Trusted Hackrs is a special title awarded to active members for their knowledge and contributions to this community, with optional moderation privileges.
We are excited to announce the following new members to the @trusted_hackrs group!
@alphawave7
@Bluemkn57cars
@DG-X5
@j_e_f_f
@wantingadeal
@z0lt3c
Please give them all a warm welcome! We also want to thank our existing Trusted Hackrs who have opted to continue on, as well as our Trusted Hackr Emeriti, for their time and effort into making the Leasehackr community what it is.
To get to know our latest cohort of Trusted Hackrs better, weāve asked them all to share a quick blurb about themselves, as well as their favorite deal!
I love the community and glad to be able to contribute in a meaningful manner. Best deal Iāve gotten as a result of a dealer recommendation on LH was a BMW 528i loaner at a $305/mo incl tax payment after max MSDs.
I would be honored and humbled to be a Trusted Hackr, and happy to assist in any way I can! I cannot offer much help from a leasing perspective, having just completed by first lease with a broker assist, but have used brokers before for purchases, and joined leasehackr to understand leasing and numbers since I was beyond weak in this area. I suppose a lot of new LHārs who join us are as well, so I can at least provide similar perspective among our true hotshot hackrs.
I joined this platform a little over two years ago. Although I was not new to leasing, there was a ton of valuable information being shared by other members. It was one the reasons I became a subscriber. I also noticed that folks where genuinely trying to help newbies navigate the leasing world.
Back in 2021, a few months before my previous lease was coming to an end, I decided to use all that acquired knowledge from Leasehackr to work on a deal. It took a lot of patience, number crunching, and emailing dealerships across multiple states to score my LH-worthy deal. I canāt believe I was able to score a $70k Audi A6 for $629/month (inclusive of taxes and Audicare). Here is a link to my deal: SIGNED: 2021 Audi A6 55 P+; $70k MSRP; $629/mo (including 6.25% tax + AudiCare); $2181 DAS; 36/12k.
It has become a community for me and I am always looking to help anyone looking to score a deal.
Thanks again for the nomination and for giving me the opportunity to share my story.
Best Lease - It certainly may not numerically be the ābestā from the pure numbers, but my smile every time I fire up the V8 on my F95 X5 definitely makes it my favorite lease till date!
(In case you just need numbers for a blurb, the ābestā I ever did was a 0DAS 775/mo 77k MSRP 2019!G05 X5!)
My favorite part of leasehacking is navigating a very dynamic and rapidly shifting market with the aid of tech tools to find the best deals out there!
(My favorite part of LeaseHackr, not that you necessarily asked
, is the community! Itās so awesome to sign on any given day and see the dozens of threads on a variety of topics with a group of folks who genuinely want to help others!)
I always love the privilege of being a trusted hackr! LH has been my favorite online community since I joined back in 2016 when I stumbled upon it while shopping for my 2016 Genesis. That hack holds a very soft place in my heart because it was the most viewed thread at the time while the forum was still in its infancy, and opened the door to a plethora of crazy Genesis hacks in 2016. Iād wager that it was the best luxury car hack the forum had seen at the time, and I was just glad I could pioneer it!
Favorite hack of all time has to be my F-Type though. I think the F-Type is the most beautiful looking and sounding sports car ever produced, so being able to hack that on a $500/mo sign and drive dealā¦ thatāll always be my favorite deal!
As far as info about me ā I just fell into lease hacking because I already hacked everything else in life but hadnāt considered doing cars. It was only natural I got into hacking leases eventually. The best way to describe me would just be that I pride myself as a life hacker for all things related to business and personal wealth strategies. So whether itās starting a business, travel hacking, credit card churning, or anything related to financial success, Iāve got hacks for it!
My best lease is my current XC90. I leased it in April 2021 just as it was becoming clear that the chip shortage/supply issues were going to be getting bad. Discount was good at 10% but it was a great lease because I was able to get almost the exact build my wife wanted in terms of color, bench seats, advanced package, climate package, air suspension and park assist pilot. Took a lot of searching to find a dealer with the right car that also was ready to negotiate.
I enjoy leasing since I like working with the numbers to put a lease together. Kind of like putting together a puzzle. Also having a reliable new car every three years that is always under warranty is helpful with two young kids.
Iād love to continue to contribute here in any way youāll have me! As for myself, Iām based in the Northeast (New Jersey) and tend to specialize in Domestic vehicles, particularly GM. My best, or favorite hacks over the years would be my free (after state rebate) 36/10k Chevy Bolt Premier in September of 2020 NJ Bolt Premier Mic Drop. $5618 One Pay, free after Buypower and NJ Rebate and my $297/mo, $297 DAS Jeep Gladiator Sport S 42/10k acquired in April of 2020 Signed: 2020 Jeep Gladiator Sport S, 297/mo $297 DAS 42/10K . Iām always happy to provide any insight I can regarding pricing and negotiation on any brand of vehicle as well.
