Hello LH Forum, long time lurker, first time member and post
Greetings from KC!!
My wife and I have been discussing the possibility of leasing a new 2021 Audi e-tron and I wanted to get some guidance from the community. I’ve been reading about buyers getting great discounts on MSRP last year and earlier this year which is what sparked our recent interest, however, those days seem to have passed and demand for the car appears to be on the rise creating a seller’s market. It’s very unlikely that we’ll be able to get the dealer discounts off MSRP but we are still eligible for the manufacturer incentives and tax credit which ranges from 12k to 13k. If I’m looking at an MSRP of 78k would it be a HUGE mistake to use my equity on trade of 11k to help bring the monthly payment into a range that’s comfortable for our family?
If I understand what I’ve read in other forum posts, the risk of applying a down payment is that you would be out that cash if the car is ever in an accident and totaled. Are there other risks as well associated with the down payment approach?
Just trying to understand this a bit more before getting into something we might regret down the road (pun intended).
You’re on the right path and have done your research, good work. Most people here would not recommend applying equity toward the new lease. Ask them to cut you a check then use some of it toward MSDs to lower the payment. Have you also tried Vroom/carvana/etc to see what you could get on your current car? Lastly, if you’re really worried about the monthly payment did you look at paying all fees up front such at acq fee, govt fees, etc
In order to evaluate whether it’s a worthwhile risk, calculate your total lease payments both ways (with and without the down payment) and see how much money you’ll save.
Risk tolerance varies dramatically from person to person, but you can’t really make an informed decision until you also measure the reward.
It would be a huge mistake to think you are saving more than the difference in rent charge vs. not paying they money upfront.
Your actual monthly cost will be more than $300 above your “payment,” and at the end of the lease, the $11k will have been lit on fire either way.
Look at MSDs as an additional option (you can max MSDs and use the rest as CCR if you’d like, and then you’d get the MSDs back at the end).
If you didn’t dump it into a car rental, what else could you do with $11k?
