Yeah I think you’re right. The $2,500 in lease cash partially applied towards the drive-offs, which raised the sell price by the amount applied.
It looks roughly like this (calculator link is $2 off, so I’m missing something, or maybe by applying the rebates to the drive-offs and correspondingly increasing the sale price, that’s where that $2/month comes in?):
I rather not share dealer details out in the open, I just don’t really think it’s my place, but it was incredibly easy. Got some quotes from dealers, all of which were incredibly aggressive in the first place (it’s LA after all). Reached out to the dealer that had my interior/exterior combo, told them I wanted it for a sales price of $35,9xx (forget the exact number, it was roughly 17% off MSRP), and they did it. There was no back and forth. Easy and hassle free. I don’t imagine people should have trouble replicating this. Dealers are aggressive to move sedan inventory right now.
If anybody has trouble or specific questions, PM me directly. Travelling out of country for next few days so on/off email, apologies if slow to respond.