Just signed a lease on the 2025 GMC Sierra EV Denali — MSRP $93,585 — for $774.71/month with only $3,000 due at signing.
Here are the key numbers:
• MSRP: $93,585
• Selling Price: $82,000 (~12.3% off MSRP)
• Rebate: $2,500
• Money Factor: 0.00159 (base rate)
• Residual: 66.01% ($61,235.46)
• Term: 36 months / 10k miles per year
• Doc Fee: $998
• Gov/Reg Fees + Taxes: $8,798 (capitalized)
• Monthly Payment: $774.71
• Total Due at Signing: $3,000
How did you use Chat GPT to help secure the deal?
I used ChatGPT like a lease-savvy friend on call. I’d drop in screenshots of deals and it would break them down, compare offers, flag inflated money factors, and help me spot which numbers were off. It also helped write smart counter messages to dealers and explained a lot of the leasing terms I didn’t fully get before. Between that and Leasehackr, I felt way more confident this time around.
What state are you in? How long did it take you to get this deal?
Chapstick isn’t as savvy as you think. Your posted dealer WS is garbage. You claim that the 8798 tax is capitalized is impossible b/c the adj cap must be 80984.36 in order to get a payment of 774.71 Recognize that…
Gross Cap = Sell price + capped amounts
Adj. Cap = Gross cap - cap reductions
Given that SP = 823000 with capped amounts of 998 and 8798 and a cap reduction of 5500 there is no way you can achieve an adj cap of 80984. In fact, you’ll be around 86300. The WS does not identify the cap reductions, or all amounts capitalized. I suspect that there may be other fees that weren’t disclosed.
You owe it to yourself to learn something about leasing; especially how to do all the calculations instead of relying on platforms like AI chapstick or online software. You’ll learn very little by relying on these tools.
FWIW-
Don’t waste time trying to decipher a dealer’s worksheet or allowing AI to do all your work. Dealers will eat you alive by allowing them to control the deal. They often omit a lot of relevant detail such as money factor, fees not itemized and even make mistakes. You need to rely on credible outside sources (e.g., LH marketplace and signed deals, Edmunds, etc.). Do your own research and establish a reasonable selling price in your market. Be sure to get a copy of the factory window sticker. Check for non-factory add-ons or dealer-installed options. And, if possible, eliminate those you don’t need or want. Get a list of all customer and dealer rebates/incentives including VIN#-specific discounts/incentives, if any. And, yes, the dealer has such a list.
The only thing useful about dealer lease worksheets is the input data. All data should be vetted such as acquisition fee, doc fee (regulated by some states), cost of money (e.g., money factor), gov fees, residual, rebates/incentives, sales tax rate, etc. Make sure the residual matches the term and annual mileage requirement. Check available tax credits/incentives via the fund provider who may cover taxes or, at minimum, may assess a lower sales tax rate to energize sales for some models (e.g., Texas).
Organize all relevant data with the goal of creating a lease proposal that reflects your target deal. The idea is to create your own target deal (proposal), not replicate the dealer’s deal.
This isn’t a red flag at all.
In the future your strategy needs to (1) know your target and (2) make offers, whether you use ChatGPT or not.
I’m not going to go as overboard as the other guy, but I do use ChatGPT—just with very specific prompts. In your case, the most useful tool would’ve been the lease calculator on this site.
The selling price actually looks solid, especially for a non-demo vehicle.
Ironically, I used ChatGPT the other day to compare lease deals across all the GM EV trucks. I wanted to see which trims had the most favorable terms based on residual values, mileage, and lease duration.
Here’s the worksheet I built, using April data—it might be helpful for others too.
Full_Lease_Cost_Ranking.pdf (30.5 KB)
Appreciate your input, but let me clarify a few things. I’m not blindly relying on ChatGPT or any platform — I’m using them as tools, just like Leasehackr. The idea isn’t to let AI think for me, but to speed up comparisons, flag red flags, and pressure-test dealer numbers. It’s a supplement to critical analysis, not a replacement.
