Signed: 2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid EX, $449/month ($450 DAS)

Signed Deals & Tips
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2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid EX with the optional Pearl White paint (+$445)
MSRP: $38,525
Selling Price: $35,051 (9% off MSRP)
Gross Cap Cost: $36,412 (selling price + $699 doc fee + $650 dealer fee + $12 TTL)
Pre-tax monthly payment: $412.51
Monthly Payment: $448.85 (includes $36.34 monthly tax @ 8.81% for city of Denver)
Drive-Off Amount: $449 (first month)
Months: 36 mo
Annual Mileage: 12k miles
MF: Excellent question - quoted at 0.0010 but I’m suspicious here, and I calculate 0.00123
Residual: 63%
Incentives: $0
Region: Colorado - Midwest
Leasehackr Score: 7.6 years
Leasehackr Calculator Link

Thanks to @mllcb42 for moral support and everyone who answered questions in my Ask thread.

Edit to add - thanks again to the community for explaining that I actually achieved 7.7% off MSRP, as the calculator link reflects a marked-up MF.

I have not found any data points on these hybrid EXes, and I hope this helps someone looking in the future.

I started out quoted over $500 after a test drive and walked. On the way out, the manager said $475. Sale price was never shared until they came down to $465 a day later, when they told me $35,516 sale price on a vehicle with $38,465 MSRP (7.7%).

Now that I was getting somewhere, I pushed two other dealers I’d been speaking with to get to $35,000 even, which I calculated would drop me under $450.

The first dealer (Mike at Peak Kia here in Denver CO - I would highly recommend reaching out, he was extremely thorough, professional, and communicative over text) was having inventory issues. They could not get the Hybrid EX in white with grey interior. But, he showed me a workup that got under $450. The second dealer, who I will name upon request, had the exact desired vehicle on the lot. They insisted they could beat if I came in tonight.

I did so, and should have walked when they weren’t forthcoming with a number - just a range on a quote, with a hard ask to pull my credit and prove Tier 1 before they could “legally” (BS?) give me the final number. The quote included the sales price and I knew it was 9%, so I stuck around. They came back at $448.35 with $449 DAS, and I agreed.

They were not thrilled and claimed that they were losing money on the deal, but they wanted to help out the new sales person close her first lease. Sure, whatever. This was my first lease, too. It took about 3.5 hours. I declined all of the crap warranty products with the finance manager, signed the paperwork, and took delivery.

I think I should be satisfied, and believe that 9% (or a true 7.7%) off MSRP was the best I was going to do on this relatively hot, rare-for-now hybrid.

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Congrats and enjoy! This looks like a solid deal on new body style that just got released.

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The $650 is acq per your calculator, correct?

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On your contract, what is the listed rent charge, rv and adjusted cap cost?

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+1 would like to see the lease contract to double check this deal. Lots of fishy/made up looking numbers in the calc.

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I typo’d in my writeup, the $699 is “dealer doc/service fee” and the $650 is acquisition fee.

Gross Cap Cost: $36,412.20 (selling price + $699 doc fee + $650 acquisition fee + $12.20 TTL)
Cap cost reduction: 13 cents (delta from the first month credit card swipe)
Adjusted cap cost: $36,412.07
RV: $24,270.75 (63% of the $38525 MSRP, so this is correct)
Depreciation: $12,141.32
Rent charge: $2,709.04
Total base payments: $14,850.36
Divided by 36 months = $412.51
Tax: $36.34 / mo
Total monthly payments: $448.85

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MF=(total rent charge / number of periods)/(adj cap cost + rv)
MF=(2709.04/36)/(36412.07+24270.75)=.00124

Looks like they hit you with a .0025 mf markup, which is equivalent to roughly a 1.25% msrp reduction in your pre-incentive discount.

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Sneaky. Ultimately got me back to the same MSRP reduction (7.7%) as the quote I was working. I doubt there’s any recourse since I signed, right?

They did show me a quote with 0.001 MF and an estimated $449/month payment on the 35k selling price, which was slightly off on the tax number.

