All leases are not created equal. It definitely pays to shop around at a few different dealers. As with buying a new car, for a lease I would also suggest emailing at least four or five dealerships in your area, let them know what model you want and ask them what their best lease deal is. Negotiate before you even walk into a show room. I know the car market is wonky right now but being an informed consumer and negotiating before you even walk into a show room is just being smart.
I leased my CX-9 last November. I got offers from a couple $1000 down and over $550 per month to the deal that I accepted which was first month payment upfront (which was $430), and then of course that was my monthly payment.
Your credit score can affect your lease as it may affect the interest rate that you qualify for. The money factor is what the interest is on your lease. It’s expressed as a four place decimal, .0017, for example. Multiply that by 2400 to see what the interest rate is. Money factor of .0017 would be about 4%. Also, the banks that the dealership work with may offer different money factors which is why it’s a good idea to shop around.
When you lease, you basically are paying for the depreciation of a car over X years. If you can negotiate the MSRP down, just as if you were purchasing new, that helps lower your lease payment.
See if the dealership will offer a 33 month lease. The lease would be calculated over the term of 33 months with a two-year residual instead of a three-year. Meaning, the difference between MSRP and a two-year residual is less money to finance than MSRP minus a three-year residual.
If you lease through Toyota, like I did, they have pretty decent lease deals and let me do the 33 month term.
Gap insurance is a smart thing to have. If your car insurance doesn’t cover your lease, you can purchase it through your leasing provider. But again, negotiate it. I was originally quoted $60 a month for gap but they somehow managed to get it down to $7 (seven dollarsj a month. Go figure…
This site has some good info and a simple lease calculator...