I recently received this lease special ad and would like to ask your opinion on whether this is a legit deal or not. Help appreciated🙏
With $2999 + fees, tax, and what would normally be the loyalty cash of $1750 (the ad assumes you qualify for that), that would be a total of $5938 down + $365 monthly.
To me, I’m not qualified for the loyalty cash but should be eligible for a $500 bonus, which makes the down payment roughly 5838 + 1750 - 500 = $7088. With that, the total payment over the next 3 years will be $20,228.
Is this like a rule of thumb? My thought on the down payment is that I’m saving my money from going to the money factor or some sort. Am I missing something here?
If the numbers in that screenshot are inclusive of the $1700 in loyalty cash, then a terrible deal just became an atrocious one.
These cars aren’t leasing well right now. Unless you currently have an Acura, and can get a few % off MSRP + loyalty cash on top, these cars aren’t worth considering. As far as I know, most Acura dealers aren’t really playing ball as far as rebates/discounts go. They seem to think every Integra is a Type R in disguise.
There are better cars to be had for 500+/effective a month.
The general rule of thumb here is that you can pay taxes and fees at signing but shouldn’t put anything else down. If the car is totaled you lose all of your down payment.
This is never true, unless you can find a lease that doesn’t require the first payment upfront, you don’t have GAP (or GAP waiver) which is included in most manufacturer leases, you total the car on the day you pick it up, and the auto insurance settlement is short by the entire amount of the down payment.
Not picking on you specifically; this is parroted here ad nauseum, without some really important caveats.
Look at the actual risks/benefits of the money upfront, and make an informed decision. You can save a lot of money on rent charges by prepaying a chunk of the lease.
