Leasing in GA (continuation from other thread)

[blackbeasst]

In Georgia the 'sales tax' is nothing. But we have a Motor Vehicle tax that is (this year) 6.75% of the price of the car before discounts.

I paid a total of $599 in fees to purchase my car two weeks ago. That seems pretty standard in Georgia. Obviously there will be a lease origination fee on top of that.

supreme, what are your thoughts on the numbers of my deal?

 

[ElSupreme]

In Georgia the 'sales tax' is nothing. But we have a Motor Vehicle tax that is (this year) 6.75% of the price of the car before discounts.

I paid a total of $599 in fees to purchase my car two weeks ago. That seems pretty standard in Georgia. Obviously there will be a lease origination fee on top of that.

supreme, what are your thoughts on the numbers of my deal?

It looks fairly straight forward. I wonder what the $650 'acquisition fee' is about. Did you have a FFE transfered to your dealer to purchase? Or is this something to do with leasing?

As far as I could find out getting a "deal" on the FFE in GA seems to be difficult. $1000 off sticker is all I was able to do as well.

 

[blackbeasst]

In Georgia the 'sales tax' is nothing. But we have a Motor Vehicle tax that is (this year) 6.75% of the price of the car before discounts.

I paid a total of $599 in fees to purchase my car two weeks ago. That seems pretty standard in Georgia. Obviously there will be a lease origination fee on top of that.

supreme, what are your thoughts on the numbers of my deal?

It looks fairly straight forward. I wonder what the $650 'acquisition fee' is about. Did you have a FFE transfered to your dealer to purchase? Or is this something to do with leasing?

As far as I could find out getting a "deal" on the FFE in GA seems to be difficult. $1000 off sticker is all I was able to do as well.

nope. just one sitting there already. guess the $650 is something with the lease.

 

[bradht]

I'm new here, just leased my FFE last week and wanted to share my deal.

My FFE has leather, and I'm paying $340/mo for 36 months, with zero down. It came from Sandy Springs Ford.

If I got ripped off, please lie and tell me I got a good deal instead. Just thought I'd share this to help others!

 

[longschlng22]

The dealer is only offering $1k off of MSRP? You should try to get around invoice if possible. Even going through truecar.com you can get about $200 above invoice around Decatur. Try going that route and tell the dealer you want the same sale price, but for a lease instead of a full on sale.

 

[blackbeasst]

The dealer is only offering $1k off of MSRP? You should try to get around invoice if possible. Even going through truecar.com you can get about $200 above invoice around Decatur. Try going that route and tell the dealer you want the same sale price, but for a lease instead of a full on sale.

i've never understood truecar.com. how is is picking up a different number than the actual website?

for example:

hennessy ford has one on their website with an msrp of 37,585 yet truecar.com has the price as 28,198 with "a savings off msrp" of 7,797. that doesn't equal 37,585.

it also says on truecar that "Price estimate excludes tax, title, license, and other fees where allowed by law. Estimate with $599 Document Fee is $28,797." if thats the case my current deal is already at 25,990 before all that stuff.

 

[Kakkerlak]

If it were me, I would insist that the dealer itemize and explain every fee on the lease form. Those forms are intentionally designed to be confusing and to hide extra fees from you.

The only things that are non-negotiable are the tax rate and the license fees, because those are set by the State.

Dealers don't like to negotiate the Destination Fee (shipment from the factory to them) or the Documentation Fee (to cover their paperwork costs for handling the car) or the Acquisition Fee (to cover the paperwork costs for financing). That doesn't mean they are non-negotiable, just that they are harder to negotiate.

Two things stick out as being worrisome in your description.

1. "The mileage only matters if you don't buy it or trade it in" is a very suspicious statement.

I'm not sure I even believe the first part, though it makes a little more sense. Since you have already agreed on the residual value you're willing to pay, you can pay that price for the car at the end of the lease and it's no loss to the dealership. The fact that there is more wear on the car than you agreed to is your problem, because they are getting the money value of a car with X miles, and you're gettying a car with X+Y miles on it.

But if you trade it in, they need to sell it. And it's worth measurably less the more miles are on it. So I find this statement overall to be 51% ********, and 100% ******** if they won't put it in writing.

2. "We won't negotiate on the MSRP because we can sell it above sticker to another dealership".

That's an ordinary negotiation tactic, just like "these cars are in high demand and I can sell it tomorrow at full price to the next customer". It's just not true. It's a bluff, and is an ordinary part of the negotiation game.

 

[hybridbear]

2. "We won't negotiate on the MSRP because we can sell it above sticker to another dealership".

That's an ordinary negotiation tactic, just like "these cars are in high demand and I can sell it tomorrow at full price to the next customer". It's just not true. It's a bluff, and is an ordinary part of the negotiation game.

