This is my very first lease. Let me know if I should sign it.
MSRP $36880
Selling price $33000
College Grad Rebate $500
Drive off Amount $6365 (includes acquisition fee $925, doc fee $289, title®istration, taxes, down payment $4874)
Monthly payment $286
First three months are free because of $330 leasing credit provided by MINI.
Do you need to put such a large downpayment? You may want to read the Leasing 101 articles (i.e. that money’s gone if the car is totaled). Also, what’s the RV and MF?
Any other incentives you qualify for or can get?
The dealer said I had to because of my immigration status. I got my SSN 2 years ago, and I guess the bank wanted more assurance…
The RV is $22496.8(61%) and the money factor is 0.00127%. I don’t think they are marked up. I thought I was only qualify for college grad. I will go check if I am qualified for other incentives.
Go to the Edmunds forum and ask specifically for your model, trim, zip code.
The lack of credit history may hurt but best to check around. It may make more sense for you to buy it with such a large downpayment.
Your effective payment is $462. So no, not a good deal.
Read some of the leasing guide lines on here to understand better what to do.
For one, don’t put money down on a lease… etc
I’m not sure how Minis lease these days but this looks like a bad deal. I think I’d rather go for a higher MF than put so much money down if your credit isn’t good.
That is what my girlfriend is paying for hers with $0 Das. But not for the same trim.
As mentioned already, when you take your money down spread across 36 months + your monthly payment, you are looking at $462/month. That level of cost is what would be what you would expect to pay for a car with an MSRP in the neighborhood of mid-$40’s to low-$50’s. Continue to research, and come back with an educated counter-offer. Good luck!
Thank you everyone for your input…Before, the dealer offered me $382 per month with 0 down. But because of my short credit history, they couldn’t do the deal. And now they said they could do the deal with down payment, and that brings my monthly payment down to $286
But with effective payment 462/month, you get a worse deal.
I had similar experience recently when shopping Mini for someone else. Mini FS wanted 10% down payment due to her short credit history. Later, she found a cosigner and was able to get 0 down payment deal.
Also, there should be 1000/1500 leasing incentive (check Edmund), which the dealer probably included into the selling price.
For the record, I ended up getting pre-incentive selling price 33K (13% off) for a 38K MSRP new MINI.
Do you mind me asking your zipcode? I just checked there is a $1500 incentive. If it’s included in the selling price, does it mean I am only getting $2380 dealer discount? Damn now that sounds really bad
I am in New England. It should be the same in pa.
It seems to be a common tactic by dealers. They automatically included them without disclosing. You need to be informed.
That’s why you’ll see the most common advice here is to first know your numbers before going into a dealer 
I guess that’s very true… do u think it’s now too late to argue for more discounts on selling price? Or should I move on to another dealer?
Where in PA is this? Like others already mentioned this is a bad, bad, bad deal with such a huge down payment. If you’re dealing with Mainline MINI, then run away.
It’s MINI of Allentown…I guess I will keep shopping
There is no reason why you can’t continue talking to the same dealer (through email). Let them know you have thought about it and their price is just way too high. But also work with other dealers at the same time (through email). You may find this is just the wrong car for a good deal right now.
Keep shopping! I got my Cooper S Convertible for $313/mo minus taxes. Instead of money down, see if you can put a security deposit to lower the price (the money is yours at the end of the lease vs. MINI FS’s money).
@Fastrack - I’ve been negotiating with MiniMainline recently to lease a 2020 Cooper Convertible so I’m concerned that you mentioned them specifically to make a run for it.
@Drstickshift where did you get your Mini?
So far the best I’ve gotten is a Mini Convertible (not S) $0 at signing for $391/month 10,000 miles per year