Hi! First time leasing here and was looking between the Lexus RX 350, Mercedes GLC/GLE, BMW X5, and the Audi Q5/Q7s.
A dealer in IL for Lexus gave me this offer when after the 2021 RX350 test drive I asked the salesperson to specifically give me the MF and the residual (some dealers were reluctant to give these two so I skipped them).
Base Model Price: $46,620
Total Installed Packages & Accessories: $6,315
Delivery & Handling: $1,025
Total MSRP: $53,960
Sales Tax Rate for my County in IL - 6.25%. My Credit score currently is around 755.
In the email they gave me the below quote. This is without running my credit or me committing anything:
The RX 350 will be $761.32/month for 36 months 10,000/year with zero down. The money factor is .00071 and residual is $30,217.60.
It is practically impossible for us to tell you what a “good” monthly payment is for your specific lease as lease programs are highly dependent on region, personal qualifications, tax rates, etc.
We always recommend the following method before you ever contact a dealership. If you do all of the work up front, you’ll have a stress free dealer experience and set yourself for success.
Read Leasing 101 (EDITORIAL | LEASEHACKR) to understand how to calculate a lease payment and the variables. Monthly payment is an output, not an input!!
Pick a specific vehicle that you want to target
Gather the current MF, RV and incentives from Edmunds forums for your zip code
Research the LH marketplace and other deals that have been made recently on your vehicle - what was their pre-incentive discount? How did their lease terms differ?
Plug your numbers into the LH calculator (CALCULATOR | LEASEHACKR), and use a pre-incentive discount similar to what you have seen
Create a target deal, this is what you’re trying to negotiate to. You can try different terms, selling price discount, etc. and see how your monthly payment is affected. It is also possible that different trims of your vehicle may have different MF and RV (i.e. this is very common with GM), so make sure that you look into that. Come up with a set of inputs that give you the output that you want - your desired monthly payment.
With a target price determined, you now have a deal to pursue and compare dealer offers against. More importantly, you have a solid foundation to work from.
Taking a rough look at it, it looks like a full sticker price deal. Are you sure they said 00071 for the money factor? I think the base rate is 00061 and a 55% RV. There appears to be $1,500 in lease cash and possibly another $1,000 if you qualify for military or college grad. I get this as a ballpark without knowing your tax rate or the doc fees, DMV for sure;
It’s definitely not a great deal by any means. I’d shop around and/or cross shop some other similar vehicles to see if you may be able to get more bang for your buck.
Not dancing around this, I’ve leased new models of more expensive cars for less monthly payments with no down (or $0 initial cap reduction cost). So it’s pretty bad.
This is the problem with dealership pricing, everyone gets a different price. The worst is new to lease ppl. They can really rip u off.
With interest rates this low, u can probably get a Tesla Y for that price right now. I’d say walk away.
My recommendation, go to a lease broker listing and see what the price is going for. I would say it should be under 600.
I’m speaking from someone that did a RX350 AWD (about the same MSRP) zero out the door for $470 (with taxes) for 36 (35 payments). With 9.50% taxes.
Understood. Figured this was a full MSRP kinda quote . Even the BMW X5 local dealer quotes were better than this.
As for Tesla MY. Buying that on finance was first choice but wife wants an ICE after she agreed to sell her 3 years old (2017) Honda CR-V EXL w/Nav to get into a higher segment. I am thinking reject the Caravana offer to sell her CR-V (for a good $25k for 28k miles car) and hold on till we find better lease deals.
That sounds like a wise move to put the decision on hold since you have a reliable vehicle that satisfies your needs for now. Surely better than a truly terrible deal just to get into a fairly outdated Lexus. Side note: what’s her hesitation on going EV?
With advance apologies to the main topic, replying on the side note.
On the Tesla MY, she is a bit apprehensive that the instant torque of the EV might be a bit handful in the Chicago suburbs winters. Also, she did not test drive it but sat inside and did not like the smallish steering (for her), the tiny rear view mirror, and the pathetic rear visibility. All according to her. I am obviously not a good candidate to judge as I have in my head decided to overlook all of these in favor of driving the EV …hehe
I won’t shout…lol … but as you can surmise, that number has no relevance today. But I do agree with the overall sentiment, that seems like a lot of money for an RX (even in today’s market)
What would be a good benchmark lease at 6.25% sales tax? They gave me a $761 and are sticking by it in this market :(. And even for a newbie leaser like that me, I do know my maths, this is looking like a ridiculous deal. Basically paying for the full invoice price of the car for over 3 years.
It appears to be full MSRP deal. The amount of discount (if any) you can achieve off MSRP is going to vary depending on what region you’re in. A broker would probably be money well spent in this situation.
You have ~$6k in options and if they are residualized, minus $2k DAS… an equivalent deal would be around ~$650mo before tax.
SoCal has a dozen dealers within a 100-150 mile radius, so there are dealers competing for business. IL might be a little different. You need to shop around.
Yup, I see that sheet is a good example. I see the base model non-AWD (Front Wheel Drive Only) Lexus RX was $495 before taxes (~$525 after taxes) plus $2k DAS. Adding AWD, and the options I guess, I am looking at $600-$650 after taxes.
