How to Negotiate a New Car Lease

If you are interested in leasing a new car instead of buying or financing a new car, you can negotiate in the same manner as you would when buying a car. Leasing a car does involve some items that you do not encounter when financing or buying a vehicle. You must know the lease terms and the number of miles that you want included as part of the lease. Lease terms usually range from 24 months to 48 months. The miles allotted per year usually range from 10,000 to 15,000.

Instructions

1

Use the True Car website (see Resources) to view the car pricing report for the car you want to lease. This lets you know what the dealer paid for the vehicle, as well as recent prices paid by consumers in your local area, which gives you a price point to aim for.

2

Go to the local car dealer where you want to lease the car a few different times. By not closing the deal the first time you visit, you can make the salesperson anxious to close the sale with you. You will want to get a price from the dealer on leasing the car for the specific term you want, such as 36 months, and the number of miles you plan on driving a year, such as 12,000.

3

Visit other local dealers in the area to comparison shop. This way, if one dealer has a better price, you can use that against the other dealer to negotiate down to an even lower price. In fact, one dealer may be offering customer cash that another is not, which means you can try to get that same incentive at the original dealer. You can even check prices at other dealers in the state by using the Internet. For instance, you can go to Ford.com and look for dealers anywhere in your state.

4

Tell the salesperson at the dealership where you want to lease that you have some concerns regarding the vehicle you are looking at versus a similar vehicle from another brand. For instance, if you want to lease a Honda Accord, you could voice concerns about comfort, gas mileage or anything else compared to the Toyota Camry. This makes the dealer think you may move to another brand and dealer for the sale.