I couldn’t find this in the FAQ so I thought I’d make a separate topic for others to reference in the future - is there a guide out there on what to look for when combing through lease paperwork right before you sign a deal?
Specifically interested in double checking the deal to know it is the monthly and $ DAS they said it would be (for me, $0 DAS), as well as making sure they’re not tacking on any addons or packages that I don’t want to pay for.
My lease is for a Mazda, but I think a general guide for all lease agreements would be useful.
This is actually a really good question. I haven’t seen a comprehensive guide to a lease contract anywhere. They can be confusing and lead to shenanigans because they’re way different than what a dealer quote looks like.
I’ll work on making a quick guide for this tomorrow if I have time.
Kidding. Feel free to either write down the numbers to make sure they match or print out the deal sheet you were initially given. I go through the numbers when signing to make sure there isn’t anything fishy and nothing is left on the table.
Hi there! Read the discussion thus far and was wondering if what I attached would help. Please note that this is preliminary numbers plugged in by the dealership so I can see what the numbers are.
The one id add based on my experience a couple months back, is to be super careful with any credit cards they offer. My dealer offered me the BMW credit card while signing my paperwork, which I said I didn’t want but signed where I thought the ‘I decline’ part was. But it got processed as me requesting the card, so imagine my shock a few days later getting that in the mail.
While not as central to the process as the lease numbers, things like this can trip you up (or at least me lol)
@chrishs2000 Thanks very much for putting this together. It is a valuable reference and I’m sure will become a Sticky for the community.
Just one ask, can you upload a better resolution of the 1st image? It very blurry and when its thrown a word doc or pdf to print, it really can’t be seen well. The 2nd image is better and can be read after printing.
It’s scaling down on the forum preview but it’s a full size JPG output from a Word file. Save it as a photo to your computer by right clicking the image.
In case of a total loss, GAP insurance covers the difference between your payoff and the value of the vehicle. If the appraised value of the vehicle is less than your payoff, any cap cost reduction will be lost. On some brands like Hyundai/Kia, we’ve seen that even if the appraised value is higher they will keep the money for themselves. Regardless, there’s very little financial incentive to make a down payment.
