Help find discrepancy b/w calc & dealer price

[Dealhackr]

Here is the Calc Link, one-pay 8,404

(note: for selling price I put 49,111 to account for the 997 in dealer accessories which are listed on dealer sheet as 48,014 & 997 aftermarkets)

EDIT
I edited the calc to make selling price 48,014 (removed accessories)

Added 997 (accessories) to the dealer fees (1796 = 799 doc + 997 accessories)

calc showing 8389 for total cost updated Calc

Here is dealer worksheet; saying $9,080 for Due on Delivery and Cash down

msrp, discount, rebates, MF, RV all match

What am I missing in my calc, or what is being added on the dealer sheet?

edit:
Advanced payment 11,707.92 + upfront charges 872.96 = 12,580

• any idea where 11,707 & 872 are coming from?

• maybe some of the 872 is the 734.4 taxes since that is an upfront charge

12,580 - 3,500 rebates = 9,080

Net cap cost (49,980) = gross cap cost (49,245) + taxes (734.4)

Thank you

EDIT

Figured out that the adjusted residual lower is bc car is loaner…so that accounts for $273 of the $691 discrepancy

which leaves $418

[ApexHunt]

$12,580 - $3,500 Rebates = $9080

Dealer accessories aren’t residualized so whatever amount they are, your paying the full amount, not just 28% of that number based on the RV of 72%.

[Dealhackr]

I changed the calc to make selling price 48,014 (removed accessories)

Added 997 (acessories) to the dealer fees (1796 = 799 doc + 997 accessories)

calc showing 8389 for total cost

[Jac_Le]

$691 difference and I have more of a hard time with the money down number. Is there a trade?

[Dealhackr]

no trade involved

[Jac_Le]

Where’s the acquisition fee?

[Dealhackr]

$0 acq fee

[ApexHunt]

What make & model?

[Dealhackr]

2025 optiq lux 1

[Jac_Le]

Their MF is showing .0004. You have the right MF .00045 on calc.

Are you doing a GM card sign up as well?

[Dealhackr]

if anything their MF .0004 would make it even lower

Figured out that the adjusted residual is bc car is loaner…so that accounts for $273 of the $691 discrepancy

which leaves $418

edit yes doing gm card so 500 is part of the 3500 incentives

at this point, think ill just sign it…$9k one pay ( sure not the unicorn deals from Q4 2025, but pretty solid in this EV market)

[delta737h]

@Dealhackr

What am I missing in my calc, or what is being added on the dealer sheet?

You’re chasing after a dealer that has no clue how to best structure a one-pay lease. Never ever capitalize fees in a one-pay. That is pure stupidity on the dealer’s part as you’ll end up paying more. This dealer capped the following…

Sell Price… 48014.00
Adds… 997.00
Cap Fees… 234.97 (Gov fees?)
Taxes… 734.40
Gross Cap… 49980.37
CCR… 0.00
Adj. Cap… 49980.37

Base Mo. Pay = .00040 x (49980.37 + 39553.48) + (49980.37 - 39553.48) / 24
= 470.26

So, it appears that capped taxes were 734.40 and included in the 470.26 base payment. Yet, tax was levied on the 470.26 which already includes tax! So, you have tax on tax. That’s not the way it’s done in NJ as far as I know.

Next, lease inception fees…

One-Pay… 11286.24 (this is the one-pay, not 11707.92 which includes tax)
One Pay Tax… 421.68
Admin Fee… 799.00
Admin Fee Tax… 53.93 … @6.75%
License… 20.00
TOTAL… 12580.85
Rebate Credit… 3500.00
DAS… 9080.85 (close enough)

Not sure about your tax rate. Looks like 6.75% was levied on the 799 admin fee. However, some funky odd-looking rate of 3.73623% was used to compute the monthly tax. At any rate, this worksheet is an abomination. All fees should be paid upfront, and all rebates should be used as a CCR in a one-pay lease to minimize cost.

