I went to try to lease a 2018 Jeep Compass Latitude FWD
It was the usual dealership back and forth they do with financing starting with “Where do you want the payments”.
I told them I’d like to see the numbers of course like the RV and MF. They pulled my credit and brought me back another sheet that showed monthly payments (I’ve attached them in imgr link). I let them know again I’d like a look at all the numbers so that I can calculate and see where that number comes from. They bring a couple different “finance” people who say that’s just how it calculates they can’t tell me how it adds up to they it’s what they punch in lol. They finally bring me a sheet with some numbers from Capitol Finance and it shows RV 55 and MF .00018. I calculate that using this sites calculator and payments show around $270-$285 vs their $393-402 they bring me and can’t tell me how they are coming up with that. They finally come and say they got their numbers from Ally Bank because they don’t use Capitol Finance at all sigh . According to them Ally doesn’t use MF but what they showed me was basically the equivalent to 7.75 rate with Ally. I told them why would I got with Ally when the Capitol numbers are the better deal that’s when they said they don’t use them and see if another dealer does. Does this seem odd? I attached pictures.
If anyone can look at this and let me know if my numbers are off. I’m in Houston area btw so I’m sure that plays a factor as dealers know they will be getting desperate people due to the hurricane.
Yea just walk away. This is why everyone will recommend you just deal with dealers over email. Some of them won’t give you numbers till you come in. Just thank them and move onto the next one. I am sure the houston situation isn’t helping. Willing to look beyond houston for your deal? One way ticket to almost any city (especially out of houston!) is dirt cheap, only put a couple hundred extra miles on your car at most, and in most cases all the paperwork is already done before you book your flight. So all you do is fly in, get picked up by the dealer, and head home in your new car.
Yeah that’s what I was thinking too. They markup on that Ally lease is crazyyyy and how is it that a Jeep dealer doesn’t use their own Chrysler Capitol that they brought me the numbers for? Thanks so maybe I should try Austin or San Antonio is what you mean?
Yeah it’s sad they said that $1750 “rebate” is part them helping the community due to hurricane Harvey and it doesn’t even calculate in to the numbers they brought me
Anytime a car stealership doesn’t want to show details/numbers with their monthly payment calculations–no need to even waste your time at all. The lesser they show always means they’re fu*king you BIG TIME.
Also, try to stay away from monthly payment requests even if you think it’s an amount that seems to be a ‘steal’. Once, I did a lease calculation where the monthly was $50 LESS than my ‘perfect monthly payment target’. Follow the steps by looking at every input in the matrix. Good luck!
It’s funny that seems to be the theme at the few different Houston dealerships I’ve visited they all bring those sheets with the monthly payment and not much other info and ask are you ready to do the deal lol
Walk away, and never ever ever let them pull your credit because you’ll keep getting inquiries on your credit report. If your credit is great than you have nothing to worry about and you will always get the best money factor (MF) which translates into the lease interest rate. First negotiate the deal and once all the numbers look good you fill out the credit application.
However, I don’t think you’re likely to get a great deal on a Jeep Compass in general. It was an all-new late 2017 model, and you’re looking at a 2018, which would be just arriving on dealer lots now. I’m not seeing any applicable rebates from Jeep, unless maybe they have an across-the-board Harvey rebate like GM does (but I’m not seeing it).
Dealerships have to make money too to keep the doors open. It’s just that the people on this forum want them to make money on somebody else and not us. But if you just walk in the door, they’re going to try to make as much money off of you.
Like the other posters said, start by e-mailing all the Jeep dealers in town and maybe even in Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio. Tell them how you want the deal structured:
I know the MSRP is this
I know you can do this discount
I know these are the applicable rebates
I know this is the buy rate from Chrysler
I know this is the residual value
I have 750+ credit
I can sign the papers this afternoon
If you follow that process and your request isn’t too unrealistic, you’ll probably find a dealer who is willing to take a slight loss “just to move a unit.” - under ordinary circumstances for a car that isn’t in sky high demand.
