Why should I care about Calculator #s and score?

[ecooke2]

Isn’t the DAS and monthly payment all that matters when comparing leases?
Assuming # of months and mileage allowance are equal across leases, what value does the calculator provide?

Thanks in advance for enlightening me.

[boozinix]

LH score is kinda irrelevant. You can put a lot down and it will decrease your payments/increase your score.

However, its pretty good to show the STRUCTURE of the deal, the dealer discount, incentives, rate etc to figure out how good a deal is or is not.

[michael]

Some good comments here:

Isn't total payments the only thing that matters?

Newbie here so bear with me…but why does the sales price, residual and/or money factor matter at all? Doesn’t it all just come down to getting the lowest total payments to use the vehicle for 3 years? I’ve been offered $0 down and $289 a month for Tacoma Off Road V6. For a vehicle with a $37000 MSRP that seems like a decent monthly price. Especially compared to other $37K vehicles where $0 down leases are more like in the $350/month range (like a CX5). Am I missing something?? I could see th…

Do I really need to ask for all the numbers?

This is a good point also. Some dealers or sales people will get turned off, or have no clue, when you ask for the nuts and bolts of the deal.

[rolyasmatt]

It’s funny, I thought I got a good deal, had a low monthly payment. Came here, actually calculated the numbers, and realized I got screwed on MF.

Yea 225-250 is low, but imagine if I realized 199 was within range. I had no idea and breaking down the numbers reveals a lot in a lease.