I am in the Midwest. I have been shopping for a lease on an 2020 330xi with about 4500 miles on it. Worked out a selling price deal on a demo for about 20%. Final price was $42,477 on a 55k sticker. I qualify for $2750 in incentives with loyalty. When they gave me lease payment options they were about $100 per month over what I calculate with the lease hacker. This has happened at few dealerships. And I see via marketplace what other people are getting, but when I try I keep getting the run around. The dealer keeps saying they don’t have those programs to make those numbers work when clearly people are getting them.
My $$$ is strong on you having the wrong fees (doc and registration), them rolling incentives into discount, and you potentially not understanding the difference.
Chicago has an additional leasing tax making your general rate closer to 20%.
Games are ways the dealer tries to make money, if you want to make it easier speak to a Chicago area broker, another dealer, or don’t get a car . I’d look away from leasing if you have a Chicago zip. I’ve heard good things about @ralphsaphony if you want a broker route.
When I asked why we are so far off he sent me this. I am working with a broker, but I found this and was trying to see what I could get. Apparently not very far. The document he sent was so confusing and I have a degree in Engineering so I would say my math skills are pretty strong!
I’m an engineer too, and the mistake that you’re making is that others (the general public) grasp math.
Nothing on that sheet indicates vehicle selling price (agreed upon value of vehicle), MF (rent charge), or the addition/lack of any dealer adds. If you went into sign you’d likely be surprised at what’s on the contract as opposed to what has been told to you or emailed in bits and pieces.
This is why it’s so important to make your own deal, calculate your own payment and present it to the dealer to accept or not. 95% of Sales guys have no idea how a monthly payment is calculated and 99.9% of the general public doesn’t care.