The lease is poorly structured at best. FWIW, you may want to look at the following document…

Single Payment Adjusted Lease Balance Calculations, Optimality, and Purchase Option.pdf (948.7 KB)

Regarding the residual… It appears that there is 1363 miles on the odometer at lease inception. I believe GM charges 0.20 per mile which means a total charge of 272.60 which was deducted from the unadjusted residual of 39826.08 resulting in an adjusted residual of 39553.48.

[Dealhackr]

@delta737h

Thank you so much for such a detailed, & educational response.

If I’m understanding correctly, the worksheet should be changed as follows:

1. "all rebates should be used as a CCR"…enter $3500 in the Total Cap Reduction line?

2. “All fees should be paid upfront”…should the sum of all fees show in the “Upfront Charges” line (payment column on right of worksheet), and $0 in the capitalization column (left of worksheet)?

• These are all the items that should be paid upfront (ie. not capitalized, or else that unnecessarily increases lease cost by increasing both the depreciation & finance costs)?
• • Adds… 997.00
  • Admin Fee… 799.00
  • License… 20.00
  • Cap/Govt Fees… 234.97 (Yes; these are Gov fees)
  • = Total = 2,051
  • Taxes also shouldn’t be capitalized

Doing the above would result in the following calculation:

Lease Cost

Adj cap cost = 44,514 ← 55,314.00 - 7300 (dealer discount) - 3500 (taxable rebates)

Adj residual accounting for 1.363 loaner miles = 39,553.48

Base Mo. Pay = Finance Charge + Depreciation

Base Mo. Pay = [MF x (AdjCapCost + Residual)] + [(AdjCapCost - Residual) / 24]

Base Mo. Pay = [.00040 x (44,514+ 39,553.48)] + [(44,514 - 39,553.48) / 24]

= 33.62 (Monthly Finance Charge) + 206.68 (Monthly Depreciation)

= 240.30/month pre-tax

= 806.88 (24 mnths Finance Charge) + 4,960.32 (24 mnths Depreciation)

= 5,767.20 (24 months) pre-tax lease payment

Fees/Addons

= 799 (doc) + 997 (addons) + 235 (govt fee; ? not taxable) + 20 license

= 2,051

Taxes

7% x [ 5,767.20 (total lease payments) + 3500 (taxable rebates) + 799 (doc fee) + 997 (adds)]

7% x 11,063.2

= 774.42

One Pay Cost = Lease Payment + Taxes + Fees/Addons

= 5,767.20 + 774.42 + 2,051

**= 8,592.62
**

If the above is correct, then would the corrected worksheet look like this:

Thanks again

[delta737h]

Honestly, I don’t pay much attention to dealer worksheets other than to collect hard data that must be vetted. So, let’s forget about the worksheet and structure a one-pay lease from scratch, do the calculations manually, and learn something about leasing. Before doing so, let’s discuss some preliminaries.

You need to confirm your NJ sales tax rate. The dealer uses two different tax rates. I’ll use 6.75%. Don’t waste time trying to decipher a dealer’s worksheet. Otherwise, you’re allowing them to control the deal. They often omit a lot of relevant detail such as the money factor; don’t itemize fees and occasionally make mistakes. Rely on credible outside sources (e.g., LH marketplace and LH signed deals and tips, Edmunds, etc.).

Yes, dealer worksheet input data can be useful. However, all dealer-provided data must be vetted such as acquisition fee, doc fee (regulated by some states), cost of money (e.g., money factor, gov fees, residual, rebates, sales tax rate, etc.). Make sure the residual matches the term and annual mileage requirement. Check available tax credits/incentives via the dealer who may issue tax credits or assess a lower sales tax rate to energize sales for some models (e.g., Texas).

