Free preview · from the dealership side of the desk
Most people believe you can’t negotiate a lease. You can, and the parts that matter most are negotiated exactly like a purchase. The confusion helps the dealership: if you think a lease is a fixed product, the only thing left to discuss is the monthly number, and that’s the easiest number to hit while every other dial stays where the store wants it. Leave $2,000 on the table in price and you pay about $55 a month more for three years.
From the desk, “What payment are you looking for?” isn’t small talk. It tells us how much room we have. Here’s the free part: negotiate the selling price as if you were paying cash, and don’t discuss a payment until price, money factor and fees are locked. Below: what is and isn’t negotiable, the four numbers in the right order, how to compare quotes that are structured differently, and a word-for-word email that gets dealers competing on the right things.
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In the full guide
- What is negotiable and what is not
- Step 1: do your homework before you contact anyone
- Step 2: negotiate the selling price as if you were paying cash
- Step 3: lock the money factor at buy rate
- Step 4: strip the fees, then handle the trade
- The ‘payment only’ trap
- Comparing quotes with different structures
- The email that gets real quotes
- Your game plan
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