Please recommend a strategy

[kr439]

@new_hackr_ca

If all you care is beating the game by achieve high LH score with an EV it’s easier to do with a $60k (or even lower like $50k) car than a $120k car due to $7500 federal rebate that is flat regardless of MSRP, so I will recommend aim for cars that is in the lower MSRP range. Most of the high LH score comes from a loaner car due to rebate and reduction in MSRP that dealers usually give for loaner car so if that is okay with you search for loaner car. Then go check manufacturer what the current rebate is like Costco executives program, conquest, GM credit card, student etc, this typically will already get you to a “good” LH score before negotiating on the sale price or just on the lease payment/OnePay. Then you just search out to multiple dealer with the deal you have in mind and see which one take your offer and you beat the game, good luck! (You can see the deal I recently get on OPTIQ follow basically those steps, I do need an SUV though so I only look for SUV EVs)

Thanks. These kinds of guidelines were what I was looking for.

[jeisensc]

@kr439

is two months before current lease ends generally considered the right time to start? Seems a bit rushed to me as a former buyer. I never faced any significant time pressure when it came to buying a car. Obviously with leasing you can easily be too early or too late

For your scenario where you don’t care about the car and just want the deal, 45-60 days prior to when you need the lease is enough to gauge the market, what’s leasing well, and get into the programs. The lease programs change every month, you’re unlikely to want to dig into the math on multiple cars for more than a couple months.

Between now and then, start test driving and validate if you really will take anything that’s a deal or if your requirements are more discriminating. Go to auto shows and actually drive the cars, attend drive events like BMW UDEs. If your list includes vehicles where membership in a car club (MCCA, VCOA, SCCA) leads to discounts after 12 months, join now. Join Penfed, be sure you’re a Costco member- anything where incumbency is a requirement for incentives you might want to use.

[new_hackr_ca]

One more tip (not necessarily saving you money but will keep the LH score high), if you are fine for the car to be shipped to you, you may find really good deals by searching for dealerships within 2000 miles (especially area that EV does not sell well), do everything online with the dealer and have the car ship to you. The cost of shipping (or uber to the dealership) is not included in LH score calculation and often time you will save some money, although it’s more work

[max_g]

@kr439

All I want is the best possible deal (e.g. highest lease hacker score). For example I’d take a 120K vehicle with a lease hacker score of 15 over a 60K with a score of 9. But I’m not that rigid. If the 60K had a score of 13, I’d probably go with that.

LH scores have lost whatever meaning they ever had. Anyone can put any MSRP on anything these days. Some POS could be $100k and no one bats an eyelid anymore. So LH scores are meaningless now.

Anyone who recommended you a strategy based on LH scores lost all credibility

[mllcb42]

@kr439

I actually don’t think in terms of LH score, I think in terms of %MSRP per year, but it’s effectively the same thing, if I understand it correctly

Which tells you what exactly?

That one deal is better than another?

Or does it tell you that one of the vehicles you’re comparing is from a brand that is using an inflated msrp and high incentives stack to artificially manipulate consumer perception?

[kr439]

@new_hackr_ca

The cost of shipping (or uber to the dealership) is not included in LH score calculation and often time you will save some money, although it’s more work

Maybe it’s not officially part of it, but I just divide it up over the life of the lease when doing it myself.

[kr439]

@max_g

@kr439

All I want is the best possible deal (e.g. highest lease hacker score). For example I’d take a 120K vehicle with a lease hacker score of 15 over a 60K with a score of 9. But I’m not that rigid. If the 60K had a score of 13, I’d probably go with that.

LH scores have lost whatever meaning they ever had. Anyone can put any MSRP on anything these days. Some POS could be $100k and no one bats an eyelid anymore. So LH scores are meaningless now.

Anyone who recommended you a strategy based on LH scores lost all credibility

Have you ever seen a deal with an LH score of 25+ (that’s the kind of killer deal I’m shooting for) and thought “That’s not actually a good deal”

I’m sure it’s possible, but I’m guessing it’s uncommon.

I’d think that once you get to the extremes, LH score informs you of something.

[kr439]

@mllcb42

@kr439

I actually don’t think in terms of LH score, I think in terms of %MSRP per year, but it’s effectively the same thing, if I understand it correctly

Which tells you what exactly?

That one deal is better than another?

Or does it tell you that one of the vehicles you’re comparing is from a brand that is using an inflated msrp and high incentives stack to artificially manipulate consumer perception?

As suggested in my post above, maybe a 10 or 12 doesn’t tell you much, but I think a 25 or a 30 tells you that you almost certainly have a great deal despite any deck stacking that may be going on.

[jeisensc]

@kr439

Have you ever seen a deal with an LH score of 25+ (that’s the kind of killer deal I’m shooting for) and thought “That’s not actually a good deal”

This month? Twice that I recall.

Somewhere cat food is on sale with a LH score of 50, but I don’t have a cat.

[paranoidgarliclover]

@kr439

I think a 25 or a 30 tells you that you almost certainly have a great deal despite any deck stacking

Yes, but there’s no strategy for something that it is not consistently reproducible and is probably more a matter of timing and coincidence/luck.

[mllcb42]

@kr439

As suggested in my post above, maybe a 10 or 12 doesn’t tell you much, but I think a 25 or a 30 tells you that you almost certainly have a great deal despite any deck stacking that may be going on

Or, and hear me out here… you could work out an actually useful data point for negotiating an aggressive deal based on your personal circumstances.

[kr439]

@jeisensc

@kr439

Have you ever seen a deal with an LH score of 25+ (that’s the kind of killer deal I’m shooting for) and thought “That’s not actually a good deal”

This month? Twice that I recall.

I don’t suppose you have links to these?

[kr439]

@paranoidgarliclover

@kr439

I think a 25 or a 30 tells you that you almost certainly have a great deal despite any deck stacking

Yes, but there’s no strategy for something that it is not consistently reproducible and is probably more a matter of timing and coincidence/luck.

Yeah, this is the kind of the conclusion that I was reaching. When I see some of the best deals posted, they seem impossible, especially if I’ve only got a 60ish day window to find one. If I had unlimited time, that would be different.

So my thought process is that if I dramatically relax my requirements on the specifics of the car, then maybe I can find a crazy deal in that time frame. But I suppose that’s less of a strategy and more of an aspiration.

[kr439]

@mllcb42

you could work out an actually useful data point for negotiating an aggressive deal based on your personal circumstances.

Can you give an example of such a data point that was not LH score or similar? If you are talking about a specific car, then you could just compare to other deals, but comparing between makes and models is harder. I can’t think of anything great, including LH score. But among things that aren’t great, something like LH score seems like the best we can do.

[jeisensc]

I’m not trying to yuck anyone’s yum but they’re here, I double checked the LH scores before I replied.

[mllcb42]

@kr439

Can you give an example of such a data point that was not LH score or similar?

Establish target deals for multiple vehicles, set a budget, and then choose the one you like best within your budget?