hbcmomo

I'm looking for some advice and this looks like just the right place!

I'm looking to get rid of my GTI and I've seen some pretty interesting deals right now on IS250s. They have the Golden Opportunity event which I'm possibly going to take advantage of. The problem is, i've never leased a car before and am new to some of the terminology and ways to go about reducing payments, etc. For those that don't know you get a IS250 with an MSRP of $38,159 for $1500 down, $329/month 36 months, 10k miles/year. I called and spoke with the dealership and they said they can get me that same offer with 15k miles for $350 a month.

First off, is this deal worth it? I do need the 15k miles and would love to keep my payment at $350/month (what I currently pay), but I also am looking at getting the model that has the heated seats and Nav (was quoted 42k MSRP for that).

What I'm looking for is advice on ways to reduce my costs both down and monthly. I plan on going in to the dealership tomorrow to talk with them in person and have noted to ask about MSDs as that can reduce my monthly. Anything else I can ask or bring back to the forums here to help advise if this deal is good?

Thanks guys.

ddlee

Hi, first time posting here w/ my IS350 F sport.

MSRP: 491xx
24month/12k
Adjusted Cap cost: $426xx
discount: $1000 college grad + $500 leasing discount
residual factor 0.71
MF: 0.0003 (with 9MSD)
Monthly payment : $349/month (inc 8% tax in so cal)
$0 down first month payment included.

Here is the mistakes I made: I was quoted originally $439 inc tax/month for 12k/24months.
I called the dealer to confirm the monthly payment before I get there, and I asked what would be my payment be with 9 MSD and college grad applied. The dealer didn't tell me!!! He just said come we figure it out. (Stupid on my part) I should not fall for that kinda of trap...
So when I get there, they played all those games on me (e.g. oh we factor in you college discount in the cap cost already, $439 did not include tax, blah blah)

Lesson learned, always always ask for the adjusted cap cost, if they don't tell you, they are trying to play a game on you, be aware!

Since the dealer was 1hr drive from where I live, I didn't want to go back without driving the car back. It already wasted me so much time...

Just want to share my story and hopefully it could help someone.

Don't be like me, turned a great deal into a good deal. (could be $333/month instead of $349/month). Oh well, at the end of the day, I do enjoyed my IS 350 on my way back. Since this is my first time leasing a car, it was definitely a lot harder than what I expected. There are so many numbers they can play with you.
I do appreciate all the people posting all their numbers, it definitely helped me a lot.

gmanusmc

Sounds like you are getting close - the residual for 12k miles might be 71% - that would be a difference of around $20 and did you add in the first payment as part of the fees? That would be another $10-12. So all in all, I think you will hit your target or come very close. Good work!

gmanusmc

Welcome to the forum.

Please don't go to the dealer until you've read through some of the pricing threads here and understand how a lease is structured - if you go to the dealer uninformed, you stand a good chance of paying more for your lease than you should. You can do much better than the advertised lease deal - the most important part of a lease is the selling price (cap cost in lease speak). In CA, you should get at least 10% discount off msrp for a selling price. If you must go to the dealer, just go to look at the car - don't talk numbers. Do your negotiating via email with the dealers' internet departments. This info I just gave you is just a basic start - we can give you more info as you get further along with the process.

gmanusmc

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new IS!

Don't fret - it appears you got a very good deal - a $16 difference in payment is only $384 over the two year lease - you got a very nice car at a very good price - now have fun with it!

mrtrance

I can confirm that the residual on the 24/12K is 72%. Got that figure from several other dealers and Edmunds.

So no response back from that dealer yet after I sent him my numbers and how I was able to get the $342 payment. Wondering now if indeed they are using a much higher MF than the base 0.00075. I might call him personally to see what is up.

Also do you think I can still squeeze another $450 more off that MSRP from this dealer assuming the MF and other numbers align? What would be my strategy here now with this dealer after getting lease numbers and a decent selling price?

Also how should I use this good discount from this dealer to try and get other dealers involved to not only match it but beat it and get me closer to that $6K off discount? Should I send emails to the rest of local ones saying I have this offer and will they be able to beat it and if so I can be there in a few hours to close deal? Is it a good idea to include the name of dealer in these emails to other dealers that has offered me the good discount or just mention the discount and see if they can beat it? Not sure what strategy to take here to reach my goal of maximum discount and with base MF.

