I worked with a dealer who gave me a great price on a car last month. It was so good, that when my family member wanted to get a new vehicle I worked up a deal for them with this dealer.
When we worked the deal up for their car though, I kept running into a mismatch with the residual value published in rate finder vs what the dealer gave me.
Across multiple trims and terms on the RAV4, the dealer kept coming back with 3% lower on the residual. This problem did not happen with my lease, as Ratefinder was spot on (different model). This obviously is messing up the numbers a little bit.
January 7th is when the new programs get updated from Toyota, and while the rate updated, the residual stayed the same, confirming the issue.
I can’t tell if the dealer is using this to make extra money or if Ratefindr has incorrect rates?
It probably takes a few days for Ratefinder to update. Same happens with our desking software. They need a few days to get updates from Marketscan/mDesking
What’s strange though is last quarters programs were still off by 3%. This quarters programs are live cause the MF changed to the new number (went up). Again, off by 3%
I added the link to the calculator on my OP, which has the lease terms
The RV spread between 10,000 miles/year and 15,000 miles/year is 3%. Could it be that the dealer is quoting you a higher mileage lease than requested?
I did a quick spot check against Gulf States Toyota’s advertised 36/10K residual for a 2025 RAV4 Hybrid LE and it matches up with what Rate Findr pulls for the same vehicle with a TX zip code (66% RV):
Confirm what bank they are using since the bank sets the RV. US Bank is a popular option for Toyota dealers in TX. At least the last time I leased a Toyota a few years ago.
