Tell them either i’ll come in to take delivery or bubba bye
Lease details come from you. The only details they should be providing is yes or no.
3)Already answered.
BTW what car, and how far have you researched the main lease structural elements, like residual, mF, term, rebates and incentives?
Even though I’m an experienced buyer and have negotiated plenty of decent deals over the years (and I also work in sales myself), I had never leased a vehicle. That changed recently when we decided to lease a car for my wife.
All I can say is, wow! dealers don’t really seem interested in working on lease deals these days. I tried in-person, calling (good luck getting someone to call back), and emailing. These were all straightforward lease term offers based on aggressive but not crazy figures, referencing specific units they had listed in stock.
I ended up paying one of the brokers here on Leasehackr the fee $500 to get the exact car my wife wanted, 45 minutes from our house, within 24 hours of contacting them, with terms I couldn’t get anywhere close to myself. First time for everything but really surprised me how difficult it was to manage the negotiation process.
What he have now is close to stagflation US experienced in 70’s. Prices are insanely high and job market is slowly contracting. Dealers may seem not to be interested in anything right now, but soon this will change. They already have mounting inventory they are struggling to move.
Congratulations on your new deal!
It also depends on dealer motivation for a specific unit, timing, and luck. I remember times when I got told off from Dealer A on a Friday, then 2 days later, Dealer A is apologetic, groveling etc, when I have already gone with Dealer B.
Other time, I have contacted Dealer B several months later, due to such a great experience on the previous purchase, and they don’t return my email. On a whim i contact Dealer A, and magically they put out a great offer.
Thankfully if you are looking for a fair experience and value your time over the dealer grind, then brokers are your best bet. Just dont bonk the broker over the head looking for a unicorn.
It also depends on dealer motivation for a specific unit, timing, and luck. I remember times when I got told off from Dealer A on a Friday, then 2 days later, Dealer A is apologetic, groveling etc, when I have already gone with Dealer B.
Totally agree, had the exact same experience in past.
Other time, I have contacted Dealer B several months later, due to such a great experience on the previous purchase, and they don’t return my email. On a whim i contact Dealer A, and magically they put out a great offer.
Again, very true, happened to me more than once.
I agree with all of the veterans posting here, except that I feel that in some cases there is a “fear of low payment” or payment shock, or whatever the term when you come up with a perfectly reasonable offer and even explain how you got there and nobody at the dealership is going to believe it or even run the numbers because it sounds crazy.
I experienced this first hand when we got our Pathfinder last April. I think if I told them where I wanted to be, they would have told me to get lost. I basically took them through it step by step, first the discount and the basic lease terms, then the one-pay, then the MSDs. When we were done they spent a day making sure that everything was accurate because they couldn’t believe it. When we went to pick it up, they were all remarking how they wanted to get one as well now. Anyway, just another data point, depending on the complexity of your deal.
I applaud any hackr who can pull every single lever.
For newbies, however, I recommend keeping it single: identify great programs, where dealer discount is the only variable in the effective payment, and make offers.
Also, the ego and game playing and desire to prove the point or make some sort of a personal statement clouds many dealer’s judgment, whereas numbers on the deal should be treated with cool head. I can’t force you to give me something for free or for less than your minimum acceptable number. You can’t force me to pay you more than what I made up my mind to pay for it. I never get mad at a dealer who can’t sell me car for what I want, that’s their car and their business.
But too often I had dealers repeatedly insisting that I come to their dealership even after I had a long conversation, clearly understood what their demand was and was compelled (because they insisted otherwise) to explain to them why the deal I proposed can’t and won’t work if what they told me about the car on the lot was accurate. “No, you don’t understand, you have to be here so my manager sees that you are a real customer, that you are not going to take our offer to run to other dealerships, that you are not just wasting our time. Please, please come! Please come today! If you can’t come today, what is the soonest day you can be here?”
Go once just for the fun of it, to test drive a car you may some day lease, or just to meet that sales representative. I can almost guarantee that as soon as you walk in they will seat you at one of the desks and leave you there, watching you for half an hour to an hour (that’s playing a mind game, because they know yesterday what their final number will be tomorrow), sales rep going back and forth to his “manager” (usually he will just stand there chatting about football game, numbers are already final in their heads before you walked in) and then coming back to you with some BS numbers you already told them won’t work for you. And seeing them get frustrated and upset when you counter , basically reiterating the same numbers you discussed over and over with them on the phone, is amusing, to say the least. They knew what you want. They knew what you wouldn’t agree to pay for the car. They insisted that you come to dealership “so we can work the deal with you!”. Why on Earth then show how frustrated you are with the customer, when it’s the customer who should be one pissed for wasting time, when customer told them what he was looking for and what he wouldn’t accept, under any circumstances? 
Moral of the story: don’t ever go to dealership to work a deal. Get everything finalized, apply for credit and go to just pick up the car. Like poster suggested earlier, if they can’t close the deal over the phone just say “Buh-byeeeee!” and cross them off your list.
Don’t forget the BDC/Internet sales people who get paid when people come in, regardless the outcome. Something to be aware of. Saying things like “Business is slow today, if you come in, I am sure they will be willing to deal.” Get it in writing, what kind of deal?
That is very useful piece of information (!) and explains a lot why some dealers are so persistent in trying to bring you to dealership, even when you made it crystal clear to them what you want and what you would not pay, under any circumstances.
Most salespeople are morons who have failed in other, preferable jobs or are credentialed out of a college degree job. I’d wager this is about the bottom three quartiles of new car sales. The top 25% of sales people are the pros—the ones who realize things change and evolve, genuinely understand deal mechanics, and adapt. These top dawgs understand LTV is always above any one rip.
