i see. i am still studying & trying to memorize monthly lease payment calculations …
hopefully i will be able to make smart and sensible choice !
Listen the best time to buy a car is when you do not need a car. I negotiated the dodge charger deal in NY included above. However, i also got a Jeep Grand Cherokee limited for myself at a good deal as well. Now for the Jeep i could have pushed for another 10 or 15 dollars less but it was the exact car i wanted when 2016 were disappearing from dealer lots so i decided not to push more. I felt at .89% was fair and i loved the car. Plus i have two other leases coming due next year and wanted to leave some room with the dealer to get good deals for the next leases. Again, that is my perspective. Plus i feel i might have a better relationship with the dealer and salesman for next time or if any issues arise with any of the cars. (I even tipped the sales guy and the manager by 20 bucks each) Again, what i am saying is sometimes you have to look at the big picture.
The rule of thumb is exactly that - an easy formula to guide you. It is 1% not 1.018% or 0.9876% because it is easier to divide by 100 that 1.018%.
I am sure a more elaborate formula should consider the opportunity cost of money vs MF of dealer, the debt to income ratio, the current rate of inflation etc etc but this is a car forum, not a micro economics one 
If your payment is much higher than 1%, you should pause and ask why? If it is lower, you should start thinking this is a good deal and you need to seriously put it on the shortlist. But ultimately if you are after a luxury SUV and a base corolla is leasing for 0.5%, then that number is not material to your decision.
It is perfectly ok to lease a car for more than 1%! Why? Because it is rare, has the right color/options, is your dream car etc etc. We have had Nissan Q60S sport Red, Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, AMG, M3/M5 fans and they could not get 1% but they loved their cars.
We had people who had no intention of buying maseratis (some already had Ferraris, BMWs and Mercedes) but at 488 for 73k MSRP, thought the deal too good to pass [maybe Ferrari for the mall and steak night and Maserati for the grocery store and drive thru ]
I think someone even leased a 48k MSRP volvo for 250 for his 16 year old child (lucky child, bold/fearless parent).
So lease a car you like at the price you can afford Life’s too short not to enjoy that Jaguar F type coupe you have always dreamt of (particular at less than 1% MSRP monthly lease)
This forum is here to educate/compare the basic principles, so when you are at a dealer, they don’t just give you meaningless numbers and you have no basis for evaluating or countering their offer.
i see ! maseratis for 488 sounds pretty awesome ! heheh
i am preparing myself so that i can start jumping into dealers and have number fight with sales people…
Hopefully i won’t fall into their tricks =P
Except it’s a formula that doesn’t guide one towards anything. If anything, it just encourages lazy thinking and absolves the necessity of doing research.
There are no shortcuts to doing some basic research.
If your research shows vehicles in your segment can be had for X%, you should be aiming for X% (knowing that you may have to pay more if your local market isn’t as competitive as, say, Socal or metro NYC).
If one doesn’t do research, pays 0.90% and thinks it’s a good deal since <1% when research shows the same car can be had for 0.6%, that person has just wasted a colossal amount of money.
Take the Maserati you cited for example. Someone paying $700/month instead of 488 will have wasted at least $7,600. In reality, it will be more because one who doesn’t do research will waste even more money in the Finance manager’s office.
OTOH if someone is aiming for 1% on a car that for various reasons (rarity, low residuals, high MF, no discounts, etc) does not lease well, one will continue to waste inordinate amounts of time chasing that elusive 1%.
Doing some homework is the only basis for evaluating a dealer offer, no formulas will ever offer a shortcut for that.
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I believe someone posted they got two maseratis at 488 each. I asked if it was because they wanted always have one to drive when the other was in the shop
I also think at the start of the year, we had people who got free Spark EV if they qualified for the 4k CVRP CARB credit (income guidelines applicable). But then someone with such a 99 a month spark also posted that they felt the insurance required by Ally was too high (1.3k comprehensive a year versus the 400 or so for barebones statutory insurance they had on the old beater) and therefore wanted to return their lease. So can’t please some people, even with free leases lol.
So, whatever makes people happy
At a minimum you can go to true car and find out what dealer discount is without the rebates. When you build the car truecar brakes it down by dealer discount minus rebates. Find out what rebates you qualify for (for leasing not purchase as rebates are different) and subtract those from sales price, which includes dealer discount. For my jeep the dealer discount was 3800( based on trucar) at 1500 under invoice, and minus 6500 in rebates. Could i have gotten more from the dealer? Yes, i probably could have but i felt i got every discount i could based on the available info. So maybe thats an easy way to go about it. MSRP minus dealer discount based on true car, minus all rebates you qualify for. This gives you cap cost and you can calculate things on your own from there.
Well, your head will explode when you realize that some people got Spark EV leases for free (After 4k CVRP).
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so far, i have been calculating only based on MSRP… i guess that’s why i have been getting really high monthly cost…
i am aiming for new 2016/2015 (i dun think there are but…) models that dealers want out the lot.
hopeful i would be able to get a huge discount
All the info you need is in the front page pst for this month. From Quinox to Highlander to Maserati to Q50 to Charger to 3 series. If you can’t find a vehicle that meets your needs at these terrific prices, then please help your self to some more Grey Poupon.
thank you for the info ! i have already looked into those listing and couldn’t find anything interesting =P
Using the 1%, pre-tax and fees rule of thumb, here are the scores for my lease deals I’ve completed in the last 12 months (all $0 down leases).
