Hello,
I’m new here and could use some advice. My husband and I share a 2018 Toyota Camry since my job is hybrid and he is the only one commuting to work during the week. My 17yo son just started a part time job and we now need a second car in order for him to get to work. My job will probably start requiring three days in the office this fall so a second car will have to happen anyway. The last time we leased a vehicle was in 2018 and I put $700 down on an Elantra Value Edition and paid $247 a month for 36 months/12,000 miles. I knew I would need to pay more in 2025, but holy crap has the market changed. I’ve contacted Oxmoor Hyundai and Kelly Hyundai in Kentucky for quotes on similarly priced 2025 Elantra SEL Sport models with the same terms. One quoted $491 per month with zero down and $1807 for the first payment, taxes and fees and they were not willing to negotiate further. The other wanted $355 per month with $600 down which was better but I ran the numbers here and with another calculator and the deal was rated as “poor”, which I could already tell. I’ve started looking at new Corollas but the two KY dealerships I talked to will only sell at MSRP. I contacted a dealership in TN and they will come down about $1000 to $22,886 on a Corolla LE. With tier one credit and putting down $1000 at 4.9% for 60 months, the monthly payment is $458. We could pull some money out of savings to put down two grand as a down payment to help bring the payment down a bit, but I’d rather not tie up my cash as we need to replace a sump under the house. Anyway, I’ve been looking at the pre-negotiated deals here on Leasehacker, but they all seem to require about $3000 down. I don’t want to look at cheap beater cars as an option. I keep seeing advice to use a broker but since the cars I’m looking at are in the low 20-thousand range, I don’t know if there will be much cost savings to pay a stranger $700 to $1000 to find a deal for me. Basically, I’d like to find a good lease deal under $300 with as least money down as possible. I would prefer Hyundai, Honda and Toyota sedans that are gas or hybrid but not electric. Or in this market, is it better to go ahead and purchase a new Corolla, knowing that it will likely hold it’s value? It will not be having many miles put on it as all of our jobs are within 7 miles of home. I greatly appreciate any advice or pointers or leads anyone can give me. Thank you!
Many moving parts on your scenario, and before we go too far down this road, two other questions:
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As to the above quote, is it worth paying a broker $700-$1000 to save $2000 over the life of the lease?
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How will two cars work when it seems like very soon you will need three most of the time?
Lot to digest- it would be much easier to read if you broke up the big block of text.
I don’t know a lot about KY, but since there’s less competition, it’s probably a little tougher market.
Sign up for Hyundai Rewards (on a desktop- mobile won’t show up for some reason). Existing Hyundai owners will get $250 off next lease. Higher tiers will earn more. It’s a new program that most Hyundai dealers don’t seem to know about.
Here in CA, I just signed 2 Ioniq 5 Limited RWD deals in the last 2 weeks. One deal: $57435. 36/10k. $0 DAS, $392 (8.65% sales tax). We have a subverted MF in CA: MF=0.00101, RV=51%, $17250 incentives.
CMG (Coastal Motor Group) and other LH brokers in CA have aggressive deals. If you don’t need the nice top of the line features (360 camera, etc), you can get real cheap lease on Ioniq 5 SE. Take a look at Marketplace to see what kind of potential deals in your geography. (reach out to @CMG and see what shipping and out of state deal might be possible)
Good luck.
Hello,
I’ve never used a broker before but if I can save two grand by spending $700, then of course it would be worth it.
For the second car, we should be fine because my husband only works Monday through Thursday and my job only requires one day a week in the office so I usually go in on Fridays.Even if we moved to three days per week, I don’t have to go in all day. My son is still a high school student so his job is usually starts after 5 PM on school days and it’s not every day. Since we don’t drive many miles, I wonder if a lease is even the best option at all. I was just trying to spend the least money out of pocket each month since we’ll be paying an extra $200 on his car insurance. He’s going to help with the payments, but I don’t want to count on his source of income in case anything changes (like him going to college out of state next year.)
Anyway, I appreciate any advice you might have.
Thanks for the tag (sort of 
)
I can help but I am in CA and shipping will be expensive to Kansas.
Edit: KY is Kentucky, not Kansas. Probably still expensive.
Ha! Yeah, Kentucky or Kansas, we’re so far from the big metro areas, the cost of transportation will be high. I appreciate the name of the company though and will look into it.
Check out the east coast and middle Atlantic brokers that handle the cars you might be interested in. Shipping from those states will be much cheaper and even with the broker fee plus shipping you could be way ahead in the end.
Have you looked at the Kia K4? My vague memory is that there was a point at which they were leasing pretty decently (in CA, at least). Similarly monthly to your Elantra (but more due at signing).
Yeah, I had looked at them, but hadn’t really seen any great deals without putting down about three grand. I’ll continue to look though since we are open to all options. I appreciate the recommendation.
You can structure a lease however you want, eg $0 DAS/just first payment, as long as you understand it raises the total cost of the lease. Except for refundable security deposits I’ve always structured my leases that way.
As others suggested ignore the advertised lease offers from dealers and manufacturers, fine print is stuffed with fees.
Spend some time browsing the Marketplace, in addition to what was suggested CX-30s and some other small cars/SUVs have been reasonable.
https://forum.leasehackr.com/tags/intersection/marketplace/KY
If you opt to work with a broker that offers multiple brands, you can lay your scenario out for them and see what they have.
If you are skipping Broker/Dealer/PND here just be sure you understand all the numbers, post a Deal Check here before you sign anything. As Leasing 101 tells us, don’t ask dealers for offers and don’t negotiate in person.
Last suggestion: don’t forget to check the insurance cost of the new vehicle. If you get down to one that fits you budget you may have no choice, but two different cars may have significantly different insurance costs, double check before you sign. I usually take the VIN I’m looking at (or if I dont have it a VIN for a similar car) login to my auto insurance account and have a quote in less than 5 minutes.
Good luck with your search.
Thanks so much. Yes, I had done a numbers check on some of the models with our car insurance company so that’s definitely a factor in the monthly total. I appreciate all the good advice and will definitely post any offers here before I sign anything. Thanks again for taking the time to answer.
Your best bet: Brand knew Toyota or used Toyota. There are still some good ones out there.
Leasing a non-EV in that segment is the biggest waste of money.