Your response is making me worry that you don’t quite realize how bad this is.
Finance the car you want with the best possible finance rate you can find. Research Credit Unions, there is a thread here for that as well.
If you want a lease type structure look into balloon loans. There is also something some manufacturers offer to get around the chicago taxes. BMW calls it the owners choice program. Its made for Chicago’s taxing issue.
Any suggestions on where I can find or look at different lenders? And will this work just how it would work with a Finance? I go into the dealership and let them know I have an approval/pre approval from XYZ financial institution?
I’m interested to know what institutions will allow me to lease besides MBFS. Will the financial institution determine the residual and money factor, then?
Lease and finance is very different. Even if a lender like Ally or US Bank has leasing programs, the dealer still has to be setup to process a lease through them.
FWIW, if you opt to lease or finance a car using a 3rd party, you might lose out on incentives that might only be available if you go through the manufacturer’s lender. Keep that in mind.
If I were in your shoes, I would not lease a Mercedes, Audi, BMW or any other German car with a 3rd party bank. Manufacturer lease terms are usually more favorable (RV and MF) compared to a 3rd party bank.
Why do you care about other banks to lease with? It doesn’t matter who you lease it thru as you will still get hit with 18.5% in taxes on payment if living in the City of Chicago. I lived downtown for 13 years and only paid cash for my cars as leasing is a hard NO GO. Cash, finance or nothing.