2016 Cruze Limited:
MSRP: $21,620
Pre-tax/fee monthly lease payment: $11
Monthly payment as % of MSRP: 0.05% (I didn’t even factor in the $700 Costco card and $300 in e-giftcards I got! Factoring those, my monthly lease payment ends up being…-$30. Lol)
2016 Cruze Limited #2:
MSRP: $21,620
Pre-tax/fee monthly payment: $50
% of MSRP: 0.23%
2016 Spark EV:
MSRP: $27,135
Pre-tax/fee monthly payment: $93
% of MSRP: 0.34%
2017 Volt LT:
MSRP: 35,095
Pre-tax/fee monthly payment: $170 (not counting $2,300 MD EV rebate)
% of MSRP: 0.48% (I guess my worst lease deal of the bunch!)
2016 Spark EV #2:
MSRP: $27,135
Pre-tax/fee monthly: $69
% of MSRP: 0.25%
I have to add I got a free $500 Bosch charging station with each Spark EV lease, so factoring that in, that’s another $14 bucks or so off the effective monthly.
I think I’ve made out OK the past year.
Losers! Should have waited for 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio for grocery store trips 
I know, right! Some people are just too impulsive and jump at a second rate italian sports car under 500 whereas with some patience they could be driving a Ferrari-Engine powered Alfa Romeo to pick up their milk and bread. Arrivederci e Buon Viaggio Signore e Signori.
Great review, BTW:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/2017-alfa-romeo-giulia-review-an-awesome-reboot-1478189997
But then I drove the Giulia, and it absolutely shut my mouth. Far from irrelevant, the Giulia Quadrifoglio turns out to be instantly indispensable, a must-drive: certainly the lightest- and liveliest-handling, the most poised, pointable and neutral sport-sedan I’ve ever laid hands to. I love the steering wheel so much I’m thinking of having my palms upholstered in faux suede.
Here’s a quick sketch: midsize, five seats, majority-steel structure, powered by a twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 (505 hp, 443 lb-ft between 2,000-4,800 rpm); eight-speed automatic (no manual transmission); and rear-wheel drive with fully articulated torque vectoring. The Quadrifoglio has a curb weight of 3,800 pounds, with 50/50 weight distribution, front/rear. On the strength of its class-leading weight-to-power ratio (7.5 pounds per hp) the Quadrifoglio snarls to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, and boasts a reported top speed of 191 mph.
I wonder why @max_g is so worked up about the “rule of thumb” < 1% MSRP?
I am the one with the 2 Maseratis at $488 each ($72,850 MSRP) and also the first post after the OP that got @max_g all worked up
I think “monthly should be < 1% MSRP” rule of thumb is a great way to figure out if you are in the ballpark and for the non-math inclined, will still be able to say “near” or “far”. If you aim for 0.5% or 0.8%, you will never get there because those are the impossible once-in-a-lifetime deals.
For the Maseratis, I wasn’t even looking for a Maserati, certainly was not going to lease (I was/am looking to buy a used 2012+ 911 S Cab), it was just too good to pass up. I didn’t have time to do that math and/or post and wait for answers in this forum. They sold ~30 cars in 2 days (one guy got 3). When I got to the dealer, they had about 10 cars left (2nd day of the promo) and they sold out in 3 hours (got there at 10 am, sold out by 1 pm). So knowing that monthly is < 1% MSRP would’ve been a good thing to know at that time (I didn’t)
Here are some details of one of the deal (the other one is $1/mo off) – I haven’t even done any of the math yet because I am super happy with the deal … knowing that my monthly is way below 1% MSRP even if it is not really $488
Sticker
http://sharebucketapp.com/ZTk3NzM2MzA5NWJkYQ
Drive Off
http://sharebucketapp.com/GI5MTdhMDY1ZTdlMTA5M
Lease Payment
http://sharebucketapp.com/kMmRjYmFmOWRhMDJjYWY
@ursus @vhooloo there are a lot of complaints about the buttons being from Jeep/Chrysler/Fiat and definitely not a Porsche … but I am pretty happy with it 
@bro1999 - I’m pretty interested in that Volt deal - can you share some more info on that? Seems really solid. I’m located in SoCal - any chance that’s where you negotiated? Thanks for any tips, this is my first go at a lease.
Well, the figures I posted were with tax and all fees except the acquisition fee removed, to do the 1% comparison. After adding those back in, my lease deal was actually $239/month for the Volt.
I’m in MD, so unfortunately my MD contact probably won’t help you.
Thanks for the info. Here’s another rule to get max_g all worked up.
With LOW MF, the depreciation is spread evenly over a lease term. For instance, if your residual is 60% for 36 months, you pay depreciation of 40%/36. That’s if sales price/Cap Cost is MSRP.
So to get to 1% rule for 36 months, you need to get at least the formula such that your depreciation charge is 36% or lower of the value of the car, in other words, the sales price needs to be greater than 6% discount. So obviously you need a car with great sales price and great residual.
monthly charge as % payment of MSRP = (sales price as % of MSRP) - residual % / number of months
Of course there are other drive off fees to take into account, so the above is rough rule.