How to Negotiate a Lease Price

Lease advertisements offer attractive payments, considering that you can drive a new car for up to half of what it costs to finance one. For a dealership, a lease is as profitable as a finance -- the leasing bank pays the dealer for the car in full while you make payments to the bank. While some people do not question lease payments or pricing, you should negotiate as you would for a financed vehicle.

Instructions

1

Go to the manufacturer's website to review current lease terms and payments. Note that you'll have to put a certain amount of money down, which does not include taxes or fees, to reach the intended lease payment.

2

Go to the Edmunds website to view vehicle invoice pricing. Invoice pricing is the dealer's cost for the car. Use the True Market Value, or TMV, tool and enter the model and options information for the car you want to lease. The MSRP, or manufacturer's suggested retail price, should match the one you saw in the lease advertisement.

3

Figure a reasonable discount for yourself. If you were going to buy the car, it is unlikely that you would pay thousands over invoice cost. Take the same approach with leasing. Figure any amount $700 to $1,200 over invoice as a fair amount to pay, as the dealer is entitled to some form of profit.

4

Print out the Edmunds' TMV results. Take the printout to the dealership to negotiate. You do not have to produce the information, but you can use it for backup if the dealership won't meet your payment offer.

5

Negotiate the price. For every $1,000 that you lease, you pay about $30 per month. If your invoice price research takes $2,000 off the MSRP, you should negotiate either a $60 per month payment reduction or less money down -- $2,000 in this scenario -- to keep the same payment.

6

Complete the lease agreement if the dealer accepts your payment offer. If not, email or call other same-make dealers in your area and make an offer. Because you made a fair offer after researching the prices, you should not settle for less. Be prepared to walk if a dealer won't accept your fair-price offer.