A lease will likely be harder to get in your situation. I’m not going to say impossible, but you likely have a battle on your hands.
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The European makes may have “foreign executive” programs you can take a look at. BMW and Mercedes Benz are ones that come to mind - not sure about others. Also, dealers may or may not have experience with them
Interesting idea. I will have a look at the that. I contacted a few dealers but the resonance is not great yet.
The chances a dealer would know of these obscure programs are pretty small.
You’ll have to do some googling and find the programs yourself, such as
Variations of
Leasing BMW/Mercedes/Audi
Followed by
[your diplomatic/visa/expat status]
You should still be able to get a lease. Just be prepared the MF may be marked up by the dealership. Reach out to the dealerships in Rochester as they might have done similar leases in the past. They might ask you for paystubs and copy of visa for approval.
Welcome to LH and the US. This has been covered many times, so feel free to use the search function, and if you have a more specific question ask that here.
Some highlights:
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Thank you for the links and the input. I appreciate your effort very much. I read those threads before I posted. My question is not if I am able to lease a car with an H1B visa. I know that I can do that. My question is much more if it is a good idea to lease a car for 24 months with no credit history or if I would be better off buying one (used one from 2019 or new one) in the current situation.
I contacted a VW dealership today and they were familiar with the “foreigner process”. But haven’t seen any numbers yet.
VW lease numbers will not be good. Used cars prices are high now, so it is catch-22
That is what I am expecting. Any suggestions? I just need an affordable, reliable car with AWD to get through the winter.
I said before - buy a Subaru
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Can you say that for certain across the brand? I’ve seen MFs on some Jettas (admittedly not AWD) at .0001
I’d be skimming Edmunds forums all night with a short list to see what’s leasing well at 24 months, and I’d start with AWD sedans. Or look at lease transfers from non-bank captives (nothing US Bank, BofA, or Chase).
Definitely don’t try to lease one
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I can say for certain that all VW models RVs suck 
If you are open to it, a 1 pay lease could be a good idea. You’ll be paying upfront so it may make some finance companies more comfortable with the idea and may even get you to base Money Factor. Just check what their terms are in the event of an accident/ write off ie will they refund you the balance of lease payments or not. Pretty sure MB does one pays so could we worth exploring
Haven’t seen any good 24m leases recently except the Audi Etron but good deals on those require effort + Audi loyalty (owner of a 2009+ Audi, IIRC) plus Costco membership prior to XYZ date.
If looking at 2019s, look at new ones on dealer lots (“leftovers” as they are sometimes called).
Normally 24m depreciation on a brand new car is pretty steep, but this year is the other way around, with used values being high. If the last big drop in new car sales (2008 recession onwards) is any indication, those strong used values may persist for a while.
Also: look at leftovers that are cars with cult followings that are being discontinued, such as Golf wagen and Alltrack.
Nobody has even asked about one since July
Likewise the Sportwagen had one post this month. And no idea if they have a 24m program this month.
Ford Fusion AWD might be worth a look:
Just to close out on this: the merits of leasing on a Visa (H1B, TN, and others) is discussed in those posts: you aren’t getting Tier 1 (the lowest possible financing) without credit history, except on a 1-pay lease. You might also check out
Lots also discussed on a 24 month leases, with rare exception you will pay more for 2 years vs 3, so plus plus excellent established credit history for 3 years.
This is going to be your best bet, with more flexibility on financing, with the only downside that right now used cars cost more. Your read time is currently 1h, I suspect before this is done you’ll have spend many times that researching.
Also could be a fun project for a broker.
Good luck.
Hah, my classmate has a golf wagon, got the pano roof leak problem.
Op question wise, do you have an Amex card? I recall a Canadian friend’s parents moved down to the states and they used that program to translate their history into a US equivalent.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/amex-makes-it-easier-for-immigrants-to-access-credit/
Volvo has one too, it’s just a question of, is it more practical than cash buying a new car for 2 years or a used one for the same time, nonetheless with the current market on lsd.
Edit: for Amex, they don’t support Germany 
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https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/797586712/overview/#enhanced-special-offers
Wagon cultists are generally not on Edmunds lease forums. They are divided into two camps:
Buy new and hold forever
Buy used and hold forever.
Actually I do have an AMEX card. That is a good idea. I will try to work something with them. Hadve the card for more than a decade now so it might be worth a shot.
I already have spend many times that researching time since I only registered to post the question after I did all the reading.
I have to say I am overwhelmed with alle the helpful comments. This is a really nice and helpful community. Vey glad I found this. 