Deal check: Anyone understand Tesla's lease math? (payment details included)

Thanks to LeaseHackr forum, I got a great deal on an EQS during the spring. I have learned so much.

Sorry for yet another Tesla post but my wife wants a Model Y. Iknow that Tesla leases are terrible, but I thought there may be a glimmer of hope since we would get the $7500 tax rebate (which we would not have qualified for if we purchased the tesla outright), a $1k referral credit and a MY that had a $3120 discount. Tesla’s website calculator said that we would be able to get the car for $392/mo (36mo/7k down/10k miles) (see image).

After I made the downpayment, the actual payment details were sent to me and the monthly payments are $511/mo. Another confusing thing is that the cost over 36 months is $33k. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Not being able to do MSD/OnePay with an MF of 0.0035 (8.4%), makes it hard to pull the trigger even with the discounts. I guess i could buy the car outright, but with the new version coming out in 2025, the car may be hard to sell.


It appears you neglected to select the box for including taxes and fees in the displayed cost.

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You are probably correct. There wasn’t a button/tab to activate for taxes and fees, but according to Tesla the monthly sales tax is $42/month. My guess is the tax, title, and extra Tesla fees would be about $50/month. So is this a reasonable deal?

Gotta check this box:

In addition to monthly tax, youve got upfront tax on the $7500 and your $7000, plus hundreds in registration fees, acquisition fee, etc.

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The $1000 referral credit for new buyers ended weeks ago. How did you still get this on a recent/current deal? Is this actually a cybertruck pre-order credit?

Cybertruck pre-order. I’ve been holding on to it for 3 years but don’t want to wait another 3.

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$7,272.45 DAS + $7,500 lease cash + $250 order fee + $395 disposition fee + $511.03/mo * 35 months = $33,303.50

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I see. It does look like I am getting credit for the tax refund. I also didn’t calculate it as 35 months. That makes a lot more sense. Thanks for clarifying.

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