2018 July lease advice needed

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Hello Leasehackrs!

I am so relieved I found this forum. I am unable to decide how to proceed with a new lease this year. Apologies for the long post I will share some background and my question.

I just came off a 2 year Nissan Rouge lease (WA state, Seattle area), whose terms were:
Lease Dates - July 2016 to July 2018
No.Of.Years: 2
MSRP: $27,100
Lease-end Value: $17,615.00
Cap Cost: $24,929.68
Cash Cap Reduction: $1,353.18
Rebate: $1,650
Total Cap Reduction: $2,993.18
Total Add Cap Cost: $595
Adjusted Cap Cost: $22,531.30
Lease Factor: 0.00003
Total Monthly payment: $226.24 (tax inclusive)
Lic Fee: $225.25
Total Int Fees : $159
Amount Due At Start: $3,897
Cap red tax: 9.8% – $293.33
Customer cash down: $2,247
Total Sales Tax - $777.89
Total Mileage: 15K per year (Negotiated up from original 12K per year)

So in the past 2 years i paid $2247 + (24 * 226.24) = $7,676.76

I ended up using about 28K in miles - so below the 30K/yr limit.

I am now in the market for a new lease and i am looking for similar terms with one additional criteria:

(a) monthly payment to be <= $225
(b) ok for cash down upto $2500
© a 24 month lease and preferably 15K/yr (12k/yr is the next option)
(d) a smaller car with 4WD/AWD

Considering (d) I was thinking of Subaru. I reviewed the posts in the forum:


Looking at lease deals in the Seattle area, I do not see any 24 month leases.

My questions:

(1) Should I reset my expectations of finding a 24 month lease that satisfies (a) through (d)?
(2) Are there other car makes that can meet my expectations of (a) through (d)?
(3) Is the 36 month/10K year the best option that I should expect from any make?
(4) There is a possibility I might move states - in which case can I return my lease in a different state at the end or should I expect to bring it back to the original dealer after the end of the lease?

Thank you,
Smt.

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Seattle is generally a great place to lease a Subaru - there is tons of competition and it is a high volume market. A Crosstrek or Impreza would likely hit your major bullets and fit mostly within your budget.

Unfortunately, Subaru doesn’t really support 24 month leases (the interest rates and residuals for 24 months make it impossible to score a good deal), but 36 month leases will be competitive.

We are coming up on the end of 2018 MY so on the volume movers like Impreza and Crosstrek, as long as there is inventory, there will be some deals to be had.

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Thank you! @28firefighter. Any ideas for #4 - i.e. options for lease return in case of moving out of Seattle. Also #3 i.e. getting mileage > 10K/yr

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I am also almost on the same boat looking for a lease in Bellevue. Probably a Mazda 3 or Civic SI. Will update here if i find anything interesting.

There is a great lease offer on Jeep Cherokee Latitude Plus which is mentioned in one of the threads here. Please let me know if it perks up your interest. May be we can scout the deal together.

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I have a great Subaru contact that I’ve referred others here to - competitive pricing, buy rate etc - I’ll PM each of you separately if you would like.

Returning a lease outside of seattle should not be a problem as long as you’re leasing through Subaru finance and return to a Subaru dealer.

The strongest residuals will be on a 10k mile a year lease, but you can certainly get more. 12k and 15k/year residuals are industry standard, but you’ll pay more monthly for those keeping all other variables the same.

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Thanks! @Techno7 I am trying to stick with a Sedan (not set on Subaru - so your suggestion of Mazda/Civic sound interesting if they have a 4WD/AWD option)

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Thanks! Please do PM the contact.

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The Mazda 3 does not have AWD/4WD and I’m 99% sure the Civic does not either. You’d have to get a CX-3 to get the AWD option.

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I see, so it looks like in Sedans - Subaru models are the only options. I will switch back to crossovers/SUVs in case i can’t find a good deal on the Subaru models.

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Yeah, at your price point, I think either the Legacy or Impreza will be your best bet for sedans with AWD/4WD. Definitely use @28firefighter’s Subaru contact when you’re looking at the Subies - I got my Forester from the salesperson he referred me to and I can vouch for how great his contact (and dealership) are.

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thanks! @jamiemose I will definitely try that.

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Updating progress on my adventure. I spoke to 3 dealers near my area. I shifted to focusing on Outback for the first 2 dealers. With the 3rd one, i didn’t go beyond Impreza. I posted the options from first 2 here: 2018 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium with EyeSight

Option C with Impreza (premium 4D with EyeSight) was Monthly Payment: $200 & downpayment $1000. The dealer refused to share the Sales Price etc. He said he is willing to make the deal happy if i was a serious buyer.

Given Option A & Option B from the linked thread & Option C - would i have a better time working with Option C to negotiate the outback price? I am leaning more towards the Outback now after having the test drive.