I’m leasing an Elantra, should I make an offer and only bring up my extra $2500 in rebates when we’re ready to sign?
I’d work first on the selling price before introducing incentives. Otherwise they’ll roll them in early as your “discount” and can really ruin the negotiations.
Only when you are in the finance manager’s office and just about to sign and say oh by the way, I have this 2.5k rebate 
Agree with the other guys, especially on the vhooloo’s mention of in the finance manager’s office.
I’ve been negotiating via email and threw out Fleet discount too early twice in that I was able to further negotiate price but now suddenly fleet discount is already being considered. It’s pulling teeth to get them to ignore that even though they’re compensated back for that. They just show that as an additional 2k off price and we’re doing such a great favor! Ehhh, no.
What is/are the rebates? One needs to be sure the rebate isn’t already included in the negotiated price.
What if the manager tell you it does include the rebate ? We need some sort of guarantee about final price before walking into dealer