I feel like the deal I got is bad and it’s because of how I approached the return of my prior lease. I’m paying $50 less monthly than I was but I think I could have gotten I better deal had I done more research on how to approach leasing first. Posting here to learn so that I can do better once I go back in 3 years.
Term: 36/12,000 miles
MSRP $25,630
Selling Price $24985
Monthly Payment : $400
Drive-Off: $0
1st month payment: $0
Down payment: $0
Registration and doc fee: $569
Total Tax: $1517
Loyalty rebate: $1000
Total Lease Cost: $14400
You’re right, this is a terrible deal for a Jetta.
Looks like the dealer didn’t really give you any kind of discount or even mention rebates to you.
I wonder what the MF and RV looks like that they used… Though you can’t do anything about it now, definitely do your research before signing any deal. You’ll know better I’m three years… Best of luck OP.
Never physically stepping foot inside a dealership until you have worked out a deal and want to take delivery.
Start by doing your research first, you’ll need to know the MF and RV and available rebates on the car you want. You can go to the Edmunds forums for that information. When you have that, you can start with Truecar.com and basically shotgun a bunch of inquiries out to local dealerships or you can visit their pages individually and pick a stock number that interests you the most.
Once you have the stock numbers, just email their internet sales department, ask for the sales manager if you can, and ask them for their best price on the stock number you provided and for the mileage and yearly term you desire. Tell them what rebates you qualify for.
After they come to you with a sale price and if there’s no dealer discount baked in, ask for at least a 10% dealer discount before rebates. More if you feel bold.
Honestly, this is the most up front and direct way to do it that I can think of. You’ll need to find like 6 to 10 dealerships in the area to do this with because 3 or 5 of them will ignore what you ask for and say “please come in and we can talk about it” and the other 3 to 5 may say that they can’t do dealer discount. I promise you, one or two of them will play ball with you. This is a patient buyer’s game, primarily.
You may never find the best deal the same day and physically going to a dealership, email is the way to go. Don’t give a dealership your business of they say they can only give you figures if you go to them, they’re trying to get you to grow an emotional attachment to the car so you make a poor decision.
Yes, basically don’t go in to get figures from one dealer. Shop around and don’t go into a dealer until they take your figures seriously and provide their own based on what you’ve discussed online?
Pretty much, the key is to be able to do your own research independently to make sure you’re getting the best deal. Can’t necessarily do that effectively sitting in front of the sales man…
Thanks for the detailed response! I’m not too bummed because I can afford it but more money in pocket is always nice and I will make sure that happens next time.
If you can afford it then you should be more bummed because that means you could have gotten luxury cars for that monthly payment. You’ll know better for next time! Always do your research! Best of luck.
Really rough. Stinger said it all. But we are happy because deals like this make amazing deals for the rest of us possible. Thank you for your service!!
Why do people find this site after signing a deal? Oh I just leased a car and signed the paperwork, better jump on the internet and do some research, make sure I got thoroughly hosed.
Do you honestly think the unicorn deals that we get, or even the ‘good’ ones, are possible without the dealer making bank on deals like this? Ignorant to think otherwise.
These types of deals are 90-95% of leases. He didn’t get “screwed”. This is a normal, person walking into a dealer and signing the first offer deal.
It’s best to come back here often to “learn” and get a feel for how to work the deals. Coming back in 3 years will be too late – come back 1x/week for the next 2.5 years then 1x/day 6 months before your lease ends. Some of the deals require timing so waiting for the last minute will stress you out
