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Looking Ahead

I know it hasn’t been the easy for many of you trying to hunt down lease rates this month.  I too have been impacted since I was just about to begin shopping for my Sonata replacement. The good news is that a whole lot of you have stepped up to keep things alive, which is phenomenal. This may be the best way to keep things alive in my opinion. Going forward, I will do my best to establish a place to gather and share information, doing my best to provide you with the resources to make leasing an easier endeavor.

Starting this month, you will begin to see some of the changes that I plan to implement to further improve the site. Below are some of the things that you should expect in the coming months:

  1. Website redesign to accomodate the new structure.
  2. Crowd-sourced model will be refined (Kudos to Ron for the Google Forms suggestion). In future, I will have a more “home-brewed” system in place. In the meantime, Google Forms will do the job
  3. Based on the Aug-Sept poll results, lease rates will be streamlined, focusing key brands such as BMW, Audi, Acura, MBZ, Lexus, Infiniti, Honda and VW, with Volvo added whenever supplied. However we will not be limited to only those (see next bullet)
  4. There will be another list of rates for “one-off” models from all other makes (I decided this once I got a chance to see the Lincoln MKZ. I am really curious as to how much this ride goes for)
  5. Registration will be required to post questions, requests, interact with me and other members.
  6. Lease calculator will get a major overhaul and will be planned for mobile devices (this will take time and money to put together so please be patient)

There seems to be some “doomsday” reaction going around regarding this site being “shutdown”.  As you know, that isn’t the case. The truth is that my “source” decided that lease rates in exchange for referrals isn’t in their best interest anymore. No other source has stepped since offering to supply me with more numbers, so this is where we are.  Should the community choose not to grow from what we’ve built, then we all know what happens next.

As consumers, we will ultimately determine whether sites like this stick around. I have had three brokers supply numbers in the past and they all have stopped. That model was clearly not sustainable in the long haul. Our best chance is to get the numbers independently and share them with the community. We want their cars. We choose who we do business with. We don’t want to be cheated. Is that simple.

I will continue to contribute community to the best of my abilities. I genuinely hope everyone else does the same.

Thank you all for the many years of support. Let’s keep the wheels spinning.

G

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Bank Acquisition Fees. What to Expect.

Here is a partial list of bank acquisition fees. If you have leased with a brand or bank that’s not listed here, please share with the rest of us. Fees marked with a (*) are unconfirmed.

UPDATE (12/10/2012) – Had a very interesting conversation with the Honda finance guy the other day regarding bank acquisition fees. My original understanding of bank fees was that they served as two things: 1) loan processing 2) GAP coverage (for most banks). However, there is another little known reason why the amount is so high…apparently, the bank (which is a separate entity from the manufacturer) uses portions of that fee to pay for an multi-million dollar umbrella policy for their leased vehicles in case the lessee damages property or kills someone. As you know, we live in a very “sue-friend” country and when the plaintiff can’t get money from the defendant, we all know who they sue next.

Acura – $595
Audi – $695
BMW – $725
Buick – $795
Chevrolet – $795
Ford– $595
Honda – $595
Hyundai – $595
Infiniti $595 $700
Jeep $795 (Ally)
Kia $595
Lexus – $695
Lincoln– $595
Mazda – $595 (Chase)
Mercedes-Benz – $795
Nissan – $595
Porsche – $895
Range Rover – $795
Subaru – $595
Toyota – $650
Volkswagen – $595
Volvo – $695

Special thanks to everyone who has contributed to this list!

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