Complete rookie here–never leased a car before, and this is just the second time I’ve ever gotten a car from a dealership. Literally had no idea what to look for the first time a dealer handed me a term sheet. Spent a few days reading the forums, building my own lease calculator spreadsheet, and comparing terms between dealers.
Ended up with only a modest MSRP discount, but got my monthly payment down below $500 and a lease score above 10 which was my goal!
2025 Volvo XC90 Recharge T8 Ultra 7-Passenger
Ext. Color - Silver Dawn
Int. Color - Amber
MSRP - 80895
Discount - 2.378%
Price - 78971
24 mo Add’l Service Contract (Belts, hoses, brakes, fluids, headlamps) - 974
Shipping - 1525
Volvo Acq Fee - 995
Dealer Fee - 799
Cash Down - $1306
Months: 24
Miles: 7500
MSDs: 10 @ 0.0005
MF: 0.00312 → 0.00262 (I think they snuck a dealer markup past me because i’m pretty sure buy rate was 0.00309)
Residual: 69% - 55817.55
Incentives
ABA - $2K
Costco - $2K
Lease Cash - $3750
EV Credit - $7500
CO EV Credit - $5600
Sign & Drive - First month payment ($485)
Pre-Tax Payment: 445.92
Monthly: 485.21
Effective: $624
I was close to leasing a Mazda CX-90 but didn’t LOVE it so we test drove the Volvo “just to rule it out.” Of course, we ended up loving it–specifically the Ultra trim. But the only way to make the deal work would be to qualify for the federal AND Colorado tax credits with the $80K cap on MSRP. According to a few different sales people I talked to, apparently under Volvo’s current pricing structure, the only T8 Ultras that come in under $80K (once you remove Volvo’s destination charge) are ones that ship with NO additional options. So if Volvo put it on the boat with, e.g., all-weather floormats, the MSRP would bust the $80K cap and the car would no longer qualify for both tax rebates.
Here in Colorado’s front range, there are 5 total Volvo dealerships (Fort Collins, Broomfield, Denver, Littleton & Co Springs), but demand for EVs/PHEVs is sky high. I called around hunting for a tax-qualified T8 Ultra that I could get my hands on before Christmas, and found that there were only 2 available in the entire state. One of them sold before I got far in the negotiations. I went in to negotiate a deal on the other one, but having no idea what I was doing, didn’t know what to ask for, couldn’t get them to budge on a single term, and ended up hating the whole experience. (They also treated me like I didn’t deserve to be there, so F them anyway.)
Eventually, a dealer found a tax-qualifying T8 Ultra in New Mexico that they could acquire by dealer trade and have shipped up to Denver. (Had I realized what I was doing, I would have negotiated with the NM dealer directly and paid for shipping myself but oh well.)
So given the supply/demand imbalance, and my own time pressure, the deal I ended up with doesn’t have a great pre-incentive discount, but I got all the incentives I wanted, the right trim, and a payment I’m good with.
Couldn’t have done it without all of the info I got here!