Buy vs Lease?

[melissphillips]

New to the forum. Just leased a new 2024 Premium AWD extended range. MSRP was 54,090. With negotiations, discounts, and lease incentives, got it down to 38.5k. Money factor is 0.000229167, equal to .55% (almost zero). Put zero down with $373/month for 36 months.

LOL, can I hire you to negotiate a deal for me

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[gutowscr]

LOL, can I hire you to negotiate a deal for me

My negotiation skills are weak. I simply told them the price I wanted, not the monthly payment, and walked out of dealership twice until they hit the number. Then we started talking monthly payment.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

My negotiation skills are weak. I simply told them the price I wanted, not the monthly payment, and walked out of dealership twice until they hit the number. Then we started talking monthly payment.

^^^^^ this. It’s so simple yet no one follows it. I practically beg my brother every time he leases a vehicle to talk price only. No. He talks monthly payment. And he’s a big four accountant. Go figure.

 

[scott_77]

New to the forum. Just leased a new 2024 Premium AWD extended range. MSRP was 54,090. With negotiations, discounts, and lease incentives, got it down to 38.5k. Money factor is 0.000229167, equal to .55% (almost zero). Put zero down with $373/month for 36 months.

Such a gut punch that they can be so different from dealer to dealer just one week apart. Location matters too I am sure. But now I feel like I got ripped off. Same car less miles much more. Same tactic but … I knew I should’ve walked away. Love the car… tough pill to swallow. Congratulations. Did you trade in or something? This is why some forums put rules on not talking price I suppose.... well done. Is it at least an awful ugly color? Lol

 

[jdeve]

Know what you want first. Search for cars through dealer websites. Then send emails to 5 asking for the "out the door price". Your zip code may be the one piece of personal information you should provide up front so they can tell you what incentives are available.

Very Important: Do not disclose how you will pay for it or if you have a trade in until you have an OTD number you can work with. Do not shop by monthly payment.

Be firm with them when they tell you they can only give you numbers in person. Sales managers understand out the door prices. Avoid taking their calls. Tell them you can't speak and want numbers emailed but let them know your serious. Tell them I am shopping and plan to make a decision by the end of the month is good or within a week.

If you have a trade, then first have a carmax or other offer before discussing the trade. Again, only disclose a trade after an out the door price has been agreed upon.

Use caredge.com to search dealer inventories nationwide for as far as your willing to go. Very important; Dealers pay floor plan on aging inventory and are more willing to negotiate on aging inventory. I have not looked in awhile but it would not surprise me to find Mach E's sitting for 6-12 months or longer on lots. You can sort cars on caredge.com by days on market. Look at dealers that have a lot of inventory. Wait for the last week of the month or last day. 25's are out soon and with lower MSRP so expect a substantial discount off of MSRP before incentives.

For an EV only lease it. Some dealers may be unwilling to lease out of state. I was able to. Leases have a residual value that is a % of MSRP. Don't let them sell you add on's in the finance office not in the 'OTD'. So once you inform the dealer you want to lease get a lease worksheet and check all of the numbers before final agreement. Leases have interest rates called a 'money factor'. There are formulas to covert the money factor to a rate for comparison. Be careful, small sounding 'MF' values can be a lot. Ask what the Buy rate is on the MF to know you they are not increasing it to make more money because you have done so well with everything else.

Never, ever under any circumstance pay money down on a lease. If you trade ask them to write you a check for the trade. Likely it is easier to sell to carmax and get a better offer. A first month payment at the time of signing is ok.

Don't make it stressful. Make a game out of it.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Such a gut punch that they can be so different from dealer to dealer just one week apart. Location matters too I am sure. But now I feel like I got ripped off. Same car less miles much more. Same tactic but … I knew I should’ve walked away. Love the car… tough pill to swallow. Congratulations. Did you trade in or something? This is why some forums put rules on not talking price I suppose.... well done. Is it at least an awful ugly color? Lol

Whom did you buy it for in Illinois, Scott? I was offered a $819 a month, $1,500 down 7.5k mile 36 month lease on a loaded GT with x-plan which offered additional $1,500 off. I told them no. The use tax alone was outrageous.

