. In plain terms, most leasing companies now ask for at least 60% of the vehicle's value upfront before they'll finance the rest. Commercial vehicles got a smaller cut, from 70% to 60% LTV, so pickups and lorries still move easier than private cars. One side says this is overdue discipline — it stops people leasing cars they can't really afford, cools import demand that was draining dollars, and forces buyers to actually save instead of living on debt. The other side says it just locks out anyone who isn't already sitting on savings, pushes buyers toward informal lenders or relatives, or keeps unsafe old vehicles on the road longer because nobody can afford to upgrade. Has anyone here actually been quoted 60% down recently? Did you pay it, downgrade to a cheaper vehicle, or just give up on buying for now? මේ වගේ ලීසිං සීමාවක් නිසා ඔබේ ගාණ වෙනස් වුණාද? ඔබේ අත්දැකීම කියන්න.