Leasehackr

Any input as to whether this is a good Deal...
2023 Honda CRV-EX-L. 36k/3 Years.
Asking $388 a month 0 Down
Money Factor .00197
Residual $63%=$22,998
​
Getting offered $23,000 for my current 2020 CRV that has a 17.4k Payoff.

2023 Honda Accord LX lease. $299/month for 36. 3299 down. It’s the advertised lease info they sent me and I was wondering how much negotiating room past Honda lessees have had. Want to keep the down payment as low as possible.

I wouldn’t have to pay fees or taxes (they are valuing that around ~3k), they want 5K flat down plus 449 a month for 36 months.
The car MSRP is about 33.5K.

What kind of Lease deals did you get on your pathfinder 2022/2023? Pathfinder SL 10k miles/yr - Dealers offering 18/24/36 month options 550/mo and 3k down Is this fair?

I commented on another post asking about Mazda leases so I thought of posting it here for everyone to benefit.

1. Research. Research. Research. Know the exact car you want.
2. Know that different trims have different money factor and different residuals. Go to Edmunds Lease Calculator and see what the money factor (MF) and residual percentages are. Don't bother with the other information. This will give you an edge in case a dealer shows you higher MF (they are allowed to increase it but you can tell them that you know what the base is)
3. (Extra Optional) If you have the financial capability, you need to know about the new hidden secret. MSDs (Multi Security Deposits). Ever since Mazda Financial Services (MFS) got acquired by Toyota Financial Services (TFS), they started offering that. TL;DR; For every security deposit you put down, you get a discount (0.00008) on the money factor. Mazda allows you to put down 9 of those security deposits (for a max discount of 0.00072) on the money factor. This is not available in NY but available in all other states. This is a lot of money so it is not for everyone but it is WORTH it. Note that even the best dealers may not know about this. But if they call MFS, they can do it. Your financing has to be done through MFS. A lot of dealers work with 3rd party institutions, you can avoid those.
4. Get an idea of the lease payment using the lease calculator from Lease Hackr. This is by far the best and most accurate calculator I got. It even takes MSDs into account. Plug in the numbers from step 2.
5. Shop around. Look in a 50 (or even further if you can) mile radius for the exact car you want. This can easily be done on Mazda's website
6. Look for a volume dealer (A dealer that has a ton of space and sell a LOT of cars every month). They are more willing than other small dealers to take a loss on the car.
7. Look for the contact information (of the GM; General Manager or GSM; General Sales Manager) and send out a mass email to all of them with the exact car that you want, tell them you are contacting other dealers as well, tell them you will not test the drive the car since you already did and want to buy it (they will keep telling you to come in person), tell them that you will come in person in one condition and that is to sign the agreement, take the car and go. Tell them you will go with the best offer.
8. Please don't put any money down (first monthly payment is fine). Reason being if you get in an accident and your car is totaled, the insurance will pay the leasing company and you will get NOTHING. You will lose that money down. Also, don't put any credit from the trade-in as down payment on the new car. Ask for the credit to be paid out. Same reason! Dealers have this tactic when you want to lower the monthly payment, they will tell you to put money down. Don't.
9. (Bonus if you have a trade in) Know the value of your current car. Get a quote from Carvana, Carmax, ... etc. Know the estimated value from KBB, Edmunds, Facebook, ... etc

If you have any questions, please feel free to DM me. I am happy to help! I am not a dealer. I am just good at researching!
Note: I am not posting this to comment on whether leasing is a better financial decision. You know you! I am talking about the people who did their research and found that leasing is the way to go!

What’s the cheapest car to lease in NC with 15000 miles a year?

Currently into a Volvo XC60 T5i with approximately ~22k miles.
My lease term ends in Sept. and my payoff is approximately ~$38k.
Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone, thanks for entertaining this I live in Southern California
I currently have a BMW 430i (my first one) and the lease is up in October 2023. This will be my first renewal and I have a few questions if you guys have the time

1. When should I start contacting the dealer to let them know I plan to renew the lease?
   
2. I paid like $4k in MSD for this first lease, how does the process work about getting that money back or does it transfer to the new lease?
   
3. I am eyeing a 2024 M440i. Is it possible for me to build my own and have it shipped in time ready for my lease renewal date?
   
4. In line with question 3, would it be better to lease a similar car already on the lot (ie 90% match) as opposed to building one?
   
5. How does the negotiating process work for lease renewal? When I got this one the first time (after educating myself here), I sent different dealers my offers for cars on their websites via email/online submittal until one replied and accepted my offer. Then I went down to the dealership and finalized it
   

In short. I’m coming up on the end of my first BMW lease (first lease ever), plan to renew and get another BMW, and I’d like to know the best way to navigate that in the next few months?
Thank you guys for your help

I paid off my leased to BMW last year. Did not remove the lien holder and transfer title.
I just realized that I have to pay sales tax at the time when the lien holder is removed during title transfer.
Am I required to transfer title? Any penalty if I remove the lien holder now?

