I need your help - I think this offer may still be able to come down, but how close is it to a good deal?

It's a 36 month lease with 10k miles a year. 2012 ct and not a 2013.

Has premium audio package and navigation package. Nuluxe interior.

Msrp is 36,453.

Residual is $22,695.

Offer is $399 a month with $1,740 payment. This includes all taxes and fees already, plus first month.

How much room do I have? What can I still ask for?

If I'm doing the math right, $22,965 residual plus $13,965 payments, and the $1,740 down. Giving me a total of $38,670 out the door.

Does that seem right? Seems too high and basically msrp to me.

 

that's not really how you calculate leases. you can't just add those together to determine "out the door" price.

besides, out the door price doesn't matter in leases. what you want to do is negotiate as hard as you would on the price as if you were buying. the dealer doesn't care if it's lease or buy, the price you pay is what is important. in leases, it's called capitalized cost, or cap cost.

work on the cap cost. i would think CTs are in high supply right now so you shouldn't be anywhere near MSRP on cap cost.

also, don't let them ream you on money factor (basically the interest rate). they usually markup the buy rate on the MF to make some money on the finance side.


other than that, it's difficult to compare apples to apples because your cash at signing is going to include tax and title. definitely shop around your area to see if you are in the right range. good luck!

p.s. google lease calculators online and it can help you understand what goes into leasing numbers. residuals are typically fixed by lexus financial, but the money factor and cap cost will vary from dealer to dealer.

 

Ok - I knew I was perhaps calculating the total price incorrectly. So how can I figure out exactly what the total car cost is? I thought I could just add up my payments and residual to get it.

 

At my dealership, you buy= you can negotiate price, you lease= you don't get much leeway. for a 2012 CT you are lucky to get $1,500 off MSRP on a purchase. Our CT's base model, a $32,XXX car is running $299 per mo. with $999 down. Yours with all the goodies for $399 and $1,740 down including first payment is right on par for what I've seen.

 

it sounds like you are more interested in purchasing the car but want to take advantage of leasing to avoid a big down payment and high monthly payment?

if that is the case, then yes, you can add it all up, but don't forget that there are fees . the residual doesn't include tax. it's just the value at the end of 36 months. you also might have some doc fees to transfer the title. and if you don't have the residual ready as a "balloon payment" and have to finance that, then obviously you are still going to pay some interest ...

but ordinarily, if you plan to give it back, then you shouldn't focus too much on the out the door price of the "whole" car since you are only using it for 3 years.

 

that is a good point. nebraska is probably pretty limited in supply.

in So Cal the CTs are everywhere and i just saw 15-20 at my local dealer last month. you can negotiate just as hard on leases as you can on purchases. so if you can negotiate the cost of the car to 31,000 in a purchase, they will use that as a cap cost for leases. you just have to be careful they don't markup the buy rate too much to try to squeeze a little more profit out.

i'm guessing NY is more like CA in terms of negotiating room ...

 

I actually do intend to buy it out after 3 years, as I likely will go over the 10k miles.

I just want to gauge if I can still make a fair counteroffer. It is a 2012, so that may help. Any suggestions on a possible offer that could be accepted within reason?

 

Something HUGE to consider. In NY (not sure about other states) a LEASE requires, by law, 100/300 coverage on insurance. A finance does not.
My driving record is terrible so when I got a quote to lease a CT with 100/300 coverage, my insurance payment was going to be as much as the lease payment. I said screw that, I'd rather pay more towards the car as opposed to insurance, and financed the car.

Just a heads up if you haven't thought of that aspect yet.


Btw, where in NY are you? Anywhere near larchmont? David G at Ray Catena Lexus gave me a great, no hassles deal, in and out literally an hour or so for the whole buying process. He's a very honest guy!

 

I already have those higher coverages due to another lease, so it's ok.

I'm actually in nj now, so if I lease most likely it'd be around here.

The 2012 is cheaper, but the 13 does have that newer nav which I like.