Hi All,

Just joined the group. I am looking to lease a 2015 Countryman base through the 41 month - $199/month lease offer Mini is having. I haven't leased a car before and really could use some advice here on how to approach the dealership. I tried to build the car I am looking for online (cold weather pkg, auto transmission, black wheels and a few exterior mods) and it is coming up to around $26,500.

Below are the terms for the 41 month - 199/month offer from Mini.

Car Price - $24850 (including auto transmission and $850 destination fee)
Due at signing - $2724 ($1800 down + $199 first month + $725 acquisition fee)
Lease Term - 41 months
Miles per year - 10000
Purchase option at end - $15656

So if I understand things correctly, just going by whatever I see online I will have to pay
$1650 (difference in offer price of the car $24850 and the one I built online $26500)
+ $2724 due at signing ($1800 down, $199 first month, $725 acquisition fee)
+ approx $1200 (Taxes, Tilte and Registration)
-------------------------------------------
= $5574 to lease the car for $199/month

As I have not leased before, how do I bargain in any of the above to bring the out of the pocket amount down and still have it at $199/month. So from the people here who have leased before, it would be really helpful if you could help me out on the above and on any other hidden fees or loop holes in a leasing program like this.

Thanks
vaval

 

Typically those advertised lease deals are for a specific model with specific options - and the price they quote - monthly payment, cap cost reduction, and residual - is all based off the MSRP and the any discounts for that particular car. If you decide you want to lease something different, they typically won't let you keep the same term just by paying the difference - because the residual will be different. I'd let them quote you a lease price on the car you want and see what the terms would be.

For me, when I lease, I always try to put as little down up front and keep the payments to a range that works for me monthly - because at the end, you have no equity (thus any $$ upfront is just lost cash, and essentially pre-paid components of a montly payment that could be higher). Also make sure the mileage per year fits your needs - because overages can be costly if you know you're going to blow past the mileage limits. Unless you plan to buy the car at the end of the lease, and then the mileage won't matter....

 

I had this exact same situation when I leased my Countryman, there was an advertised price for a specific model and when they ran the car I wanted, it came out $100 more expensive.

Here is what I did - I calculated what my lease payment should be based on the same program and adjusted for the additional features I added. You don't pay for the options, you only pay for the leased portion. So if the residual is 60%, you pay 40% of the options (except for stripes, those don't have a residual as they are a dealer installed item). I also found that it was much cheaper to get 15K miles per year by paying up front vs. getting 1,000 miles a month and having to buy the miles at the end of the term. This is because they use a different residual value between 12K and 15K miles, above 15K miles, it doesn't matter as they build in a per mile charge into your lease payment.

Taxes title and registration should be added to the lease payment monthly, don't pay that up front.

Other ways to get the price down - ask them what programs they have in place. If you have USAA, you can save $1,000. If you are currently leasing a car in your household, they sometimes have lease credits. Make the finance guy your best friend and tell him you want to get the best deal. Once my finance guy understood I knew the game, he was very helpful. He found other regional lease programs that dropped my price even more and even told the guy you meet with at the end to talk about paint protection, tire protection, etc. not to bother with me as I wasn't going to fall for any of those programs...

My MSRP on my All4 was close to $30K, put down $2K and pay $300 a month for 15K miles.

For your car - $199 per month with the $2,525 down.
Add $1650 x 40% = $660 plus 1,200 taxes = $1,880 divided by 41 months = $45 per month extra. Bump it up for finance charges, should add about $50 per month
You should be seeing a payment in the $250 range. Once you get the dealer to agree to that, ask him what it would be for 15K miles per year.

Good Luck!

 

The way I understand it is that you can buy miles for the same price at the beginning of the lease all the way up until 6 months before lease ends. So I just got a 10k year lease and if i go over Ill buy more beore lease ends. My last BMW i got a lease with 15k a year and only used 11k, and i had to pay for those unused miles in my monthly payments, all lost.

 

That is true, after 15K miles. For a 12K mile lease compared to a 15k mile lease they use a different residual value (and the cost difference is minor, definitely worth it to take the 15K unless you are absolutely sure you don't need the miles). You need to ask at the dealership, I almost made a huge mistake thinking it was the same either way. They didn't tell me, I had to ask...

 

Good luck to you and if you go to the dealer, please let us know what happens.

 

Some finance companies will not let you residualize some options. Usually with lease specials, they will not let you residualize any extras that you add on. Figure on about $25 per $1000 on top of the $199 a month. With custom orders, sometimes the dealer will not entertain the lease special at all.

 

I was able to residualize when I leased mine through Mini Financial

 

Thank you all for the Inputs. I have been to three different dealerships in the area and what you said was right. There are so many stipulations in the fine print of the leasing offer. There is a huge down payment if I want to lease the car I need for 199/month (around 6k). So back to square one on whether it is better to lease or finance

 

Well thank you for the update...and I wish you only the best in your search for the perfect MINI!

 

If you think about it...$199.00 is a manageable monthly payment...and then 41 months later you simply hand in the key fobs. The expensive repairs in the future will be someone else's problem.

The hard part about the lease is that you're required to fork over $6,000 for the down payment.

 

Finally negotiated a custom built Countryman S with a MSPP of 29050 to 27050. The leasing option from there is costing me around 235/month with 5400 down. Good deal? Bad deal?

 

Also they have used a money factor of 0.0022 in the lease calculation, which is about 5.28% interest rate. I know I should negotiate it down as I have good credit. But what is a good rate or money factor in a leasing scenario. Is it usually this high?

 

Seems about right I guess. I did a custom order, $5000 down, MSRP $33850, $1500 in discounts, 36 months, 12k/yr, at $303/month.

 

A good spot to crunch numbers http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...e-buy-car.aspx

 

Hi Jason,

Going by the numbers you gave me, looks like you got a very good money factor for your lease. About 0.00125. Do you recall the MF number? and at what location did you do the order?

Vam

 

Northwest MINI in Washington.


I can't recall, and I don't have the paperwork with me right now, staying with family for the holidays. I'll let you know in a few days.

 

Thank you. That would help.