I posted my car to sell on KBB, some private dealer reached me from NJ, linden called BM Motor Cars, and offered to pay Kbb value of my car after I showed up for them to take a look at my car.
The part that’s fishy is, to buy a lease for Honda, only Honda can buy your car if you’re leasing through hondafinancial which I am. The reason they said they can buy my lease is because they have some sort “we have a Honda store in our chain of stairs” .
Anyone have insights or things to watch out for(like fake check or something)
I want to sell my lease(on my last paid month of lease) and use the profit to put towards another car.

I’m (21) trying to trade in my Honda civic 2017 for Tacome Sr5 2023 but they buy my car for 14000 which led me to 8000 credit left and with lease with brand new tacoma get me up to total of 58,000. Should I do lease or just finish paying my car. Thanks!

Anyone know of any lease deals on leasehackr or know of any broker for leasing Audi Q5 or Q7 s-line premium plus with 12000 miles/year, $0 down and a Costco member? I am in Texas area. Thanks in advance

I’ve been to almost every dealership and have decided to quit my search and just buy a used car… the lease market is terrible and no one has given me a good number at all. The best I got was for a 2024 crosstrek for $447 in Seattle. Has anyone got a great deal on a lease this year? If so what was it? I’ve lost all hope. Haha

Long story short I need to get out of my lease. 2022 tundra capstone, payoff is 80k, market value high side is 81k low side 71k. Toyota financial
Any way I can walk away with minimal damage?

I’m currently looking to upgrade from my 2021 Kia K5 GT-Line lease into a Genesis G70 lease soon. I’m going to sell 3rd party and get about $8k from it. I’m just not very aware of the current market and/or when new car prices will get lower, if at all. Would it be best to wait until the end of my lease at the end of this year to upgrade or would it be best to get what I can now before the end of my lease comes and my car is a bit older?

Looks like it’s Kia’s time now.

Leasing 101, thanks to Leasehackr.

• Leasing is like paying for the depreciation that occurs during your use of the vehicle. The monthly lease payment is calculated based on the car’s depreciation over the lease term.
  
• Some cars lease better than others. Factors such as residual value, money factor, and cash incentives affect the lease cost. High residual value, low money factor, and generous cash incentives are desirable. You can lease an EV6 at ok price but be aware you are paying more than 8% in interest.
  
• Lease prices can be negotiated. The selling price of a car, which affects the lease cost, is determined by individual dealers and is not set by the manufacturer. The more discount you get, the better, the lower your buyout.
  
• Be cautious of marked-up rates and fees. Dealers can mark up the money factor, acquisition fee, and disposition fee, potentially increasing the lease cost. Edmunds forums has the latest Money Factor and Residual for all the different terms. Leasehackr also has a paid option to pull this data for yourself at any time. A dealer cannot change the Residual but they can markup the rate. Knowing that they are could be used as a bargaining chip to get a larger MSRP discount.
  
• When leasing, someone else (the lessor) takes on the risk of depreciation. The automaker sets the residual value, and any overestimation is their risk, not the lessee’s.
  
• Avoid making a down payment on a lease. If the car is totaled or stolen, you may not get your down payment back. A down payment also obscures the cost of the lease.
  
• In a lease, Kia financial owns the car. You are just “renting” the car. Your insurance company pays out to the owner = Kia. Insurance company doesn’t care what you paid for the down payment.
  
• A Down payment is not DAS (due at signing). You can have $0 down payment but still pay fees, taxes, first month payment upfront.
  

What does this have to do with a Kia EV6?

• Kia Financial is passing through $7500 as a rebate. This rebate is from the feds, your tax dollars. As part of the IRA bill, corporations get $7500-$40,000 in tax credits with no limits for EV and Plug-in hybrids that they put on the road. In a lease, Hyundai is the owner of the car, hence they get the rebate, they are passing it through.
  
• This has no effect on your taxes. There is no limit, you can get as many cars as you want.
  
• Before you ever approach a dealer, know what the numbers look like. The Leasehackr calculator is invaluable for this.
  
• Negotiate MSRP. You should not be going in targeting a monthly payment. Lower the MSRP, the lower your buyout. As data points, multiple people have sent me sheets where they got discounts ranging from $1000-$3000 on Wind RWD. Example here
  
• Extra Fees: Acquisition Fee is always $650. Documents fee, some states have caps on this, others don’t. Dealer fees can vary as well.
  
• Deal sheet would look like this. Feel free to send it to me as well to take a quick look.
  
• ”Agreed upon Value of the Vehicle” - this is a line item and should Match MSRP. I know that dealers have added $3k to this line for a third-party warranty. So keep your eyes open.
  
