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Leasing Tips
10 Steps to Leasing a New Car
Step 8: How to negotiate a lease payment.
From Edmunds.com
Video highlights of this article
Negotiations can be handled several ways. If the car is widely available, you
can call local dealerships and solicit bids. Take the lowest bidder and call the
other dealers back with that figure. Can they beat this price? If not, you are
at rock bottom.
If the car is harder to find, and you are on the lot, you can still refer to the
lease payments you calculated at home. If the lease quote from your salesperson
matches your estimate, you're probably getting a fair deal, but make sure the
numbers and terms match your calculations. Be especially sure to check the down
payment (we recommend a zero down payment), the term of the loan (we recommend
three years), the monthly payment and the annual mileage allowance.
In the past, Edmunds.com recommended that the best way to get a good lease payment
was to negotiate the lowest selling price for the car. Once that was set, you
would get the salesperson to draw up a lease payment based on that figure. The
thinking was that if the salesperson knew you were leasing, he would focus on
the monthly payment while ignoring the negotiated price. He might even try to
confuse you with leasing jargon. But the reality is, if you're happy with the
down payment, monthly payment and mileage allowance, the purchase price of the
vehicle is probably right. Keep in mind, however, that if you think you will want
to buy the vehicle at the end of the lease, you should also check the "residual
value" to make sure it is a realistic figure.
Whichever method you choose to negotiate, it is a good idea to ask the salesperson
to fax you a worksheet, detailing all the costs before you go to the dealership.
This will allow you to review the figures in a relaxed environment. Compare the
numbers to those you have calculated and the True
Market Value prices of cars listed on Edmunds.com.
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