Lease for Foreign professional / Work Visa / Non-immigrant [So-Cal or others]

Hi hackers!

I have recently moved to the states (LA area), and I am looking for a lease in these crazy shortage times. I did not get any car yet, either because dealer has low interest on getting me into a lease without credit score, or because residuals look terrible for some models that I like, or because I am lost in figuring out the US system in general. The rental provided by my employer is finishing 15th August and I need to find a vehicle before that, so here I am :slight_smile: I would like to appreciate the dealers / brokers / forum members that have been in contact with me these past days trying to help me out in getting a car.

I have seen some good information searching around the forum, but could not find any dedicated post.
I would like to start a topic for listing tips, visa friendly dealers or visa friendly brokers or any other suggestion to the newcomers in the US. If there is enough activity, I will try finding some time to keep the 1st post up to date as a reference guide for other us newcomers.

**** So-Cal Dealers ****

Volkswagen Pasadena
link: https://www.volkswagenpasadena.com/foreign-business-professionals.htm
Comments: They have the program listed on their webpage, could be a good try

**** Dedicated Expat car webpages ****

Expat Ride
link: expatride.com
Pros: Expat Friendly
Cons: Usually expensive, Delivery time can be long

International AutoSource
link: go.intlauto.com
Pros: Expat Friendly, Good feedback from internet comments
Cons: Usually expensive, Delivery time can be long. I did not get a very friendly rep. But I know it worked fine for others.

Most luxury brands have a foreign professionals program. Most large dealerships participate in this but you must be aware that you won’t qualify for tier 1 credit.

1 Like

Nothing is leasing especially well right now, but if you just need 4 wheels check the euro lux brands for a Foreign Executive / Professional lease:

@Samaudibh - maybe an A4?
@BMW_Dave - i3 / 320 / 330e?
@Calvin.MB

@legendsauto might also be able to point you in the right direction.

Also Check the Marketplace.

2 Likes

MB has a program for Non-US however sometime it does require a lot down.

1 Like

Thanks @jeisensc for the plug. Yes I can most likely get you into a BMW Lease under the International Executive Program. If you’re interested, please email me at dave.townsend@bmwofmurrieta.com

1 Like

Thank you all for the replies, and thanks for the brokers that replied to my questions.

I am working on getting a Mazda lease.

The dealer agreed to discounting the car ($1.500 off msrp) however he is requesting me to apply for financing before giving me the money factor, since he says he will not know what money factor he can give me. Additionally, he is requesting for my insurance info, however I thought this was to be done just before picking up the car.

Is this reasonable? Seems odd to me that I need to start paying for an insurance before I get the car…

Thanks!

He would sell you a temp insurance if you dont have any

Given your situation, no I think they will need to run your credit to be confident how TFS will rate it.

You don’t need to start insurance before you get the car, but you need to have it in place. Apply, get approved, get a quote on this vin, etc.

Are these numbers acceptable?

Ok

What mystery Mazda is $479/mo with just first payment, in that dreadful tax locality you are living? Do you have a deal worksheet?

Sorry. It is a CX-5 Grand Touring AWD . Tax 10.25% Pasadena (welcome to California I guess).

Dealer won’t give me the worksheet until he gets my approval. I am working with this dealer because others would give me similar discount or more discounts but add bullshit options…

So far what I got in sms / text → $1500 discount on $33.630 MSRP. No Car add-ons. He expects mf to be 0.00092 . He ask me to put at least 10% DAS per Mazda policy for foreign program.

At this point I think what could kill me hard is MF, but no way to verify that without knowing what Tier Mazda gives to Foreign program. I have a feeling that they are going to mark it up.

Any recommendation? Would I be better off looking for other car?

I was looking for Rav4, Venza other SUVs from Premium brands but everything seems more expensive than that. If anyone know anything similar that lease better I am all ears :slight_smile:

Mazda and Toyota both use TFS (don’t forget to add GAP insurance to your auto policy). Have you talked to @Cody_Carter to see if he can help?

Just PM’d @Cody_Carter

I was going to go with GEICO but they don’t offer GAP. Should I be looking at another insurer? Is the dealer GAP very expensive?

More expensive than adding it to your insurance, if they offer it.

I think GEICO agent got me a good offer, maybe if offsets the extra cost of the dealer.

Don’t want to be annoying but… can you think of any more leaseable SUV?

Thanks!

Do you consider the Jeep 4xe as an SUV? See other thread

Yes I did try to get one ordered from @Clutch , but he was not sure that I could get one approved with my situation. I don’t think he felt like working with me. Do you know if cdjr has something in place for foreigners?

I don’t know what recommendions above you just ignored or didn’t work out, but you have plenty.

You aren’t a Tier-1/citizen/repeat leaser, so some aspect of this will require more effort.

Your biggest limitation is the Visa, I would work with a friendly (dealer or broker in marketplace) and try to limit the blast radius. You found a local Mazda dealer - currently one of the the most inventory constrained brands due to shortages, and their leasing captive doesn’t include GAP. You can stick with Mazda, but whatever Mf savings you think your chasing could leak out in extra fees.

You have to do the math.

In your shoes, I would probably jump over to Toyota (slightly better inventory situation, though still bad), you know TFS will approve, you still need to find GAP.

There are plenty of other captives that might hit all the boxes, I wouldn’t use them under any circumstances - I would say make a choice and solve all the problems. If you keep Mazda, dump Geico and start over.

1 Like

I personally have leased a BMW and a Jaguar with no issue on visa…
BMW didn’t ask me for anything special
Jaguar(Chase is the bank) did asked some additional documents but nothing too crazy.

Both cases are 0 cap cost reduction and base MF(thus tire-1 credit?..

I don’t know what recommendions above you just ignored or didn’t work out, but you have plenty.

I really appreciate your previous recommendations. I did not wanted to ignore them, but I am trying to keep my budget down until I get settled in. So I was not sure I could get anything for less than $500 effective with the premium brands. I will check again BMW, Audi, Mercedes. But will reach out to the brokers listed.

Thanks