• ”Gross Capitalized Cost” - This will be the MSRP with any extras you add. There should be a breakdown of what this is on another page. Typically it’s MSRP+Acquisition fee+ Document fees+ dealer fees but you could also choose to pay all the extras upfront instead of adding it to the total.
  
• Cap Cost Reduction - part of the $7500 will be taxed and the rest will go to pay for any of the extras listed above and the remainder will apply to the actual MSRP. Again this can be structured differently depending on what you are paying for upfront.
  

Most importantly, don’t let a dealer rush you or pressure you to sign something you don’t understand.

What about trade-ins?

I get the allure of trade-ins and some states offer tax credits too. However, I implore you to take a few minutes and go through this list with links to tons of places to sell your car. Run your car through a few of them before asking for dealers’ trade-in. You would be surprised at $1000s you might be leaving on the table even after tax savings.
It’s entirely possible your dealer might match or beat these offers too.

How do I do a buyout?

Bad news first.
Kia requires a dealership to purchase the vehicle if it is garaged/registered in CO, DC, FL, HI, IN, PA, SD or SC.
This process is going to suck in these states unless you know a good dealer. Good news is that you don’t have to use the same dealer you bought your car from.
This process sucks because you are at the mercy of the dealer and AFAIK they can charge you whatever they want within reason. I have seen insane fees of $4000-$5000 in Florida.
Other states - Get your Lease Buyout quote online. Send the quote to your bank or credit union. A lot of credit unions will treat this as a new car since it’s a 2023 car. YMMV however.
Mail your payoff check to:
Kia Finance America
PO Box 660891
Dallas, TX 75266-0891
Or overnight:
Kia Finance America
Box 660891
1501 North Plano Road Suite 100
Richardson, TX 75081

• For some states the check has to be made out to HCA. Your buyout quote will have instructions on who to make the payment out to.

Can I buyout immediately?
Yes, you can buy out as soon as the deal is funded. Typically a week or two or as soon as you can make a Kia Financial account online.
When you do an early lease buyout, you're ending the lease and buying the car outright. Unearned rent charges(interest) are part of the lease financing and no longer apply since you're settling the lease and taking full ownership. Basically, you're paying off the remaining balance, so no more rent charges.
LEASE BUYOUT IS NOT AN EARLY TERMINATION, THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR BUYING OUT EARLY
DO NOT BELIEVE ANY DEALER THAT TELLS YOU CAN ONLY BUYOUT AFTER XX MONTHS.
DO NOT BELIEVE ANY DEALER THAT TELLS YOU HAVE TO PAY REMAINING RENT CHARGE

What about taxes?

Ok, this is complicated.

• For most states, you pay tax on the monthly payment.
  
• Tax is levied upfront on the total lease payment for NY, MN, OH, GA. This leads to an issue of double taxation for early buyouts, at least in NY. No way around it, if you are in NY you should know what you are in for.
  
• NJ has no taxes for EV but Kia/Hyundai system charges tax on the buyout. People have explained how to fix this here with Hyundai and it should be the same procedure
  
  • For NJ buyouts, request to speak to the Escalation team. Explain to them you would like a buyout quote without sales tax and the NJ ST-4 needs to be routed to the tax team. They asked me write the dealer info as the seller. I was able to payoff my lease by using the website, but there is a 25k restriction per transaction. From ay5800
• Tax is levied upfront on the selling price VA, MD, TX. Double taxation is an issue for TX. VA will give you credit for the taxes paid on the lease once you submit proof and then refund you after a few weeks/months. Unsure of MD. MD seems to have a similar provision as VA to avoid the double tax.
  

Ultimately, I can’t account for each and every situation. Contact Kia Financial and your local DMV to get a definitive answer.

Titling and Registration

• Unfortunately Kia Finance has a reputation for being incredibly slow when processing titles for lease buyouts
  
• Expect anywhere from 60-90 days to get your title in hand. So if you are planning to flip the car or something, think again.
  

Why are you doing this?

I love a good deal and I have been leasing cars for a long time. I use Reddit a lot and I have seen too many people posting misinformation with 100% confidence.
Please please ask more questions here and I will try my best to answer. I will also add the answers to the post. You cannot have too much information here, feel free to PM me with questions as well.
Section 23 of the contract. explaining the buyout clause

I have 4 months left on my 2020 Honda Ridgeline. I am currently 15K miles over my 30K miles lease agreement. (I know I moved from MA to NC and had to drive there and back a few times) my current as of 05/03 pay out amount is $26,586. If I go to the dealership and decide to finance (purchase) call it a 72 month term instead of trading in my lease and getting another Honda (which I don't want to do. I'm done with Honda) what is stopping me on month two of financing to go trade in the vehicle? TLDR: I want out of my lease but Honda won't let me trade in my lease to another company and want to work the system to get into another company's car.