Bravo. 
you’ll do well with that attitude.
And m340 over IS any day.
You can definitely negotiate the trade in especially on deal like this with no discount. The first offer that i got for my trade was 2500 lower than the one I accepted. Actually I ended up getting a really good cash offer through the cars.com instant cash offer feature and I was able to negotiate 500 more than what they initially offered.
My final input, go to each dealer website and contact the finance manager directly. Bypass the salesman stage as they generally are there just to manage the customer. The finance manager understands the mechanics of the game and as long as you stand your ground, you will be able to negotiate a solid offer especially if you have multiple bids and are a serious buyer.
Do not contact the finance manager. Contact the internet sales manager. Finance manager will simply refer you to a salesman.
1 Like
Well, I know that, but it could take convincing. I have a 2013 DINAN Stage 3 335i (F30), and would appreciate an M340 sibling.
I’d recommend waiting for your current lease to end (without rolling negative equity into a new lease) and looking at car that leases better than the IS.
Don’t let the score be the only measure of how good your deal is. I would recommend reading leasing 101 and doing a search to see what type of discount some folks have gotten on the IS. Are you “married” to Lexus or are you open to other brands like BMW?
I’m open to BMW, but she’s really liked the Lexus. Since I started digging into the whole leasing business, it certainly seems that Lexus, and the IS in particular, rarely has good lease deals. Unfortunately, BMW also doesn’t look great at the moment. While I agree that riding out the current lease would be the best option, but it’s not my decision this time.
Your best route might be to hire a broker once her RC lease is up. Go for a 36 month lease instead of 48 month.
I sold my 2015 X5 to Carvana last month for about $2500 more than the dealer would give me on trade. Although it was not a leased vehicle, their offer was much better. I then signed a lease on a 330i MSport. When I read, “I didn’t know I could negotiate the trade in value on a leased vehicle,” is the term “trade in value” and “residual value” being confused?
Are we all going to ignore that the dealer here appears to be charging full MSRP for the is350?
Did they at least buy you dinner before trying to screw you?
This isn’t a bad deal. It’s an attrocious deal.
Try to get her to ride out the current lease. Has she looked at that IS in person? The interior is almost exactly the same as the RC that she wants to get out of early. Seems pointless to roll negative equity into a horrible deal.
No, I think I was confused and thinking more in terms of lease completion - like this is what you get because the entire lease term wasn’t fulfilled. I’m a total newbie to this. I wasn’t realizing that the car is being traded to the dealer, but the lease and financial terms are with Lexus Financial. I was thinking of the lease in more restrictive terms.
Did we all ignore that I’m not going to accept that “offer”? I’ll need dinner AND a whole lot of drinks before that deal gets attractive enough to go home with.
The IS is getting somewhat of a redo next year. Make sure you really want it to the end of the lease. Otherwise you’ll be compounding negative equity of two vehicles, which will make a pretty ugly lease. As many have suggested, it’s beat to pay off the lease to the end of the contract, or if possible sell it.
That is now rumored to be a refresh or nothing at all rather than the next gen design. As others have pointed out, I can and will negotiate the trade value to our advantage to minimize or eliminate negative equity.
Thanks to everyone for the advice so far! It’s been highly informational for the uninformed (that would be me).
1 Like
You also have the advantage of time on your side (as long as you can hold the wife off). Cast your net wider than the dealer you’re negotiating with. It’s not like you need the car now because the previous lease is up. A dealer that starts at MSRP for a car that stale is not a dealer you should work with.