Iāve been leasing cars now for about 10 years but buying and selling long before that. I really enjoy āthe huntā as much as anything, in fact car shopping in general is one of my favorite pastimes (much to the surprise of others).
My day job is a pricing manager, I analyze pricing for large utility projects. So Iāve found leasehacking as something I really enjoy (and am pretty good at
) as I can leverage skills from work in a personal hobby. Even years ago before I discovered LH I was building lease calculators in Excel if that gives you an idea. Best of both worlds really.
Best lease Iāve scored is a tough one, although Iād have to say my first lease ever stands out. This was a 2012 Porsche 911 ($95k sticker, $905/mo with tax and $3k DAS, oh to get numbers like that today). I scored a deal more due to knowing the market and being a good negotiator rather than knowing what I was doing with leasing numbers.
But, I caught the bug, educated myself on how leasing works, and my next 2 leases (an '18 SQ5 and my current GLC63) were LH worthy and negotiated in the same way I usually advise folks on here: research the market, know the numbers and a target deal before you ever talk to a dealer, and be ready to sign if they can get there.
I joined the forum in April 2018 while shopping for a car and was impressed at how willing the community was to help me learn all of the terminology and different factors that impact a lease. A fellow Leasehackr (@28firefighter) referred me to the salesperson that sold me that car (and my subsequent car, actually). As the leasing market has changed over the past couple of years, Iāve been continually impressed by the ability of forum members to find solid lease deals. Itās also been great to be able to educate folks in real life about the benefits of leasing using the information Iāve gleaned from the forum.
Iām Jeremy, a software engineer in Seattle. My favorite part of leasehacking is the wide variety of cars Iām able to try out. My favorite leasehack was my BMW 330e for $267/month - Trophy Garage [ Photos ] - #299 by jananth1
I enjoy helping others score great deals. I think one of my best hacks is my 2020 Tacoma with an effective $166/mo payment.
I sold cars from 2000 to 2007 for Toyota, Nissan, Saab, Buick, Chevy and Mercedes. Roles included sales person and sales manager
@Jon:
I came to LH as a total lease noob and being an engineer, I loved learning all the mathematics on how to calculate a lease deal. The best lease that I ever got was a 2019 Infiniti QX60 Luxe for $250/mo with only $1200 in MSDs due at signing.
A little bit of me: Iām located in the NorCal Bay Area and to me, Iām looking out for the best deal value/hack within a reasonable amount of time and effort. Not every deal can, or needs to, be a unicorn
I shared this in the āBest Hack Everā thread:
- 2017 Chevy Volt LT, $34k MSRP, $120/mth, $1k DAS. Sold it after 1 yr to shift and cleared $2k
- 2017 Maserati Ghibli S, $90k MSRP, $595/mth, $3k DAS. It was a fun car
Happy to continue sharing and having lively discussions within the community.
Best hacks I did for myself were QX60 lease for $311 using MSDs that is ending nowš„
Hyundai Ionig Plug in for $139 pre-pandemic was fun times - lots of people jumped on that band wagon. And then selling it to Vroom for profit was even more interesting.
Now I just got two Leafs last week. I wrote about one that is Leaf S for $125pn with $320 DAS. And then I went back to the same dealership and got Leaf SL Plus for $259pm with about $500 DAS.
I love the process of getting a math putting together to discover a hack and then learning about all details surround it. Like those of no sales tax in NJ on EVs as well as $5k state rebate. And seeing and helping others score good/great deals is actually really enjoyable to win few over dealerships.
Max joined LH in 2016 and is one of the earlier TH. He enjoys helping people save money and find their lowest TCO depending on the circumstances, whether itās leasing, buying new or buying used.
Quick blurbā¦ Iām probably one of the few long term folks on here without any ties to the automotive industry. Im an aerospace engineer by day, which is probably largely why I try to approach hacking leases from the basic fundamentals of what a deal is and always pushcthat basic understanding.
Been around here for years, but really became more active during the great Volvo S90 extravaganza of 2018/2019 where I ended up a handful of friends/family into volvos and went from a honda civic to paying less for an s90.
Chasing the next deal is just fun. Finding out what is possible and seeing if I can pull it off. Iām also a math geek and enjoy crunching numbers, which is why I donāt mind helping others with the math.
Best hack is tough to judge. Iād say best overall deal was probably the Ioniq PHEV for $159/mo with $159/DAS. Thatās a lot of car for that payment. The coolest was the $39k Camaro LT1 for, I believe, $340/$340. But the best all around was likely the $52k 330xi for $330 with $500 DAS. Of course, Iāve actually made money selling some hacks, but thatās a separate category in my mind.
I am a UVA grad living in the DC area with an interest in technology, science, human behavior, athletics, and of course, cars. I have great attention to detail and so my passion for leasehacking grew from an early love for cars and an obsession with working out lease calculations (weird, I know). Feel free to reach out to me for any math related questions!