Yes, dealers leave out details. Yes, worksheets can be garbage. That’s exactly why I came in with questions, a solid understanding of MF, RV, rebates, and how to reverse-engineer a deal. The numbers didn’t just “look right” — they matched up after I validated them.
I fully agree we all need to understand the fundamentals, do our homework, and build target deals from the ground up. But to suggest using tools like ChatGPT or the forum makes someone less savvy misses the point. Smart negotiation is about leverage. I’m simply using every tool available to strengthen mine.
If anything, your detailed breakdown proves the value of community and cross-checking — so thanks for that. But don’t assume those of us using AI are doing so passively. Some of us are using it to level up.
Totally agree — it’s all about how you use the tools. I used ChatGPT to help break down offers and spot inconsistencies, but I still ran everything through the Leasehackr calculator and did my own math. It wasn’t about relying on AI—it was about using it to move faster and smarter. Appreciate you sharing that worksheet too, really helpful for the community.
I’m in Massachusetts. The whole process took about two weeks—talked to a few dealers, compared numbers, and went back and forth a bit. Once the right deal lined up, I moved quickly.
I was very pleased with your rebuttal. However, the language and tone of your post seemed to suggest otherwise…
Just seemed that you were relying on chapstick to perform all the analyses. I think any rational-thinking person would have arrived at the same conclusion which is a bit stronger than just an assumption. I’ve caught chapstick and AI platforms generally making a lot of mistakes which is why I pay little attention to them. I’m often reminded of an alleged quote by Albert Einstein…
" Einstein’s forebodings about scientific advancement devoid of human values would appear to lend credence to another reflection — or perhaps it’s more of a prophecy — which is usually phrased something like this: “I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.”
“For obvious reasons, this quote has become immensely popular on the Internet, where it is often accompanied by images showing young people transfixed by smartphones or other electronic devices. (The Daily Mail website concocted an entire feature around it in 2015, for example.) The message isn’t subtle: Einstein was right, that day is here — behold the generation of idiots!”
At any rate, I’d love to see your statements to chapstick and its response to those statements regarding the posted worksheet.
Appreciate the follow-up — and fair point on tone. I can see how my earlier post might’ve come across as overly reliant on ChatGPT, but that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t outsourcing my thinking — I was using it to help structure and pressure-test what I was already doing manually. Kind of like bouncing ideas off a colleague who’s fast with math but doesn’t know the full context unless you give it to them.
I fully agree: no tool should replace human judgment. And yes, ChatGPT can absolutely be wrong — I’ve caught it making errors too. That’s why I always verified the numbers myself with Leasehackr’s calculator and my own logic before moving forward. If I’d relied solely on AI, I would’ve ended up overpaying like I did on my last lease.
As for the worksheet responses — I fed the initial dealer worksheet into ChatGPT and asked it to evaluate the cap cost, MF, and taxes. It flagged that the math didn’t add up if the $8,798 in taxes were capitalized, and when I later reviewed the final signed lease, it was right — those taxes weren’t actually rolled in. That back-and-forth helped me spot that the worksheet was misleading and made me more confident going into the signing.
I respect the intent of your post — and the Einstein quote is a good reminder that tools aren’t a substitute for thinking. They’re only as good as the person using them.
Didn’t go overboard… just being thorough. I try not to leave any stone unturned.
MA taxes on the monthly payment. How does your deal have $8798 in capped taxes?
Great catch — it doesn’t. The original dealer worksheet mistakenly showed $8,798 as “capped taxes,” but that didn’t carry over to the final lease. I’m in MA, where tax is applied only to the monthly payment, not upfront. The final lease contract reflects that — no $8,798 was actually capitalized. Just another example of why you can’t trust a dealer worksheet at face value.
I Just signed a lease deal in Stockton, CA for a Black 2025 Denali EV, MSRP 100990.00.
36 Mo
15000 Miles per year
6000.00 Due at signing
931.47 per mo.
They quoted me 871.00 for 10000 MPY
And 901.00 for 12000 MPY.
Brought it home yesterday.
