First time leasing need some general help, looking cheap <$150/month

Ask the Hackrs
1

I have bought 3 cars before no problem, go on truecar, find a good price and buy it, either finance through manufacturer or through my bank. Simple.

Leasing has seemed to be more confusing, could any of you help me out. I am looking for a cheap down payment and sub $150 per month vehicle, no requirements other than Auto tranny, radio and A/C.

I went to a Chrysler dealer the other night and they said that their BUY price advertised online was cheaper than their LEASE price, is this normal? Also the depreciation is based upon the MSRP correct?

Also this is a picture of a quote from a Toyota dealer, but from the leasehackr calculator it seems way high

Thanks in advance all

2

I am also in a similar situation. Some things I’ve learned in the past couple of weeks are:

  • Look for cars with HIGH residual values (specifically only them)
  • Look for cars ~15000 MSRP-$13000 MSRP. This is your best bet. Kia Rio? Hyundai Accent? Anything around $200 I noticed should be discounted since it tends to fall into the $200/mo range
  • Look for low MSRP cars, and show that offer to the competitive dealer that has a low lease rate. Use the internet or edmunds.com
  • Make the dealers compete with each other! They will try to go through hoops to sell you the car.
  • Have EXCELLENT credit. This is pretty important to get those special offers. Also, don’t have them run your credit, it’s a waste of time and it’s bad for your points.