 

[gutowscr]

Such a gut punch that they can be so different from dealer to dealer just one week apart. Location matters too I am sure. But now I feel like I got ripped off. Same car less miles much more. Same tactic but … I knew I should’ve walked away. Love the car… tough pill to swallow. Congratulations. Did you trade in or something? This is why some forums put rules on not talking price I suppose.... well done. Is it at least an awful ugly color? Lol

We had a trade I was right side up on so asked them to cut me a check and not touch the lease financials which they agreed to. I brought in a CarMax offer for my trade and they agreed on value. No ugly color. lol.

 

[scott_77]

We had a trade I was right side up on so asked them to cut me a check and not touch the lease financials which they agreed to. I brought in a CarMax offer for my trade and they agreed on value. No ugly color. lol.

Nice. Identical. Great minds think a like and so do we. Well, I'll give you the great mind

The damage for me:

In the end, I will have paid ~$24k for 3 years of use (includes trade in) and no ownership on a car w MSRP of $54,635.

$410/mo for 36 mo with only 10.5k miles and the level 2 charger and installation. But that's really $667/mo, right?

I got a quote from CarMax for my trade in for ~$8k and they offered me a little more
My credit score was 850

I walked in the dealership Jan 24 just to test drive and move on until 2025 were available and I completed my rounds on other makes I wanted to test out, too. Especially knowing the new ones were right around corner for reportedly even less, w heat pump and ventilated seat.

I had extreme buyers remorse for not walking away and researching this one more which I was doing with the others I test drove (Hyundai, Volvo, Toyota and Tesla the week prior) - was making rounds to Chevy, Honda, Nissan but stopped at Ford to check it out like I did the other dealerships, get a ballpark figure, and walk out to think on it.. to fight another day.

But... thus far this was the only one where I was like, yes. Oh. I like this. And I expressed that too much. Tell.

Was also worried about the EV credits and tariffs and what nots... next thing you know the salesman applied the high pressure - I took one look at him and was about to say bye... but I played ball... and I left with a car I was happy with but felt vulnerable ... looked out there at the deals and thought oh no... he got me

In the end, I am truly happy with the car - cannot remember any time in my past where I looked forward to driving to work... so that alone is worth a lot. But, things are tight here and stinks knowing I should've been able to save $10k for the kids and family.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[gutowscr]

Nice. Identical. Great minds think a like and so do we. Well, I'll give you the great mind

The damage for me:

In the end, I will have paid ~$24k for 3 years of use (includes trade in) and no ownership on a car w MSRP of $54,635.

$410/mo for 36 mo with only 10.5k miles and the level 2 charger and installation. But that's really $667/mo, right?

I got a quote from CarMax for my trade in for ~$8k and they offered me a little more
My credit score was 850

I walked in the dealership Jan 24 just to test drive and move on until 2025 were available and I completed my rounds on other makes I wanted to test out, too. Especially knowing the new ones were right around corner for reportedly even less, w heat pump and ventilated seat.

I had extreme buyers remorse for not walking away and researching this one more which I was doing with the others I test drove (Hyundai, Volvo, Toyota and Tesla the week prior) - was making rounds to Chevy, Honda, Nissan but stopped at Ford to check it out like I did the other dealerships, get a ballpark figure, and walk out to think on it.. to fight another day.

But... thus far this was the only one where I was like, yes. Oh. I like this. And I expressed that too much. Tell.

Was also worried about the EV credits and tariffs and what nots... next thing you know the salesman applied the high pressure - I took one look at him and was about to say bye... but I played ball... and I left with a car I was happy with but felt vulnerable ... looked out there at the deals and thought oh no... he got me

In the end, I am truly happy with the car - cannot remember any time in my past where I looked forward to driving to work... so that alone is worth a lot. But, things are tight here and stinks knowing I should've been able to save $10k for the kids and family.

Enjoy the ride!

Enjoy yours also. This is an amazing vehicle, can’t imagine speed of a GT. We had some buyers remorse after seeing deals by other manufacturers but in the end we love this car. I still get the rumble from my 2021 F150 5.0 Roush 4x4 so I am truly in a happy spot with both vehicles.
Our trade was a wrangler 4xe which was a lot of fun but value was dropping like a tank

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