I’m pretty new to this site, and it’s a gold mine. I have some very basic questions that I haven’t seen immediately answered, but if I’m missing something just let me know and I’ll delete.
I have a CRV lease ending in October. Looking for a new EV SUV about the same size. Probably EV6, Ioniq 5 or Mustang Mach E, though I’d consider others. Doing some test driving this weekend to narrow the scope.
I had presumed that I would do the “flood the market with offers” plan of attack. Basically, set an ideal offer and email to every dealer within a ~150 mile range. And while I’m normally pretty good with numbers, I just can’t get my head around what I need to know. I can get the basics of price and residual value and money rate, but when it gets to incentives and rebates and stacking and different state rules and the other details, my eyes start to glaze over. Maybe because I’m not really a “car guy” (hence the CRV).
So I guess my question is, how exactly do you build your “ideal lease offer” that you send out?
Or is the answer probably just “F it, find a broker who works locally and pay a couple bucks to let them handle it?”
Any advice or even good tutorial videos would be helpful.
You have time, go drive your short list and narrow it down, keep reading. When you’re 60 days out, see if you have the will to work out a target deal on your first choice, or just hire a broker to do it for you. Keep reading, welcome abroad.
There are plenty of threads here about how to make offers. There’s no right way, there are multiple options.
When making an offer, you want to make it immediately actionable. “I will be there in an hour (or 2) if you accept.” This doesn’t exactly work if you email bomb everyone at once b/c you can’t stick to your word if multiple agree. I email one at a time and if they decline or play games, send to the next.
This. Put together your target deal, send the terms to the dealer, and if they accept, go pick up your new car. If they don’t, send it to the next dealer. Rinse and repeat.
I would normally send the dealer the deal structure, MSRP, Vehicle number/VIN, Down payment (if you’re putting anything down or paying anything up front), tax rate, and incentives you qualify for. End it with the price you’re willing to pay and let them figure out discount percentage vs money factor markup (does it matter if they mark up the MF if they’re discounting more? I say no as long as the payment is what your target deal came to).
Best of luck and keep reading and learning about the game of leasing.
Don’t even waste your time on the MachE. Ford is not lease friendly, and the dealers aren’t willing to discount them even though they still have '23s on the lot.
Given the Honda loyalty I am surprised that nobody suggested the Honda Prologue, which might explain why we are starting to see some deals on them. Depending on mileage and condition you may even have some equity in your CR-V and have the ability to get out sooner than October, especially at a Honda dealer looking to move some Prologues.
Thanks. Do you just start with the closest dealers and move outwards? Or maybe look for cars that have been sitting on the lot for awhile?
Yeah I should have a little equity in my CRV lease, but not a ton. The Prologue is a consideration—I’m a longtime Honda owner, though I recognize that they aren’t particularly established with EVs. It’s also longer than my CRV - it’s the ~192 inch length, as opposed to the CRV/Ioniq/EV6, which are all about 184. I have a pretty tight parking spot and I’m not sure the longer models would work. Also, I see that it’s built on the Blazer platform, but Blazer prices seem to be much lower.
A couple of other questions: is end of month generally the best time to be making offers to dealerships? Any particular months better than others?
A pretty dumb question, but for Costco incentives, is there a certain time by which you must be a member? We go to Costco all the time, but piggyback on our in-laws membership. May as well go ahead and get our own, I suppose.
Are there other models worth checking out? Is an effective rate of $450/mo realistic for any of the Genesis GV70, Lexus RZ, Volvo XC40 Recharge, Mercedes EQB? Aside from price, any of those worth actually considering?
Timing during the month doesn’t necessarily matter, although middle trending towards the end is good because A) On the front end It allows dealers a few days to get a grasp on the new programs/incentives and B) On the back end gives you time to find a dealer who needs a sale to hit their goals. Too late in the month and you may have missed an opportunity.
The current Costco promotion expires today. For future promotions you must be a member before they are announced.
