Qualifying for Conquest

Ask the Hackrs
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1

As someone who currently owns a very old Toyota that does not qualify for conquest with any manufacturer & isn’t in a huge rush to get into a new car, what’s the best way to qualify for conquest?

  • Purchase a car that meets the minimum criteria (2014+). This doesn’t seem great given the tax (CA) on the transfer will probably wipe out most of the conquest savings depending on the model.
  • Find a short term option on Swap-A-Lease that doesn’t cost me a ton and gets a car that qualifies registered. Seems like the best option, but hard to find the right deal.
  • Just find the best lease deal ignoring conquest and plan on being able to qualify when this first lease is done.

Is there another option I’m not considering?

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It’s frustrating when you don’t qualify for incentives. But it’s not worth it to jump through hoops to acquire a vehicle that will qualify you for some specific conquest incentive.

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There are few conquest incentives that pay more than the transaction cost of acquiring a vehicle just for that purpose. Even a lease transfer is typically 1+ payments in transfer application fees.

Focus on all of the other incentives you do qualify for and lease something that leases well.

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4

Bingo.

Now let’s get into specifics. What do you need and what’s your budget?

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I was hoping to find an electric SUV that had some form of solid automatic highway driving feature for less than $500/month effective payment. Seemed like Ford / GM was the best bet.

Options seemed to be:

  • Mustang Mach-E. isn’t leasing well right now.
  • Blazer / Equinox EV. Seems to be great lease deals if you qualify for conquest & costco. I don’t qualify for either, though I do have GM Supplier. Might slip in narrowly under the $500/month line. Also wasn’t seeing a ton of options with Super Cruise in Marketplace.
  • Optiq / Lyriq. Doesn’t seem to be great deals right now, especially without Conquest / Costco. But, test drove both of these and liked them a ton.
  • Acura ZDX Type-S. The A-Spec seems to be leasing great, especially with $4k conquest. The Type-S, not so much.
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If you’re willing to go through the trouble of acquiring a vehicle, registering it, etc…in order to qualify for a conquest incentive. I’d make the argument that a $65 Costco membership would be well worth it for a variety of reasons, Costco incentives being the obvious reason.

Obv you’d have to wait for the next cycle of Costco promotions to be eligible. Even if no Costco near you, mail order / online is still pretty cost effective.

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Have you looked into the Toyota BZ4X or the Lexus RZ?

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You don’t want the trouble of getting a costco membership but you are willing to buy / register / insure a used car in the hopes of a $1000 discount?

Some of those ‘conquest’ also have a 90 day ownership caveat. I remember Hyundai needing that at one point.

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Yeah, fair point. I missed the boat on the June Costco promo unfortunately. Not sure how frequently they come back around but definitely planning on signing up in order to get the incentive on the next cycle. Is there any cadence to when they should be back?

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I haven’t looked into them too deeply. The BZ4X is definitely leasing pretty well right now, but the range is measly and they don’t have a supercruise / blue cruise equivalent.

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Volvo ends 6/30 so it’s possible something new starts in July.

Depending on brand(s) you’re targeting it’s not too soon to join anything that grants affinity (eg MCCA, VCOA, ASPCA for Subaru VIP).

A couple brands do grant conquest for almost anything, IIRC Acura is one?