Wondering if I could pick everyone’s knowledge here. I am contemplating a 2017 i3 and have not heard much about what everyone else is paying to find out if I have a decent deal or not. I have drafted up this lease on leasehackr…what are your thoughts. Further, I have heard several mention that down payments are not good. Why? I would combine with a MSD.
Many thanks for your thoughts in advance!
MSRP = $56,300
Sales Price = $51,500 - decreased by $7,500 incentive
Payment $319 (before taxes)
Out of Pocket = about $6700 (mainly $3k down payment and $2,450 MSD plus various fees)
The downpayment is not good because it doesn’t help anything, all you did was pay your monthly in advance. $3,000 / 36 mos = $83.33/mo. All this does is create an illusion that your monthly is $319 (yay, I got a great deal!) but your effective monthly is really $319 + $83.3 = $402.33. Still a good deal but not at great as $319
The MSDs drive down the MF (and you get it back) so that is highly preferred if you have the cash up front (most on this forum do)
Also, normally, in the 0.001% chance you car gets totaled, you don’t get the downpayment back. I think it varies by manufacturer and somebody posted that Mercedes actually gives this back to you via some type of GAP insurance built-in somewhere.
