If OP is unable to share any actual numbers, then they don’t appear to be a serious buyer.
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LH has a reputation as a CSI killer.
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How much time have you spent? And what is your time worth? ROI of buying through a broker, as the cars you’ve mentioned all have great broker deals offered in the marketplace.
Are you shopping the deal or a specific car? And how much more time do you want to spend finding a specific configuration? (Also factored into ROI of using a broker to do it for you.)
Unless you like doing the legwork on your own, which I guess is roughly half the folks on this site.
I’ve done both (finding my own deal and using a broker). Broker deal was done in a 2 days. Shopping on my own took about 2 months 
Pretty sure this guy doesn’t even know how to populate or use the calc to come up with target payment/DAS.
just to be clear, I don’t msg a dealer and say ‘hey, go match this deal for me that I saw on LH’. I check the deals for my target car, play with the numbers on calculator, check them against the dealer’s offers on their website, and usually start a proposal that’s a bit more aggressive than their offer but not as good as ones on LH.
How I end up referring LH:
- dealer want to see where I got the number
- dealer play slimmy game that arrive at a much higher monthly using the rebates they promote and when I point that out, they want to see how I arrive at my number.
- similar to 2, dealer refuse to reveal MF/RV and insist a monthly that doesn’t match with the rebates.
It does not matter where you got your numbers. They can either accept or reject your offer. If your offer is rejected, then you move on.
The MF used for their calculations is probably marked up for dealer profit. If they don’t agree to your numbers, either readjust your target monthly or move on.
Then you move on from this dealer or any dealer that is refusing to share basic details. TBH, if they can meet your target monthly for your milage terms, it doesn’t matter what MF they used. The RV is based on your mileage terms, so it should be the same from dealer to dealer.
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Care to share an example of an aggressive offer you have made? Again, without real numbers all this talk is moot.
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- Tell them this is the number I got from my recent research for this car.
- Send them your number again and tell them that’s the number you will sign & move on.
- See number 2.
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Don’t send LH calc. Send another online lease calc or make your own. DO NOT ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH LH. Ruins it for everyone.
Assume base MF, let them come back and correct it by saying it’s marked up. Often times it’s other hidden fees that jack up the price like a $2000 dealer fee for docs, etch, etc.
You are probably talking to the salesman. You need to communicate with the managers.
If you are not getting a response from the manager then move on from that dealer. You will probably need to hit up 10 dealers before someone actually plays ball. It’s a #s game. Don’t mention LH.
If you don’t have the time or like the hunt, then ask for a broker to help you. Faster and easier.
Example: 23 EV6 AWD/GT-line, my target is 350/month, but think anything <400 is a pretty good deal in CA given the market rate/tax.
Saw it on their site with 13k rebate+5k discount, run the number myself and it was ~375/month which is acceptable w/o further discounts. My back and forth with the dealer:
Me: hey is it still available?
Dealer: yes, we have awesome discounts, you only need to pay 700/month with 2k down
Me: what? how so?
Dealer: here’s the quote (MSRP, rebates, discounts, 4k dealer add-ons, fees, but no MF/RV)
Me: this is more than a 24 model, can you remove the add-ons
Dealer: sure, removed, now you only need to pay 500/month+2k down
Me: doesn’t make sense, here’s my calculator using the MF/RV I got from LH.
Dealer: hmmm yea, you know we need to tax the discounts and blah blah (bunch of nonsense) so it’s actually 500, but you know what, we can do 450.
I think I can avoid mentioning LH in future. My original thought was to let them know I have some basic knowledge so we can avoid some BS.
Try to run the numbers yourself by creating your own worksheet. The LH calc is awesome, but it won’t help you understand how you arrive at a number. Then you’ll know exactly what the dealer discount is before incentives/rebates, how much the rent and depreciation is, and each of the fees included. All that goes into calculating a payment.
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Ha, if I was still selling cars and a customer mentioned this site, it’s a guaranteed mini, I’d get the 
out 
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Also make sure rebates are taxed vs untaxed. I have had MULTIPLE customers just slam all the rebates into untaxed but thats not how NYS works
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- Find the sales manager email
- Email him/her: Hey, I’m interested with stock: … VIN:… Here’s the number I got to make me sign today. Can you work with it?
Your value of getting LH deal, it’s simple & fast to sign. Going back n forth will just put you on the shit list when you ask for LH kind of deal.
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Not sure how many times you need to be told this: construct an offer that 1/10 would take and expect 9 to say no.
Every conversation like the one below is a waste of time:
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LOL- Usually True
I have Groomed my dealer - They just simply say - Oh, one of Randys deals, he’s over there but I think he has 3 customers already
LOL
Who cares? Dealers want to sell cars and make a profit. As a prospective customer, your goal is to get the best deal that will make you happy and want to sign today.
Salespeople don’t care whether you are knowledgeable about the ins and outs of leasing. They just want to make a sale and move onto the next prospective customer.
EDIT: Buying a car is not rocket science. If you can’t seem to get your own LH-worthy deal, then work with a broker in the Marketplace.
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The issue with this is that the majority of the sales people I’ve interacted with don’t know the basics of leasing or how it works (minus the whole “you pay less to drive a new car every 3 years!” sales pitch).
Honestly, I’ve personally found it easier/less aggravating to just play dumb and ask for the deal I want after I do my due diligence (monthly amount, due at signing including all taxes/fees, and lease term). If they want to add on $1000 vin etching and $2000 lojack or inflate the mf to the moon to hit a quota, but mark down the sell price of the car enough, that’s their prerogative.
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Exactly, as long as the DAS & monthly fits your target, who cares how they fill & work that number.
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