Hello everyone, I’m a newcomer to this forum and the world of car leasing financing. Today, I visited a Subaru dealership and I’m a bit concerned that they might be trying to take advantage of my lack of experience. Initially, I was interested in leasing the Sport model and was considering a down payment of $3000-$4000. However, I found that the Sport wasn’t as affordable as I had hoped. They then suggested the base Forester, but I still found the leasing terms to be on the higher side. I told them my budget was around $350 - $375.
I specifically requested details on the base model, as the Sport turned out to be beyond my budget. The best they could do on the Sport was $430 with $3500 down which seemed reasonable. I’m seeking advice and insights from the community on how to navigate this situation.
[Quote on the Base Model - RV: 61% MF: .0035 (8.4%) Credit: 750]
I can’t totally comment on this topic because I’m super new and inexperienced at all the rules but this seems really high! If you divide the down payment by 36, that’s a $100 more on top of that. For $530 a month, I think there are so many better cars out there. Did you run this through the lease calculator? Is that the only brand of car you want to drive? Did you look in marketplace for something similar? I wish I could be of more help
Do you know the residual and money factor used to calculate the lease price? You need a bigger discount to make this lease anything close to making sense. You would be paying almost $20K over 3 years for a $30K vehicle.
The guy at the dealer quoted me .0035MF and like 61% RV. He made it seem like he didn’t know the exact numbers and would have to go back and check for them. I think this quote was for the base model.
Many sales people at dealerships know zero about numbers or how leasing actually works. My advice? Work out a target deal based on the numbers you get from Edmunds and specific incentives you qualify for as well as discount off MSRP you believe you can achieve Then work with these numbers with dealerships over phone and email and see who seems serious to get you there, otherwise going into dealerships is a real waste of time
I calculated this without the down payment and with a 0.0035 money factor (MF) and a 61% residual value (RV). How much more would it be with taxes, and if this is without the down payment, how are they trying to charge me the same amount with a down payment?
My calculations for the base trim with no money down:
Residual Value = $30,166 x 0.61 = $18,401.26
Total Depreciation Cost = Gross Cap Cost - RV = $29,883.48 - $18,401.26 = $11,482.22
I’m currently exploring car leases in Pennsylvania and I have some additional questions related to using the sales tax, MSRP, residual value, and interest to estimate monthly lease payments. Could someone guide me on how to calculate or use these figures to get a general idea of what my monthly payments should be? Specifically:
How does the sales tax affect the overall monthly payment? Is it added to the entire amount, including interest, or is it applied to specific components like depreciation only?
Are there any specific formulas or methods to incorporate MSRP, residual value, and interest into the calculation of monthly lease payments?
I’m hoping to better understand the factors that contribute to monthly payments so that I can make informed decisions and avoid overpaying on my car lease. Any advice or resources you can share would be greatly appreciated!
Did you search for any of that? There is also a lease calc on top right of this site you can play with to learn how to calculate your own payment.
I googled it and immediately got:
For a leased vehicle, the tax is based on the payment.
You will have to pay Pennsylvania’s 3% motor vehicle lease tax in addition to the state’s 6% sales tax (plus any local or city tax) on the lease payment. So, if your location’s sales tax is 6% plus the 3% lease tax, then the payment is charged 9%. Also, any money down will be taxed at this rate.
The LH calculator does all the calculations for you.
There’s a wiki explaining everything about the calculator
In PA, you would select the first radio button for taxation (taxed on monthly payments). The rate is 6+3=9% or 10 or 11% depending on if the county has additional 1-2% sales tax.
Yes,I just needed to have a general idea of what’s calculated and how its calculated so I’m not completely blown away by their estimates.
So If I ask for the residual value and the money factor, can’t I estimate the payments myself?
