There are only 38 payments after first one (which is included in $655 first payment I have made, the only payment which I actually rendered). Don’t be misled by the title, my total cost to lease $34911 MSRP car is $14145. So called “trade equity” is 21 Jetta I leased/rented from VW with $0/down $304/mo x 36 mo term, which had accumulated 33000 miles on it with more than a year left to lease termination (I was sure to go significantly over mileage allowance) , with back breaks and rotors in need of immediate change ($800 cost at VW, $560 at local shop). I am happy to get rid of that Jetta that started to fall apart and was thrilled when they said they will actually pay $2250 over payoff quote and apply it to the new lease balance. I was willing to give that clunker away for nothing, I would actually pay $500 to anyone to just get rid of it, so I wouldn’t have to change rotors/breaks and pay a large fine for going 10000+ miles over the limit when my lease matured next year.
That so called “equity” on a car I didn’t own (VW bank owned, titled and even registered by VW) was like a “free money”, unearned “equity”, a gift, you can call it anyway you want, it was like an additional incentive for me to immediately dump the 21 Jetta and get a newer, upgraded car with $10000 higher MSRP and better features, for mere $50/mo. more. And, most surprisingly, my insurance premium was slightly reduced after getting rid of the Jetta. Was such a great relief to get rid of it.
P.S. And that “equity” these so called LH “experts” speak of, if it truly existed, didn’t evaporate into thin air. It was sitting with Jetta and was transferred to Tiguan. By their logic, if you lease any car that built equity, you are an idiot unless you peddle it to dealers and cash out, so you can put it into CD account. Use your own judgment and do what is best for you. You can take advantage of current market if you want to get rid of your pre-COVID leases and upgrade to better, newer cars. If I simply swapped my older 21 Jetta for a new one, I would probably be paying zero out of my pocket and less per month now than in May 2021, with zero miles on odometer