I ran into the exact same wall with Honda dealers, where they were insisting the price must be MSRP or something measly like 2-3% off on the Accord (especially my trim). They looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested more.
Based on my initial calculations (using default fees in the calculator) I got about 8.4% off pre-incentive. However, I should note that I did not go through Honda’s captive bank. There’s a local credit union the dealership works with that was doing a 39 month/12k mile lease on that car with a 67% residual and .0015 MF. While the MF is about double Honda’s buy rate, the insane residual more than makes up for it.
After I determined a target price, I just called dealerships, asked to speak with their sales manager and asked them to meet me at the target price. I think blasting out emails, while perhaps effective for some, is not as effective as a phone call with an actual person.
Exactly what I’m doing, I have an older car that barely gets driven, every month with no lease payment is hundreds of $$$ in savings, then you can pounce on the unicorn later on.
My '18 Accord lease is up in September. I just got a quote from Carmax that was just under $6k over my payoff amount. I wasn’t in the market for a new car yet, but this may change things. I had just started trying to figure out what I wanted, whether it was another Accord or something else. It will almost assuredly be another Honda. I’m not really hung up on payments. It’s more important to have a car that I will be happy with rather than one I got a good deal on.
Have you considered an Acura TLX? Although it may be late as programs are changing but you would’ve been eligible for conquest/loyalty. Picked this up over the weekend for and effective $369 per month all in for 36m/12k.
This is exactly how I think of it. Why get a “good deal” on a Sonata when I don’t want a Sonata lol. Just going to sit back and see how this all plays out. Loved my accord and hope to get in another one
I mean… personally I’d take the cash now, find something on a great special to tide you over 6mo. then swap that out for something you love once the market cools a bit or the right deal comes. Can easily find a sub 300 daily driver that you can move in a heartbeat on swapalease
I mean the other great option is dump your car, takeover a lease now (payments locked in from pre-inventory crash) and chill for the 6mo. To a year to find the perfect deal.
Cars with great payments will be pretty liquid. Worst case you throw in $1000 of your cash from buyout as incentive to move it fast. Still up a lot.
I just tookover a 4,000 mile $64k 2021 X3 M40i for $560/mo.
I’d grab one of these bmw i3, $50k msrp for sub $150 a month. Chill in that for 6 months and be up like $6000 all together, think about what you could lease if you throw an extra $6k at your next car. Certainly enough to compensate for driving an i3 for a few months!
Man now I’m thinking about doing the same. Just got an offer for 3k over my payoff amount. I’m WFH so I don’t even really need a car. How much longer will this used car sale bonanza be going for?
So I just thought why don’t I check shift.com and see what offer they give me for my accord since my Carvana appointment is still weeks away…they offered $23,300 for my 2018 Accord Sport. I’m literally blown away. That’s 7k above my payoff!!! Granted I have a windshield crack that they will probably deduct from the offer but it shouldn’t make a huge difference. Setting up an appointment for them to come by this week
Carnax offered me the most at 26,200. 4500 in equity from just 2 months ago when it was nearly negative.
I’ve been calling dealerships but nothing is working so even though I have all this equity it’s hard to put to use. Unless I sell it to carmax grab the equity and lease something extremely simple in the sub 200 a month range.
Trying to find a new lease is not very exciting. Here is an email from one of the dealers I was communicating back and forth, “Honestly, Chrysler has no numbers to hit anymore. Not with this shortage of cars. Its not like it used to be right now. Not sure when that will happen where big discounts happen again. It may be a year or so before that happens.” I think this may true for all manufacturers.
It doesn’t matter if I can’t get a good lease for another year. Weight out the positives against the negatives. So far in my lease, my payments towards the car have summed up to $9000. CarMax is offering me $8100 positive equity. I essentially drove this brand new car for 32 months for 900 dollars. I don’t care if i have trouble finding my next lease because I literally just drove a car for free