Thanks Shellszj excellent info! I know I likely won’t get a killer deals like rebates or incentives but was trying to avoid the inflated MF like this dealership was trying to do by pushing Ally over Capitol Finance. Already working on suggestions above just doing everything with the dealers through email now.
The profiteering has started. The dealers must have been praying for this hurricane. The best bet is to drive a rental for a few months and then lease? Or even lease from outside Houston …
I’m currently trying to work on few deals outside the city of Houston. That’s the other bad thing there are no rental cars with any of the company’s anywhere in Houston due to the storm so they know it’s a desperate situation for most.
You first mistake was letting them run your credit.
Last night I walked into the Toyota dealer to look at the new Camry and talk pricing to see how much the cars running for and how much I can get the car OTD. [Wasn’t planning on getting the car that same night]. Salesman asks me for a copy of my ID i was like what for? his like I want to make a copy of it so we can put you in the system i chuckled and told him no thanks we haven’t even discussed numbers what ID are you talking about lol.
Do you have to have a Compass? The Grand Cherokee is MSRP higher but probably leases better.
According to CarsDirect analysis, the Cherokee Trailhawk is a pretty good deal this month.
Also what about a Mazda CX-5/3 or Chevrolet Equinox or Trax? Those will certainly lease better.
I’ve leased 3 Mazdas from Russell and Smith with no BS and Mac Haik has a Rep on this forum.
Wife like’s the Jeep it’s more for her but I will look at those models you suggested. Is Mac Haik Jeep pretty reputable as far as leases? I see they have the exact model and specs we are looking for.
What should I shoot for on the OTD price for this model in your opinion if you have a moment to take a look. Thanks for your help and suggestions Shellzj!
Oh I don’t know about Mac Haik Jeep. I just know that @Randy_Haddox1on this forum is from Mac Haik Chevrolet, but maybe he has a contact at the Jeep store.
Every time I’ve looked at a Jeep, I’ve gone to River Oaks Jeep since it’s a block away from my office. I’ve never purchased anything from them, but they’ve been pretty straight forward with their quotes. Also, I’ve had a good experience at Helfman Imports for Alfa Romeo, which is the same folks as Helfman and River Oaks Jeep.
Yes, the Jeep Compass is pretty good looking and seems to have nice packaging. Although I think the Renegade is cuter still!
Sorry, I really haven’t shopped Jeeps in a while, so I don’t know how much you should expect to pay. Truecar says the average Houston buyer is saving $3k off a 2017 but only $1k off of a 2018.
However, using the numbers from Edmunds for 36 and 10 for a Trailhawk, my spreadsheet says you should be paying around $340/mo for $0 down on an MSRP $27,170 model with only a $2k discount/ rebate. This includes 6.25% taxes, doc fees ($150), and acquisition fees (assumed $795).
$340/mo would put you at 1.24% for monthly payment versus MSRP. People on this forum will generally consider a payment decent at 1% or lower, and the most hard core hackers will shoot for below 0.85%. But I would think you can get $340/mo without too much heart break and that it would be very decent. For a point of reference, my sister is paying $379/mo $0 down for her 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 with a $31,500 MSRP and only a $2k discount.
However, I do think the Equinox and CX-5 would be better leases and drives…but admittedly without the Jeep allure.
That’s is great info I’m looking up those models to compare and will do some more leg work and see what I can come up with! Thanks again for all of your help! It is much appreciated!
Yea, the compact SUV market is the biggest market there is right now in terms of sales and options. The Equinox is brand new for 2018 and getting pretty great reviews, and GM looks to be throwing a lot of rebates at Houston’s way to move inventory. I’d hazard you could get a mid-level Equinox for less than $300/mo without issue.
The CX-5 is the driver’s SUV, and while I haven’t personally run the numbers, CarsDirect says that the current advertised lease is the best they’ve seen since the all new model arrived earlier this year.
The Toyota RAV4 is the old man of the bunch, but also has some of the cheapest leases because Toyota is trying to be the sales king vs the all-new Honda CR-V, which is America’s favorite compact SUV at the moment.
If you like cute, the all new for 2017 Mini Countryman might also be worth a look. I think the CX-5 drives better still and is a better deal, but you know, why not have a look?