So, find a top quartile person to build a relationship with or go find a manager to deal directly with. Managers should be “filtered” salespeople with a good amount of the incompetents filtered out. (Obviously there are exceptions, like nepotism or Lithia Motors owns the store).
If you do find this person, and the odds are not in your favor (it’s just math), treat them with unending respect and transparency—it’s a reciprocal relationship.
Happy hunting.
Personally I’ve never had much luck with any salesperson I have had a rapport with, majority of my “good deals” have come by setting the exact number I want and firing mass offers (over the phone, keep a list of dealers / names of all you speak to) to any dealer with the exact car I want (or willing to purchase) on their lot. Eventually if your deal is reasonable, someone will bite. As for going in and test driving this step is necessary, but only once. I think its very important to test drive and see the exact vehicle in person, colors, options etc.
Personally I’ve never had much luck with any salesperson I have had a rapport with, majority of my “good deals” have come by setting the exact number I want and firing mass offers (over the phone, keep a list of dealers / names of all you speak to) to any dealer with the exact car I want (or willing to purchase) on their lot. Eventually if your deal is reasonable, someone will bite.
Not a bad strategy. If that works for you then that’s what you should do.
But in my personal experience, if I mass mailed/called/suggested to 20 random dealers the exact deals I have got on two cars I have leased last month, pretending that I am just proposing numbers to lease a new car, nearly all of them would say “No way! That’s not possible/realistic! You can’t get that car for that price!”. I wouldn’t be able to get my last deals by simply proposing them.
As for going in and test driving this step is necessary, but only once. I think its very important to test drive and see the exact vehicle in person, colors, options etc.
I never had a car delivered to my house, I wouldn’t pick it up without first inspecting. But I do that as the last step before signing papers and driving home. If the car is not what I expect it to be (for whatever reason, may be too dusty and dirty, looking used despite low/zero mileage), then I won’t pick it.
Yes, thats the point.
nearly all say no.
If you’re proposing a deal every dealer is willing to do, you are way above the floor.
Certainly, there is no arguing that.
And, as one poster earlier mentioned, if I go to the same dealership 6 months or a year later, I won’t get as good of a deal, even if the person who closed my earlier great deal is still there. There are multiple factors involved, including the time of month, how motivated the dealership is to move their stock and etc. But all the variables factored in, still, I didn’t have any luck with ones I didn’t first establish good rapport with. In any event, what @philliefresh1988 suggests is cost effective method worth trying. It’s not too hard to fire 100 emails and make few dozen calls saying “On your stock number AB12345 with MSRP $X I offer $Y, with your standard MF for Tier A1 of 0.00cde and monthly payment of $F/mo for 36 mo 10K/yr, taxes and fees rolled into monthly payments”.
I can answer this. I recently purchased a car while living in one of the most uncompetitive areas for dealerships in this country. When I called dealers around me, I told them my terms and monthly payment target. Told them that if they met those, I could be there in 30 minutes. Two things happened: Either their majesty wouldn’t deal over the phone or the quote was so uncompetitive that I could essentially change the tier of the car I was purchasing. In the end, I shopped far away and called salespeople at different dealers with terms, target payment, and an assurance that I would sign the contract electronically. Some couldn’t even come close to the offer, while 2 others did the following:
Gave me their number and I told them it was higher than I was looking for. Salesmen told me that to get to my target payment, they would have to reduce more off MSRP and the manufacturer doesn’t allow them blah blah. So I showed them a dealer near them that was doing the necessary MSRP off and that it was completely possible. Salesmen continues to play dumb despite being caught in a lie and doesn’t reduce a dollar.
I actually thought this dealer would meet my target payment as their initial quote was really close and the moment I mentioned I would need it in writing before I come down there(dealer is several hours away from), they went on and on about not wanting to be shopped around, they don’t send quotes etc etc. I told them there was no way I would come down there without seeing numbers in writing and held firm.
The conversations with the dealers went for days. One was playing dumb and the other was trying to act smart. Finally, I called another dealer in that area and within 5 minutes of conversation, we met at my numbers and I signed. I didn’t hear one word about being shopped around, not putting numbers on paper blah blah. They could do the best offer in the area and they knew it, so they weren’t scared. Signed papers and picked up the car.
OP, always call(don’t email, BDC useless) and mention your payment. Never go in person and tell them you want the offer in writing before you go out of your home.
Some excellent advise here from seasoned professionals and buyers/lessees. But…
Please remember and spare a thought for those who live away from large metropolitan areas and don’t have access to dozens of dealers on their doorsteps. They don’t have the luxury of being able to shop around. I leased a Mazda last December and there is only one Mazda dealer within a 210 mile radius of where I live. Same with BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Subaru, Tesla, Volvo, Volkswagen, Lexus, Audi, and so on.
The broker I contacted multiple times on this site never responded, so I did the deal myself and probably - almost certainly - ended up paying more than I should.
I see only two main disadvantages of your location:
Other than that, you should not be restricted in your search for dealers, you can still google them (within 300 mi radius) and apply the same methods used by other seasoned hackers here.
Your being remote may even be your advantage, if the nearest dealerships are also outside of the large metropolitan areas and have relatively lower demand than in major cities. Even though we have many dozens of dealerships in DC metro area, the downside of this location is that too many people are out to lease cars and pay whatever dealers ask for.
As you’ve seen, there are many different approaches to finding a lease. Here is a link to an attempt I made to systematically explore some aspects of leasing. Overall, the attempt was a failure, but I think it goes to show that (1) You need to cast a wide net, and (2) There is a HUGE variance in dealer pricing. I also have some examples of the messages I sent to dealers during that attempt.
I can also tell you some anecdotes I’ve learned over the years:
This is a point that seems to get often missed. It always amazes me how many people say they went and made an offer, the one dealer said no, and theyre confused as to what went wrong.