By the way the dealer in NorCal that had the initial $5500 discount off MSRP came back with MF of 0.00125 and not 0.00075. I emailed them back to say why not using base MF, but no response. I am just hoping that the local dealer here that is also give me the $5539 discount is not using a jacked up MF and that is why they did not respond to email after I sent my lease numbers with base MF.

Need some feedback here since I want to close deal today if possible and latest tomorrow.

mrtrance

I got the following from another dealer, but I am a bit confused on how they explain the numbers especially the rebate part. Need some feedback on if numbers make sense and what would be my net cap price here:

"MSRP= $42,249.
-24 months
-12,000 miles/year
-$1520 total due at signing (700 bank fee, plus DMV fees and first payment)
-$333/month plus tax..$360/month inc tax

Selling price = $38,000
Rebate total = $860

This was sent in response to my question of how rebates were applied:

"It's applied to the down payment. *The IS comes with a $500 rebate plus first payment (in your case, your first payment is $360).

So basically, your full down payment to get to $360/month is $1520 plus the $860 from Lexus. *If you wanted to take away $360 from the down payment and only pay $1160, that's fine - your monthly payment will just go up about $10/month!"

Is this correct? Wouldn't the rebate just come off drive off fees and lower that? I am confused somewhat here.

gmanusmc

Looks like they are using a money factor of .00075. The discount is not that great.
If they knocked another $1k off, you're at 315 incl tax with the .00075. With max MSDs, it goes to around 265 (2475 in MSDs). I'm not sure why they are being a bit stubborn on the discount. Your target $6k discount would get you to around 280 without and 230 with max MSDs.

All the above based on 24/12 and 72% residual, 1500 cash from you, plus $500 lease cash and first payment used in drive off as rebates.

mrtrance

So what is the net cap cost they are using here to get to that $333 payment (with no tax)? I can't seem to get the same monthly payment using their numbers using leasing calculators. The net cap cost would have to be at $37200 for the payments to come to $333/mo without tax.

So how come I am paying the first payment in the drive off fees and the rebate not applied there to reduce the $1520 by $360? I'm a bit confused on how the rebates are being applied here. Are they applying the $500 lease cash towards the selling price to get the net cap at $37500? Am I paying the full $1520 or will that be reduced by the $860 rebates? Please advise.

gmanusmc

You are throwing too many numbers out there and making this more complicated than it needs to be. I know you generally understand all that goes into the lease calculation, so at this point, whichever dealer you are working with, insist on a written breakdown of all the numbers - ask for an explanation of anything that looks out of place or you don't understand. As far as the first payment, it is always added into the initial drive off fees - in this case it is given back to you as a rebate in addition to the $500 lease cash rebate.

mrtrance

OK got it. But in this case so the $860 rebates that is given back to me will that offset the selling price (net cap cost) or the drive off fees that I owe them?

gmanusmc

It looks like in this case they quoted 1520 from you in cash and added the rebates to it for a total of 2380 drive off (or something close to that). I think you've pretty well determined the money factor, residual, and rebates, so the variable that needs work is the actual selling price. Hopefully, someone will step up with around $5500-6000 off msrp and then apply the rebates to that for a total of about $6300-6800 off msrp. Shoot for that if you can.

mrtrance

But why would you add the rebates and not subtract from either price or drive off fees? I'm not used to these rebates and how they apply. I thought for the lease cash they would just deduct it form selling price of car and the rebate would deduct from the first payment from drive off. Is is more easier understood that way.

On another note I emailed a few of the other dealers that had sent me quote and informed them of my best offer and if they would be able to beat it. A few came back and asked if I could forward that dealer's email to them to see what they could do. I had a bad experience before with MB dealers when I forwarded it to them or showed them in person and got a nasty email from that original dealer of how it went at those at other dealers. I don't want to repeat that again since I know dealers talk among themselves and don't want issues again. So what should my response be to these dealers?

gmanusmc

Again, if you get a detailed, itemized breakdown of the numbers, you should see how all the figures come together and that the rebates ARE credited to the deal, or subtracted from your cap cost.

I agree - I would not share dealer documentation with another dealer. They know what kind of deal they can offer you - they need to communicate that to you - that should not require seeing another dealer's info.

gc250c

Can I get the MF and residual on an IS250C fully loaded, 36months/10k miles and 12k a year in Nashville, TN area? Thanks!