Alternatively, and likely, more accurately, this forum has helped many many stores hit volume sales goals and attain very lucrative bonuses that they may otherwise have never a) dreamed of getting b/c they’re located in the boonies where the locals only know pick-ups with truck nuts hanging on the back of them or b) had the capacity with their current fleet program (or lack thereof). You’re wrong if you think that any of the stores we work with lose money on our deals.
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Oh I know they don’t lose money. And my Toyota dealer just won all kinds of awards last year 100% due to leasehacker.
I’m just saying all these people would likely be buying cars if there was no leasehacker. So cumulatively we’re taking money out of their pockets and putting it back in the consumers. A very good thing…
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I think LH is also helping auto industry in moving metal. I ended up leasing 2 x$60k+ vehicles in 13 months while I had perfectly fine Avalon.
I wouldn’t be in market if
- Bloomberg hasn’t introduced me to LH
- Read for days and learnt to hack it… and
- had some discretionary income.
My takeaways are
- LH is saving/protecting/preventing buyer from uneducated (maybe predatory?) financial commitments
- Helping dealer to meet sales volume/shortfalls when they need it. Dealer usually turn down our business unless they make it up on back end. So we are net positive. Sure, we are low rated business but we are also low LOE (level of effort) buyer too.
- Incrementally and organically growing auto sales demand. i.e. I wouldn’t have mint Lexus and BMW in my garage while Avalon is parked in front. Additionally friends and family are chasing me to get them hacked deals as well.
I am curious to have other school of thoughts 
. I am happy to volunteer if someone wants to run quantitative analysis or establish white paper on LH impact on auto industry.
Literally just happened to me the other day.
Guy nearly blew a head gasket when I asked what he was trying to actually be and how much he wanted to spend on a car. It was insane that someone would continuously repeat the same action again and again expecting different results.
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Totally agree. If it was not for LH, I would probably not have thought I could potentially lease a 5 series for under $500 a month (estimating) with minimal monies due at signing.
I think some of the newbies assume that the same discounts being offered on loaners can be had on new cars. Don’t get me wrong, if a dealer offered me 20% off MSRP on an outgoing model with buy rate MF, I would leave work early and go sign the deal.
As someone stated earlier, some folks have unrealistic expectations. Last year was a banner year for 4 series deals and sub $400 monthlies.
Car forums like LH are a great resource for folks like me who want to put in the work, and understand that there are quite a few moving parts that go into getting a unicorn-type deal.
I hope that “guy” was not expecting a $300 monthly for a $50k car, while complaining that similar deals were possible a year ago.
That’s an interesting concept, trying to measure the effect of leasehackr. I think regular forum members would probably have been pretty savy shoppers even without the forum. Sure some newbies have listed a deal check and been told NOOOO, and ended up saving thousands of dollars but those are insignificant in number. The real effect is brokers helping large numbers of people who don’t have the time, interest, knowledge, or skill to get very good deals.
As an aside - thank you for all you do here. You are an asset to the community and I can’t imagine how many crazy people you must interact with. I for one would totally support you charging a retainer if it helped make your life easier and kept you providing the same quality of deals on this forum.
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General questions for brokers - I know everyone works differently, but if someone reaches out to you about helping them locate a car how do you go about “vetting” the person to ensure they are a serious buyer?
After getting the prospective buyer’s info and confirming specs of the car they want along with what discount is possible, do you then request they sign a contract and pay your retainer (for those that charge one)? Once the car has been located, do you then request they fill out a credit app before completing any paperwork?
I am asking (just curious) "cos some have stated there are folks on LH who reach out to brokers just to pit one against another. Or folks just kicking tires and misrepresenting whether their credit score and whether they qualify for loyalty.
@Bluemkn57cars I will only speak for myself here. Hopefully not shooting myself in the foot.
In the early stages, when you’re trying to make a name for yourself, you take anything and everything as a serious prospect. The thought of moving a couple of cars is too exciting not to. You establish relationships with dealers and a rapport on the forum, if you can do well.
During that process, you quickly learn that many people are truly just kicking tires and aren’t really serious about seeking your help. It’s almost like they just want to hear numbers but then hit you with variables that throw the entire process off. You also lose potential dealer relationships because you’re so excited about closing a deal, but then the buyer blows it up at the last minute over an extra $5 push, or for some other reason (there are stories all over LH about this type of stuff).
Establishing a process is critical. Nothing too wild. But critical. Require specific data points from the customer before moving forward, asking the right questions before reaching to any dealership so you can limit the back and forth i.e. “Is the deal trade dependent”? “If the numbers are agreeable, are you willing to lock this in today, or are you asking for a deal 4 months from now when your lease is up”? “Have you checked with your spouse before working final numbers with me”? Also, if someone is willing to lose a deal over $3/month when the discount is already massive, it may not be worth working with that person.
Fast forward a bit so this doesn’t sound like a rant.
Once you get busy, you really just have to use your best judgment about who is serious and who isn’t, so you can use your time wisely. As noted above, there are just some basics that brokers request buyers send to them (maybe 5 data points) but you will constantly see posts of messages like, “hey…I need a 2020 BMW 330 36/10 in NJ for 0 DAS. What is the best you can do.” Those are the types of messages, for me at least, that I am less interested in replying to. I know some people will reply with, “well, you’re foolish as every message is a potential deal.” That’s fine if people feel that way and want to run their business as such. But, I can almost guarantee, that most brokers on here start that way, and then realize that not every form of contact is a potential deal. Some people just want to talk. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but if some people reply that brokers are not responding to them, it is often due to how the questions posed are framed. Not always, but there is a good chance that is the case.
It is crucial to collect some form of payment upon giving car info up, or upon a commitment to the deal, to try and reduce the possibility of killing a deal once you tell a dealership it is a great light.
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Oh no! Don’t want it to seem like I am saying that.
I’m more just saying, it’s a balance of how people use their time and if responses aren’t provided, the reason is usually pretty straightforward.
Curbing risk and assessing time and effort. Ie is the juice worth the squeeze 
Here’s an example. Check the time stamps 
The first 3 messages were sent within 4 hours of one another although it doesn’t show as such.
The biggest red flag for me is the fact that he said he is looking for the cheapest deal possible… Whenever I see that, I think of unrealistic expectations, lack of knowledge about lease offers, discounts, incentives etc…
Damn. OP must have ADHD. Maybe you need a disclaimer.
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At least they were not asking for 25% off MSRP (Being sarcastic).
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I think a lot of stuff discussed here was also part of another thread about having some additional reading/knowledge check before new users are able to post.
I think biggest issue is that not everyone wants to do the legwork of understanding the nuts and botls of a lease deal. They just want the deal and that’s today’s environment. Instant gratification.
You can’t help yourself if you don’t put the legwork to understand the basics in any financial transaction.
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100%. To add to your comment, it seems some newbies are just payment shopping.
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There are so many moving parts to a car deal. And for these true “unicorn” deals all of those pieces have to fall into place. Bottom line is that people need to have realistic expectations and understand that car deals are market driven. Why should a dealer sell/lease you a car for 10% off MSRP if they know someone will walk in tomorrow and pay more. Would these people griping about a deal not being “unicorn” worthy run their business that way and leave money on the table??? Of course not, they’d want to make as much as they can.
To be fair to the new users, it’s probably hard for them to get a sense of realistic deal when majority of posts are either about “unicorns” or “fleeces”. They can’t gauge what is the right expectation of a price.
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