Luxury doesn’t mean higher residuals. Some luxury brands can lease well due to loaner / demo inventory, steep discounts off MSRP, incentive based programs, etc. Look for brands / models with large pre incentive discounts and figure out what incentives you qualify for.
It’s more than residual and interest rate. It’s discount preincentives, it’s incentives you qualify for and can stack. And then finding a dealer who checks all the boxes.
1 Like
I got you, I guess that’s were my mindset was kinda at. I assumed them to be higher end luxury so they would be a better deal then the more blue collar type brands.
The deal in this category seems to be the Pilot EX-L
2 Likes
<$300/mth Camaro LT1’s or Bolts 
though neither may be practical for WI.
Great deals on Highlanders this month, but not as cheap as Pilots
2 Likes
I’m in South Central WI and I’ve arranged two leases from the Chicago area. The most recent one, they offered to drive the vehicle about 2 hours for free. After you read the Leasing 101 link above, make a spreadsheet with all the dealerships you want to contact. I’ve had decent luck getting the ball rolling putting a bunch of zip codes into TrueCar. But, you can absolutely skip that. Spend time looking at recent deals on this forum and learn how to use the lease calculator so you can start to figure out what kinds of discounts equal what type of payments.
It’s all about discount, incentives/rebates, Money Factor, and Residual. Also, once you get a reasonably decent quote, post it here for feedback before signing the deal.
Here’s an example of a Pilot lease in Illinois - 2021 Honda Pilot EX-L, 36/12 for $350/month
I would love that, just need to get it in black to match my 99 Z28 currently in my garage. But this is for the wife and she wants some sort of SUV.
Thanks for the info, I’ll look into that after we start test driving some vehicles after the start of the new year.
So with test driving. I know most dealerships are going to want to talk numbers right away or try and keep you there somehow. Obviously we aren’t going to be taking her car when we do this so they can’t try the whole “looking for you keys speech”. But what do you say to the salesman/dealer if you’re just going in to test drive and have no intention of purchasing or signing anything at that time.
Tell Wifey since she getting a new whip u need that LT1 his and hers.
1 Like
I make an appointment ahead of time for the test drive, during typically slow hours, and tell them upfront that I’m still trying to narrow down vehicles and not ready to move forward yet.
Be respectful of their time, don’t eat up prime sales hours, and be honest about where you are in the process. They’ll probably still try to get info or have the manager so the handshake, but you can at least do your part.
2 Likes
So a question when looking at vehicle prices online. When you see something like what I’ve pictured below do you including the $4,750 off the deal as well when you put the info into the calculator or no. Like I went to edmunds and found the Residual and MF for this car(not in my area) just trying to confirm I’m using the calculator correctly.
Edmunds Noted
.00023 MF and 57% residual
$250 customer incentive
The $4750 would go under the incentives area, not be included in the sales price.
“Consumer Cash Program” sounds like a GM purchase incentive though, not leasing. Based on the Edmunds post above it sounds like a $250 dealer incentive for leasing. Need to verify availability of Conquest/Loyalty/Costco/etc to add to that.
There’s no point doing that. You need to ask for your area.
1 Like
For GM that’s not necessarily the case. GM incentives and programs are tied to the registrant’s zip code. So as long as the dealer is willing and able to do the deal it would be based on the incentives your zip code qualifies for. It’s just a question of whether or not the dealer in question is offering a deal worth making the trip for.
I just used any Residual and MF to verify I was using the calculator correct. I know this doesn’t apply to me and my area. This was just for me to run a test to see if I’m using the information correct on the calculator.
You’re definitely not getting that kind of discount on an Envision, or any GM product really. You seem to be inputting items correctly but you are deducting incentives from the selling price that are not eligible for leases.
True. And a perfect example of why one should determine the incentives before ever talking to a dealer.
1 Like
I understand that. But until you have a dealer quote specific to your zip and Edmunds info specific to your zip, what are you comparing your LHC output to?
Not comparing it to any other deal or anything specific. Just making sure I understand what goes where on the calculator.