My current lease was a takeover from my friend, and my other cars were purchases so this is my first time negotiating a lease. I’ve started negotiations on a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk and received a quote after a test drive. I want to make sure that I’m understanding this correctly.
MSRP: 51175 (Confirmed on window sticker)
Discount: 2023 (4% of MSRP…I’ve seen 9% advertised online without any negotiating, so I know this is not good.)
Cap Cost: 49152 (MSRP - Discount)
Total Add-ons: 296 (This is noted as “Premier Dealer Service” which I’m guessing is a BS fee that should be removed. Sales person ignored my question about this.)
Sales Tax: 1852.50 (Correct Tax)
Dealer/State Fees: 744.75 (This seems higher than what’s on the DMV website, so I’ll ask for a breakdown)
Total Price: 52045.25 (Cap cost + Tax + Dealer/State fees + Add-on)
Rebate: 5000 (Incentives I qualify for - seems correct)
Net Residual: 25075.75 (MSRP * Residual)
Drive Off: 5000 (I’m not sure why they’re listing this, but he said it’s the rebates/incentives and not something I’d pay)
Miles: 12k (My request)
Residual: 49 (Confirmed with Edmunds)
MF: Not listed (but I know it should be 0.0004)
Monthly: 661.38
They’re doing 0 DAS, and my understanding is that this could cost me a small amount of money over the lease with the tradeoff being the loss of whatever DAS I pay if the vehicle is totaled. I think I’d be ok with that loss. I can’t seem to get the same monthly payment, so my guess is they are playing with the MF a bit.
Am I on the right track to figuring this out? It seems that the next steps would be to:
- Negotiate a better discount
- Have them remove the Premier Dealer Service
- Breakdown the tax/dealership fees
- Confirm the MF
Thank you! I’ve learned a lot just by reading and searching.
Continue with your next steps that you outlined and you are on your way to a solid deal.
You’re a model new member. Keep on the same track and let us know if you need any help.
It’s so refreshing to see someone who has done their homework!
While you’re working on negotiating with this dealership, you should be contacting all other Jeep dealerships within at least 100 miles asking for a quote on a specific stock number that would be acceptable to you. I would do this regardless of color, you’re just looking for good comparable deals to leverage to the lowest bottom line.
Thanks, I always try to search before asking. Plus it’s been kind of fun figuring it out. I’ve reached out to a few dealers, but am having trouble getting numbers from most of them aside from what’s on their websites.
This dealer got back to me that the “Premier Dealer Service” is VIN Etching so I told them that’s going to have to be a credit/removed. They also told me that the MF they used was .00046. Should I make a big deal about .00006 or is that an acceptable markup?
I wouldn’t accept any BS add-ons or a marked up MF (especially not both) unless the deal was so good that no other dealer could come close to replicating it. This deal is clearly not. For example, for my last lease I accepted a $299 vin etching because the dealer was quoting me $2000 below any other dealer. I even sent their quote sheet to over 10 sales managers and they all gave me the standard ‘it’s not real’, ‘no one can touch this’, ‘come back when you want a fair deal’, bla bla bla. I can live with spending $299 to save $2000! Sales personnel can make a really good bonus if they have a really high take rate on these spiffs, so if they can offer you an amazing deal that blows everyone else away throw them that bone.
Cast a wide net, and have fun working with FCA dealers!!! 
Haha, ok! And yes, if they had a super awesome offer, I wouldn’t make a big deal over that.
Just heard back from another dealer with the best price I’ve seen and they’re not playing any games (yet) so that’s nice.
A broker also reached out to me, so hopefully can get more numbers to review and he can help with my current car.
It’s an FCA dealer. Trust me, they will be playing games 
Just an update. My coworker connected me with a friend’s dealership and they agreed to match the best offer I had received. The salesperson has been very straight forward, but I still have a few questions.
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Initially he split the $5000 incentives between the cap cost reduction and the DAS, but after asking he sent me another quote with the incentives applied only to the cap cost reduction. The changes appear minimal, but I’m not sure of the benefits of doing it one way vs. the other.
