One frequently asked question on Leasehackr is: “What’s the cheapest car to lease? I don’t care what it is.” Well, I spent the entire morning scrolling through the Marketplace and here are the results! These are all around $200/month or less. This list builds on @Lvs23’s herculean effort last December.
Vehicle | User | |
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1. | Chevrolet Bolt EV | @ethanrs @chevysalesgirl (SoCal) @CaliZ06 (NorCal) |
2. | Chevrolet Trax | @ethanrs (SoCal) |
3. | Honda Civic LX | @Jeff_BeachCitiesAuto (SoCal) @mani_is_kool (Florida) |
4. | Hyundai Elantra SE | @legendsauto (SoCal) @AutoLeaseNinjas (Northeast) |
5. | Hyundai IONIQ Plug-in SE | @EZAutoGroup (SoCal) |
6. | Kia Forte LXS | @Ty_the_Car_Guy (SoCal) |
7. | Kia K5 LXS | @Ty_the_Car_Guy (SoCal) |
8. | Kia Niro EV LX | @Ty_the_Car_Guy (SoCal) |
9. | Kia Sportage LX | @EZAutoGroup (SoCal) @HonestyCar (NorCal) |
10. | Mazda CX-30 | @AutoLeaseNinjas (SoCal, Florida, Northeast) |
11. | Nissan Sentra SV | @AutoLeaseNinjas (Northeast) |
12. | Subaru Impreza Hatch | @rubbergash (SoCal) |
13. | Toyota Corolla | @Cody_Carter (SoCal) @Jeff_BeachCitiesAuto (NorCal) @Jrouleau426 |
14. | Toyota Tacoma | @kubikdanon (Midwest) @derekoh1991 (Texas) @Jrouleau426 (Northeast) |
15. | Volkswagen Jetta S | @rubbergash (SoCal) @Vlad-VWofHayward (NorCal) @AutoLeaseNinjas (Northeast) |
Disclaimers and observations:
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There is no definitive “cheapest” car because it depends on your particular situation (e.g., conditional incentives, tax rates, registration fees, EV rebates, annual mileage). If you qualify for every single EV incentive (CVAP, CVRP, etc.), then a Chevrolet Bolt EV is likely the cheapest car period.
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I only included cars that I could find on the Marketplace, which are actual deals rather than hypothetical targets. There are probably even more options if you put in the legwork to research and negotiate a deal of your own.
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When browsing the Marketplace, you can’t go off monthly payment alone. Some of the ads specified the exact drive-off amount, whereas others were “1st + TTL + fees” at signing. I did my best to normalize them when considering which vehicles to add to this list.
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I stopped scrolling once I reached topics that last had activity over a week ago. Apologies if I missed any.
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Obviously go for the car you like (and the dealer or broker you can trust), not the car that happens to be $3 cheaper per month. The point of this exercise is to lay out what options are available around $200/month or less with minimal drive-off.
Feel free to suggest additional cars! These are all for December 2020.