I appreciate all of the information shared on this forum. I never really knew how leases worked as I have always been a buyer, but figured I needed to start looking at some point since my 2018 Camry has 240k on it, I have another kid turning 16 in a year and a half, and wanted to see if I could make something work with all the rebates that were going on. Educated myself on here with a deep dive (thanks ADHD!) and paid for access to the calculator, ultimately using one forum members idea and just created myself an Excel spreadsheet so I could wrap my mind around who the math worked. I initially looked at a few and tried to make a deal with a dealer in the north burbs of Chicago. As soon as I walked in the dealer I could pick out the sales manager who was pressuring a prospective buyer stating “Now is the time to man up” and “are you ready to be a man” statements to this guy. I laughed as I walked past because that manager was such a joke. Since I was there I told him what I would pay on the 2024 SEV RST they had. He got upset when I showed him the stack of signed deals I had printed out from here by others, so I told him I was signing a deal on a truck for that dollar or less, and since he didn’t want the deal I would get it elsewhere.
I went back to searching and located two loaners at a dealer in central Missouri. Dealer had another I was inquiring about but they had just taken a deposit on it so I decided to place a deposit on it’s twin while we worked the deal. Knowing all of the information upfront and presenting MY deal with all the numbers was huge. They knew from the start they were working with an educated buyer (lessee). They were super easy to deal with and we did it all through text/email/phone. Signed a 2024 Silverado EV RST on 9/24/25 for $569/mo. for 36 months and 20k miles/year, and since I put a $500 deposit down, I figured I could add another $69 and make the first payment. Also applied Conquest money, First Responder discount, and Costco Executive. The real value came in knowing what the money off should be due to the loaner status and what the dealership should get out of it. Truck had just entered the loaner program so I had to wait a week to go get it so it could hit the 1k mile mark. Driving over to central Missouri to grab it Monday morning and I am going to pull my Camry home behind it on a U-Haul trailer. It is only 6 hours from me but I will also get to see both of my brothers and some cousins on the way!
I do not see many higher mileage leases, at least for 20k miles posted on here, but I think I did alright and I am happy with the deal. Bonus is that I have a huge solar system at my property that will do great to charge it with and 19.2 kW charger already installed!
The best part of the deal was sending that sales manager a copy of my new lease, and calling him so I could be on the phone when he opened it. I said I told you I would sign a lease for my price because I knew the numbers. He told me FU and hung up the phone lol. I am sure it hurt his pride a bit, unfortunately he hung up to fast for me to tell him “Now is the time to man up!”
Thank you all for sharing your knowledge!