Research selling prices in your local market coupled with reasonable expectations. Sometimes, dealers embed rebates in their discount. Keep them separate. Get a list of customer rebates, incentives, and credits (e.g., electric chargers) including VIN-specific discounts, if any. The dealer has such a list. GM calls their list the Customer Incentive Acknowledgement form which includes manufacturer rebate and incentive disclosures. Restrictions may apply to the extent that some rebates may not be disclosed such as college grad, military, educators, AMEX, Costco, etc.

Secure a copy of the factory window sticker. Check for non-factory add-ons or dealer-installed options. If possible, eliminate those you don’t want or need.

Organize all researched and vetted data with the goal of creating a one-page professional-looking lease proposal that reflects your target deal. The idea is to create your own deal, not replicate or reverse engineer the dealer’s deal.

First, I’ll list all the hard data provided by you and the dealer…

Second, using the to be vetted data above, calculate the monthly base lease payment…

.00040 x (44514 + 39553.48) + (44514 - 39553.48) / 24 = 240.32
One-Pay Amount = 24 x 240.32
= 5767.68

Next, list all the lease inception fees…

One-Pay… 5767.68
One-Pay Tax @6.75%… 389.32
CCR Tax @6.75%… 236.25
Aftermarket Charge… 997.00 (may have to be capped)
Aftermarket Tax @6.75%… 67.30
Dealer Doc Fee… 799.00
Dealer Doc Fee Tax… 53.93
License Fee… 20.00
Gov. Fees (itemize)… 234.97
TOTAL DUE (DAS)… 8565.45

Finally, create a one-page comprehensive lease proposal. All calcs must be spot on.

??? Let me know.

[delta737h]

What do you plan to do with your corrected dealer worksheet? I wouldn’t show it to the dealer b/c you’re opening up a can of worms and playing their game. They’ll manufacture a ton of objections and stir up unnecessary conversation. You’re much better off emailing them a one-page lease proposal similar to the one below…

EDITS: Here’s the LH Calc Also, can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be allowed to pay for the 997 aftermarkets upfront unless they’re included in the window sticker which isn’t very likely. These are likely dealer adds.

[Dealhackr]

@delta737h

Thanks again for the very detailed reply. This has been very educational; it’s been a number of years since I’ve calculated a lease.

For background, I had looked at others’ Optiq deals. In Q4 2025, a few people got some unicorn deals $6k one pay or less. So I started out aiming for that, but seems those aren’t replicable in current market. More recent posts are in $10k+ range.

• After striking out w/ a few dealers trying for a $9k dealer discount before customer incentives to try to be around $7k one pay, the highest I got was the $7300 (+$2k doc fee & accessories), which is coming out to $8600 one pay. All dealers have the doc fee; +/- on dealer add-ons. While there’s another one w/o the add-ons, I’d have to pay nearly $1k in shipping, their dealer disc isn’t as high, and also has higher loaner mileage (which would decr residual / increase lease cost). Another vehicle I virtually walked away from hoping to get higher dealer disc, ended up selling. So '25 inventory is shrinking.

I had used the RateFinder (w/ VIN) & Edmunds forums to confirm RV, MF, and incentives (conquest, supplier, GM card sign up).

• this dealer marked up the MF initially, but subsequently agreed to base GM rate

I did confirm the govt fees (alternative fuel vehicle fee in GA)

• apologies for confusion re: tax rate (it is 7% here); just realized where you’re getting NJ from; seems I accidentally hit the NJ tag when making the original post on my phone

So the selling price, MF, RV, incentives, govt fees, dealers fees all were what I was expecting them to be. But I couldn’t figure out why the discrepancy, until your post which highlighted that the upfronts were being capitalized. And recalculating it w/o them capitalized above appears to account for the about the discrepancy b/w what the LH calc vs dealer sheet.

And yes the aftermarkets are dealer adds (tint, nitrogen, and 1 other thing); so not from the manufacturer at all.

Re: worksheet, I’m not going to send it to them, but just helps me understand what I need to ask him to do on his end, which is basically

• Don’t capitalize the Fees/Adds
• Move the $3500 incentives from Rebates → CCR

Out of curiosity, in what scenario would the incentives be entered in the “Rebates” box on their worksheet, instead if in the CCR field (ie. why even have a “rebates” box instead of just CCR)?

