Fellow texans, how do you feel about leasing a vehicle in Texas?

The captive/lessor as the owner gets credit for each lease return, ie the state treats them as trade-ins effectively…the lessors can then dole them as they wish. AFAIK

Well first off, the best time for leasing Jags seems to be winter into early spring. That is when the dealerships start getting the next year’s model in. Not saying that you couldn’t get a good deal right now, but it might be tougher.

Make sure you are familiar with what manufacturing incentives are out right now. Next, go over to edmunds and get the residual and money factor for the terms you are looking for. Assuming your credit is good, you should demand nothing but base money factor or you walk.

Jaguar usually has some pretty big incentives out on the higher-end F-Type models at the end of a model year. Last year it was something like 15k or 20k in manufacturing incentives. Even more if you currently own a Jag.

Negotiate a selling price BEFORE applying incentives. A lot of dealerships would advertise a discount but it was basically just the incentive applied with no discount on MSRP. You will need to get at least 8 to 10% off MSRP before incentives to get a solid deal.

I picked up one of the last remaining 2017s in the region in March. It was a British Design Edition S with MSRP around 97k I think? After incentives and rebates, selling price was in the low 70s (sorry I don’t have the sales sheet with me so I don’t remember exact numbers). I opted for a 39 month/15k per year lease. It is worth mentioning that the British Design Editions had a 3% lower residual than a base S which definitely impacted final lease numbers.

Final numbers: TT&L due at signing, 814 per month. Definitely not the best F-Type deal in the world but on a nearly 100k dollar car and with a 15k miles per year lease, I think I did alright.

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Just got quoted a $973 monthly lease for a 2018 2.0L with an MSRP of $65,663. 36 months and 12k miles. I guess they’re just trying to shaft me.

And yeah, it must be a bad time to be looking for leases. Thanks for your all your advice though. I guess I’ll lower my expectations and play the long game for a good deal on an FType.

Agree with others here…it’s challenge but doable… within DFW I manage to get a fully loaded Rogue SL to my wife for under $280 (inc. taxes!!!) and 0 down (not even 1st payment) and they match carmax on the used car appraisal… it took 2 months, deal was closed on a friday 30th of the month… and was cheaper (Even w/ tax) than what I had tried a few months before when I was living in CT…

next time will be upgrading the BMW from a 5 series to a X5 so might be more challenging, but I’m willing to travel if I have to…

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Wow. Yeah that offer is horrendous. Don’t be afraid to shop outside of Texas for better deals. While a lot of dealerships won’t bother with Texas residents, I still found some that would. Quite a few California dealers would work with me as well as some on the East Coast. Didn’t have much luck with dealerships in Florida, Vegas, or in the Midwest, however.

Hackr in the DFW area.
Currently on my 6th lease -> Swapped a couple right on this site :slight_smile:

The first thing i check is for TAX CREDITS. If there are no tax credits then you will never get close to any deal you find here. Doesn’t matter even if you get an additional 5% off MSRP between dealers in Houston/SAT/DFW/AUS but the real game changer is the tax credit.

Based on my posts here and past experiences here is what i can share:

Classic BMW Plano -> Tax credits from June-Aug every year during new model rollout
BMW Dallas - Dec every year to meet annual dealer volume quota
Alfa Romeo of FTW -> Usually all year round - They do jack up the MF horribly tho
Grubbs Infiniti -> First come first served basis - They save the tax credits for people interested in a QX80. If you go looking for a QX30 most prob you wont get it!

If i hear anything more will update this thread!
Happy hackin’

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Hey we dont pay any state income tax buddy. How do you make up for that?
Imagine arguing with a guy from California with the 100k as your annual income -> You save 10k$ every year!

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From what I’ve seen myself what you wrote rings true, the whole tax credits thing seems like it’s often used by dealers to make the deal happen for customers pushing hard on discounts. Almost like they have a reserve of them and the sales manager rations them out per month or something.

I agree. The initial offers I received from Houston dealers were way higher than my expectation (1% MSRP).
It will take obviously longer than other states to get a decent deal here.
I have a friend who works for Mercedes. He is very nice and really wants to make a deal with me. But the price is not even close.

How do you check for tax credits, Is it something you ask the dealer?

Yup pretty much.
Over time i built some contacts at the dealerships i mentioned above and a few others, either by visiting them or through mutual friends.

I just ask them to keep me in the loop if they plan to start giving tax credits any time of the year.
If you work with specific dealers, it is more likely they will reach out to you for repeat business whenever they have some corporate tax credit offers on leases.

Japanese car makers never do have them.

As mentioned above, you typically need a tax credit to get a deal. See below.

There are dealers who offer tax credits. You just need to find the right folks. I know park place will offer them if you force them to. I have always forced them into offering me one. Their Lexus Brand won’t offer on models like gx. Same is for acura. I recently got Acura to put tax credit and got a lease for first month down and deposit around 1100 with 428 a month on a base mdx which to me was the best deal when I got it a few months back. But not every dealership will offer tax credits. So like hackers do here, first find one that will get you the tax credit and then get them to negotiate msrp by bouncing their offer off to other dealership.

wish there’s a easy way to see when does which brand offering lease tax credit in Texas…

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There are Tax Credits this month on all 2018 Cadillac Sedans with the dealership I work with. Feel free to PM me if you are interested in a Cadillac. I work directly with the GSM and Sales Manager.
I am in the process of getting set up as a registered business here.

The Tax Credits usually are not advertised. You have to ask. Sometimes dealerships will only offer them last minute as a closing tool just when the customer is about to walk out…

November and December are good months for Tax Credits in Texas.

Hi Olman,

Thanks for the info, not interested in Sedans, but wagon or crossover will work. Otherwise, I’ll wait until the end of the year to check with you.

Thanks!

We have 3 XT5 Loaner Vehicles left. Just confirmed that we can offer tax credits on them…

what kind of deals on the XT5 loaners. Looking to lease either 24/36 mo.

Hello
The 24 month program will get you in the low to mid $600’s.
I just quoted a 36 month lease in the high $400’s.
10k miles per year. Just first payment due at signing.
Partial tax credit. It’s actually half. We dont have full this month. Are you in Dallas?

Hi Olman. I am in Dallas. When would you be expecting the full tax credits to become available, and what might the quote look like at that point?