not true. you can get very goo deals on leases if you know what you are doing.
This is what you really need to know:
- What is the Residual %?
- What is the base Money Factor rate?
This 2 numbers come straight from Mazda Financial. They also give the dealership a max amount they can mark up the Money Factor. There are also other fees like a Lease Acquisition Fee, the have a base but allow dealers to mark it up. Your dealer wont provide this info, but you can find it at places like
www.leasecompare.com, go to their forums and ask.
You will typically see something like this:
Lease Info said:
24 Month – Residual 66% of MSRP – .00190 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00190 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 35% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 28% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year. Add 2% to Residual for 12k mi/yr and 3% for 10k mi/yr on all terms
If you know what you are doing, you can get a deal as low as 40-50 dollars less than what is perceived as a "good lease deal".
You should also start by negotiating the actual sale price, start from invoice and give them a profit (say $500 or $1000).
This is how you calculate a lease:
(Cap Cost – Residual Value) / Term = Depreciation
(Cap Cost + Residual Value) X Money Factor = Interest
Depreciation + Interest = Base Monthly Payment
Cap Cost = Your agreed sale price + Lease Fees + Doc Fees + Taxes (if you want to finance it) - Down Payment (or trade in)
Residual Value = is the percentage listed above. if car is 20,000 and residual is 60% then Residual is 12,000 (dont expect a mazda to have a residual higher than 52% over a period of 36 months)
Term = 36 months
Money Factor = Listed above.
This is just a quick crash course on it. i has taken me a few weeks to elarn everything and im still learning.
The problme with the lease is that there are many places where the dealer can take a profit so you have to check in more places.