I understand putting a down payment also falls under CCR, but figure CCR would be sum of incentives + down payment.

• Doesn’t seem putting incentives in a “rebates” field instead of CCR would ever be favorable to the consumer.
• And I don’t think makes a difference to the dealer?
• For manufacturer/finance arm, they’d get more money that way.

Also this dealer said I could put entire one-pay on the GM card (opening card gives $500 part of the $3500 incentives). And the card earns 7 pts/$, which per a prior post on LH, the points can be used to pay off the one pay charge. So that’s $600 after sale type credit, so effective one payment $8k (8600-$600 statement credit); not terrible in this market.

[mllcb42]

@Dealhackr

Move the $3500 incentives from Rebates → CCR

They don’t get moved from rebates to ccr. They are rebates that you want to have applied as a ccr rather than included as part of the total payment. They’re still going to be listed as rebates.

The issue that you may run into is what flexibility the dealer has in how their desking software does the allocation of ccr on a one pay. They don’t always have the ability to actual structure the one pay in an optimal way based on the limitations of their tools.

[delta737h]

@Dealhackr

in what scenario would the incentives be entered in the “Rebates” box on their worksheet, instead if in the CCR field

Thanks for your kind words. My best guess is that incentives (manufacturer to dealer) are usually included in the dealer discount box. You just need to know how much is incentives and how much is actual dealer discount. A benefit of having incentives in that box is that it doesn’t get taxed. Also, if you’re in GA, taxes are levied on depreciation. Yes, the GA tax rate is 7%. Rebates used as a CCR are not taxable in GA. Below is the tax form GA dealers must complete…

GA Tax Form MV-7L - State and Local Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT) Fees for Leases - effective January 1, 2022.pdf (238.0 KB)

Per the GA Tax Code as it relates to tax on vehicle leases…

i. In the case of a motor vehicle that is leased to a lessee for use primarily in the lessee’s trade or business and for which the lease agreement contains a provision for the adjustment of the rental price as described in Code Section 40-3-60, the agreed upon value of the motor vehicle less any reduction for the trade-in value of another motor vehicle and any rebate;

ii. In the case of a motor vehicle that is leased other than described in division (i) of this subparagraph, the total of the depreciation plus any amortized amounts pursuant to the lease agreement plus any down payments; and

iii. The term “any down payments” as used in this subparagraph shall mean cash collected from the lessee at the inception of the lease which shall include cash supplied as a capital cost reduction; shall not include rebates, noncash credits, or net trade allowances; and shall include any upfront payments collected from the lessee at the inception of the lease except for taxes or fees imposed by law and monthly lease payments made in advance.

Accordingly, GA TAVT Tax is computed as follows…

Q = Adjusted Cap = S + A - C
V = Residual Value
S = Sell Price
C = Total CCR including rebates
D = Cap Reduction (collected from lessee- excludes rebates)
A = Capitalized Fees (amortized amounts) except capped taxes
X = Taxable lease inception fees

GA TAVT = Tax Rate x [(Q – V) + D + X]

Depreciation = Q – V … pursuant to the lease agreement

In your case…

GA TAVT = 7.00% x [(44514 – 39553.48) + 0 + 1796]
= 472.96

This is the TOTAL TAX owed. You may want to amend your lease proposal accordingly to reflect the correct amount of total tax.

EDIT: Your upfronts would be as follows…

One-Pay… 5767.68
GA GAVT… 472.96
Aftermarket Charge… 997.00 (may have to be capped)
Dealer Doc Fee… 799.00
License Fee… 20.00
Gov. Fees (itemize)… 234.97
TOTAL DUE (DAS)… 8291.61

@Dealhackr

why even have a “rebates” box instead of just CCR

I think @mllcb42 may have answered your question.