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For the most part my calculations are the same except I’m getting a finance charge of $4 less. I confirmed that we’re using the same MF (0.0004) so I’m trying to figure out what’s going on. Of course this changes the monthly payment.
EDIT: Tax rate is 7.5%. I noticed that capitalized sales tax is less than I would expect.
Because there’s a lot of numbers, I thought I’d just post the worksheets (hope that’s ok!):
This deal seems pretty straight forward from this dealer as long as you confirm the MF and residual with Edmunds in your region. So you are getting 10% discount off MSRP before rebates. That’s how it should be done with any JGC. 
Only 1st month payment due looks like a solid deal for a Trailhawk.
- I don’t think it matters how the incentives are applied
- leasehackr.com/calculator?make=Jeep&miles=12000&msd=0&msrp=50280&sales_price=45271&months=36&mf=.00004&dp=0&dealer_fee=85&acq_fee=0&taxed_inc=5000&untaxed_inc=0&rebate=0&resP=49®_fee=598.75&sales_tax=7.5&demo_mileage=0&memo=&zero_driveoff=true&monthlyTax_radio=true
Did you apply the Conquest rebate?
After you get your JGC you can get $250 rebate from Bonusdrive.com
Also, any trims Overland and up is part of Jeep Wave program for 2 years free, including 4 oil changes/tire rotation, rental car, tire/wheel protection, etc.
Is there a reason you’re seized with the Jeep Grand Cherokee? I get that it’s a handsome truck, but it’s super long in the tooth with a total redesign launching this fall. I would not want to be paying over $500 a month for another 2 years on the “old” version.
Thanks, the first thing I did was get the MF and residual from Edmunds. Yep, 10% was my goal (based on another user getting it on a High Altitude) so I’m happy with that.
Did you apply the Conquest rebate?
The Honda one or is there another? There’s the $3500 lease incentives and I qualify for the $500 NAR incentive and $1000 for the Honda conquest.
Thanks for the heads up about Bonusdrive! And yeah, was reading about Jeep Wave last night, pretty neat.
Yes, it’s old, but the ideal car would be a Range Rover Sport or maybe BMW X3M if I wanted to sacrifice some offroad capability…neither of which I can currently afford.
I’m no FCA fan but the JGC is a very competent vehicle. I’d take one over an Infiniti QXwhatever
The redesign is slated for 2021. They will still have current design for 2020 JGC models.
That was probably me with the JGC High Altitude. 
I kept repeating in most of the Jeep posts to get 10% off MSRP before rebates. I’m not sure if everyone looking for JGC reads them but glad you did and heed advice.
I know Memorial Day weekend is a big sales event in the auto industry and you got the 10%. If you are not in a hurry you can ask other dealers to beat the 10% off and maybe push for 12% esp. closer to end of the month. 
Ha! It WAS! I’ve been looking at a Jeep for a while now, but when I checked earlier in the year the numbers weren’t where I wanted to be. I saw your post and thought I should run the numbers again and I’m glad I did! I think I got lucky with the 10%. A local dealer had it listed online at ~9%, but when she emailed me the quote she decided to throw in another 1% or she typod it. I took that to another dealer who said they’d match it. If I didn’t have to coordinate getting rid of my current car, I’d maybe wait it out another week, but I’m pretty happy with this deal. I was hoping for under 500, but this is close enough. Thanks for your post about the HA to get me going on this!
Congrats man! Enjoy the ride. Glad the #s worked out for you.
If this is your 1st lease, look into selling/trading-in the JGC before the 36 months is up (and you don’t have to pay the disposition fee at end of lease). I sold my 2015 JGC Altitude in 2017 to private and made close to $4500 at the time. I also sold my 2017 Lexus to Vroom and made + equity. These are the benefits of leasing if the #s are good.
Thanks! I’m about to go pick it up. Decided to go with 15k miles after doing the math on how much I drive. I didn’t know you could do that. So you sold it to them or transferred the lease?
There are many options at the end of the lease instead of just returning it to the lender if you have positive equity. Don’t worry, you have a lot of time to research on the different options. You can just search the forums. In the meantime, enjoy the new ride man. Its always a great feeling to get a new car and learn the amenities. =)