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Nope, you agreed to it.

This is a prime example of why you always want to work out the numbers first so you know what you’re targeting.

With that said, I still don’t think this is a bad deal given the current market/lease programs, but definitely learn from this for your next leasing adventure.

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Whenever I see an offer that says this or shows a range, I know they’re bullshitting. The dealer can tell you exactly the cost. They may have to make a contingency statement like “this requires you to qualify for tier 1”, but the estimate stuff is a way for them to get you emotionally attached to the purchase at a lower number and manipulate things in the back end.

I find it particularly amusing when they say something like “your payment will be $350-370” on the offer sheet. Gets you emotionally tied to the $350 number, but then they come in at $365 and say “hey, we were in the range” after you’ve mentally committed to the lease. Never mind that they just pocketed an extra $500.

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Definitely an interesting lesson, and I’d not be likely to do business with them again.

In reviewing the estimate before the full write-up, I see where they made themselves some very clever wiggle room: says “0.001” as the MF, without further decimals. I can see how not expressing the full number got me up from Kia’s 0.00100 to the 0.00124 I am paying! It looks like they made back about $570 over the course of the 3 year term, and obviously made me feel like I suckered them into 9% off when it was really the same 7.7% that other dealers would do.

For all of their grousing about how they were “losing money” on this one and they “didn’t want to do it,” I think they did fine for themselves.

The other offer I had, which was shown to me as a full worksheet with stated 0.00100 MF and a 7.6% discount, is expressed in the calculator here. Unfortunately that offer was worked on a hypothetical vehicle he did not have in stock and might not have for a few weeks. It comes down to about a $100 difference over the three year term, I think.

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I think you did fine, considering it’s a brand new model coming out. Could you have saved $50/mth if you waited until the rebates flood in? Maybe, but with the current market for Tellurides there’s no saying what will happen with the new Sorento.

Also worth noting resale has never been great on the Sorento, so they are taking a risk on the residual being that high. I bet the resale will be closer to 50%, just based on personal experiences with Kia SUVs.

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This, the brand new powertrain, AND the inclusion of a hybrid motor and battery in the equation all made the lease more appealing than a purchase. I don’t think we will want this vehicle 3 years from now, but we will enjoy it while we have it. I could not and still cannot get a straight answer on warranty coverage, either through Kia or this store’s “lifetime of the vehicle” warranty, on the hybrid bits and I suspect the battery will become a headache for future owners. The phrase “internally lubricated parts” is used a lot in their warranties.

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Man, I wish these Sorento hybrids came in AWD!!!

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They do in Canada, apparently. The plug-in coming later this year will also be AWD.

I agonized over this but decided snow tires will work better than AWD for that use case. I do not fully understand the benefits of AWD for anything but offroading, where it’s still not going to be as capable as a real 4x4. I’ve seen FWD sedans at “offroad” (e.g. washboard or gravel roads) trailheads and hope FWD will not hold us back.

I watched videos of the more powerful 2.5T powertrain lighting up the tires in FWD, and believe the Sorento SX in FWD would be a terrible purchase, but this one is a little more sedate at 1.6T + electric motor. I haven’t experienced torque steer or spinning tires driving … yet. I may also be numb to torque steer, as my last car a long time ago was a first gen Mazdaspeed3.

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That’s good to hear. I would be REALLY interested in the Plug-In Hybrid!

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Funny. I know TrueCar is all over the place, but this is what it says for me locally for this exact Sorento the OP just leased:

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image1314×585 146 KB

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Mine is stickered at $38,525. There are dumb shit accessories “installed” either at the port or by the dealer that drives the MSRP up a bit more: $210 carpeted mats, a $50 cargo net, and $60 wheel locks. Without those, it would be $37,760 - but it’s unclear if you can avoid them.

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At least they are actual “things” and not real stupid made-up accessories add ons like “Environmental Protection”, “Interior Protectant” and “Rust Proofing” like I still see being added on to any Kia/Hyundais in my area.