While I havenāt been hacking since 2020 when I got new lease for my significant other and I, Iām still here every day, tuning and expanding couple of apps for inventory search for EVs and ICE cars for the betterment of the community.
I have very little experience hacking actual leases for my personal vehicles because I have enjoyed company cars through my jobs. But I am one of the few guys behind the curtain pulling the strings on the lease industry with CULAās lease program. I value this community as a one of the key barometers I use for what I do professionally - setting RVs for a large section of the auto industry.
As for myself, I have been an active member in the community for nearly five years and through 4 leases. My cars have primarily been Audis which are tough hacks and as a result have made me a bit of an expert on how to get good deals with that brand. My best hack was during the e300 loaner craze several years ago. My dad was in the market for one and had a $62k unit on offer for nearly $700 a month. When I told his dealer we would do $400 with tax, my dad was horrified and tried to get me to call the sales guy back and apologize so that he would take us seriously. I insisted it could be done, and two days later he had the car.
2017 Mercedes E300 4Matic Loaner $399 (w/ maintenance) - Share Deals & Tips - FORUM | LEASEHACKR
Even better, it turned out the dealer had made an error on the taxes and as a result, the price dropped to $375.
I really enjoy leasehacking because of the number crunching and the thrill of scoring the crazy deals! My best lease I have scored was last year on a GLC 300 loaner with about 1,200 miles. I got a discount of 29% because it had been in the loaner fleet for a year. My latest āhackā has been purchasing a new 2022 GLE 350 for 16% off (combined with business discount).
Iāve been buying cars and selling cars for 13 years now and have owned well over 15. I am currently serving overseas for the foreseeable future (two to three years), but intend to continue leasing when I return, I just do not know when that is!
My best lease is probably close to my firstā¦ I leased a 2010 Mazda 3 Sport 2.5i hatchback for about 217 a month for 36 months with 1,500 out the door. The MSRP was about 22k. I did lease my Stinger GT, but that deal was less than good as I was willing to pay the increased price just to be an early adopter which I do not regret.
Being apart of this community has taught me much and Ive begun spreading this knowledge to as many people as possible. I have even built a presentation for car financing that I plan to administer to new military members who arrive on base because navigating the intricacies of buying a car overseas can be daunting. I have even linked to several Leasehackr wiki pages as references.
I am not shy about splurging on nice things, but itās often difficult to justify the cost of cars I really want due to how little I drive.
Lease hacking changed the equation, and last time around I got exactly what I wanted.
After a bit of reading and research here I was able to find a 36/7.5 lease on a 2019 BMW 750i for $849/month + taxes/fees (after 21% discount and manufacturer incentives and 7 MSDs) - PLUS a $1,500 rebate from BMW CCA.
Without LH, I wouldnāt have known about MSDs, the CCA rebate, or the trunk money that comprised a solid portion of the dealer discount.
The āpre-LHā me would have likely spent a similar amount, but I would have likely settled for a lot less car than I really wanted.
My best hack: 2019 XC90 T6 MOM [Loaner] $436/mo with $436 and 10 MSDs DAS
I love learning something new here every day, and I literally here every day. I enjoy sharing my personal knowledge with the community, as well as to have some friendly banter. But Iām also very protective of LH as I would be of my own place.
I think the best part about LeaseHacking is being able to unlock car deals that friends and family thought were impossible to get. Leasing also brings everybody together, because more than anything, everybody loves a good car deal.
My best LeaseHack was probably my $0 DAS $299 monthly 2020 Volvo S60, which I was able to use the equity from at the height of the COVID car craze to trade into another $0 DAS net and $310 monthly 2021 S60 with some more options!
I am newish member to the community, but have always been an avid auto shopper and deal seeker. In my professional life, I work as the General Manager of a school and commercial bus dealership. Fortunately this allows me to spend countless hours on the forums (probably more time than I need.).
I feel I have made several above average deals in my life, but the Tacoma I picked up at the end of 2021 may be my proudest.
My wife and I needed a pickup for a short term vehicle for our small business and unfortunately it was during the worst car market in history. We went through every option from buying a full size pickup as her daily, to buying a beater and hope to recoup our money in a few months.
I was able to secure a Tacoma Double Cab for a $6,750 one pay/27 months (October 2021). We used this truck for 2-3 months and was able to flip to Carmax for a $10,900 check. We used the vehicle for what we needed, put 5,000 miles on the clock and made >$4,000 in the process.
I look forward to continuing to support this community and helping it grow.
I leased my first vehicle, a 1996 Honda Accord Ex V6 (w/ leather) as an 18 year old with no credit using a one-pay program and $8000 in summer income. Many years and vehicles later, I am still leasehacking my way through life, enjoying the thrill of the search, the euphoria of closing the deal and the reward of new vehicle ownership, although, I now focus exclusively on US domestic brands; Tesla, GM, Ford & CDJ.
Congrats to our Trusted Hackrs!
-LH Team
@littleviolette, @michael