Sometimes it's true though. We had a dealer tell us something similar when we were first shopping for our Fusion Hybrid in September 2012. We had X-Plan pricing so we could buy the car for near invoice price with no negotiating. The dealer really low-balled the trade-in offer since they were losing some of their margin to X-Plan pricing. When we balked at their trade offer and said that we'd sell our car privately then we left. We had already put down a deposit on the FFH. We agreed in the coming days that they would give us until the end of the month (about 1 week later) to sell our car privately and if we hadn't by then, then we would buy the car from them and either trade our car in or keep both cars in the interim. Then the very next day I get a call telling me that they had sold the car to someone else for a multi-thousand dollar premium over MSRP and that they would be happy to sell me a gas Fusion. I reported their unethical business practices to Ford, the MN Attorney General & the BBB. Eventually I got a call from the dealership manager apologizing for what they had done. But I will never return to that dealership chain and I share my story with everyone and tell them to stay away from any of the Morrie's dealerships because they're unethical scam artists.

When my parents were buying their Energi in April 2013 most of the dealers around here wanted about $3500 above MSRP because they would use the Fed tax credit to try to deceive customers into thinking that they were getting a good deal when the price they were being quoted was the effective price after the tax credit, not the price you had to pay the dealer. My parents had that experience at 3 different dealerships. Eventually they special ordered their C-Max from the dealer where we bought our first FFH and got it for invoice price without needing to negotiate anything.

 

[Kakkerlak]

You've got some good stories, hybridbear !

I wonder if the dealership really did sell it at sticker price, or if they just sold it out from under you for a couple hundred bucks.

 

[hybridbear]

You've got some good stories, hybridbear !

I wonder if the dealership really did sell it at sticker price, or if they just sold it out from under you for a couple hundred bucks.

I am thinking that they just might have. We had been looking at that FFH since it was inbound to the dealer from the factory and had put the deposit down to hold it before it arrived at the dealer because we wanted to make sure that we'd get a chance to test drive & buy it first. The dealer could have sold the car to us the day we test drove it if they had given us a decent offer for our 2006 Honda Accord Hybrid. They originally offered $9,000. When I told them how insulted I was by that they offered $10,000. We ended up trading it in to the dealer who sold us our black FFH at invoice price for $11,500. The trade in for $11,500 happened over two months later when our special order vehicle arrived. That's how badly they were trying to rip us off.

Between the day that we placed the deposit to hold it and when the car arrived and we test drove it the salesman told me that they had multiple ppl calling to ask about the car. And he said that they had ppl see it on their website and show up at the dealer to test drive it only to get angry when they couldn't because we had put down the deposit and were going to buy it. We even saw some of that while we were there. While we were at the dealer after test driving the car we witnessed two other couples walk in and want to drive it only to be told "no". In fact, they were both in the parking lot fighting about which couple had arrived first and would get to buy the car because they both claimed that they had arrived seconds before the other couple and thus had the right to buy that car. Then dealership staff had to tell them that someone else had already put down a deposit on the car.

They had the car listed on their website for $1000 above MSRP after the Ford $500 incentive and that's probably what they got for it. They're a "no haggle" dealership who, in my experience and in the experience of friends & family who have shopped that chain of dealers, will never budge on price.

 

[blackbeasst]

If it were me, I would insist that the dealer itemize and explain every fee on the lease form. Those forms are intentionally designed to be confusing and to hide extra fees from you.

The only things that are non-negotiable are the tax rate and the license fees, because those are set by the State.

Dealers don't like to negotiate the Destination Fee (shipment from the factory to them) or the Documentation Fee (to cover their paperwork costs for handling the car) or the Acquisition Fee (to cover the paperwork costs for financing). That doesn't mean they are non-negotiable, just that they are harder to negotiate.

Two things stick out as being worrisome in your description.

1. "The mileage only matters if you don't buy it or trade it in" is a very suspicious statement.

I'm not sure I even believe the first part, though it makes a little more sense. Since you have already agreed on the residual value you're willing to pay, you can pay that price for the car at the end of the lease and it's no loss to the dealership. The fact that there is more wear on the car than you agreed to is your problem, because they are getting the money value of a car with X miles, and you're gettying a car with X+Y miles on it.

But if you trade it in, they need to sell it. And it's worth measurably less the more miles are on it. So I find this statement overall to be 51% ********, and 100% ******** if they won't put it in writing.

2. "We won't negotiate on the MSRP because we can sell it above sticker to another dealership".

That's an ordinary negotiation tactic, just like "these cars are in high demand and I can sell it tomorrow at full price to the next customer". It's just not true. It's a bluff, and is an ordinary part of the negotiation game.

fees are broken down as such just in case you missed it earlier in the thread:

$2154.28 is tax and first payment.

$1346 is $599 doc fee, $99 registration fee, $3 GA lemon law fee, $645 acquisition fee

response to #1: yeah that is for sure something i will get in clear cut writing. it does seem kinda shady that if i rack up 100k miles in 3 years when i go to trade it in i already have a value in hand and they are stuck with trying to resell a 3yr old car with 100k on the clock!

response to #2: more power to them if they can sell it. besides this one i have 7 others to choose from within driving distance that im sure are willing to meet or beat this price

i'll just have to see how bad they want to sell it. im in no hurry to lease so i'm hanging low and letting them come to me.

 

[jmueller065]

Wow! These dealership stories are frightening!

We've been using the same dealership for something like 15 years now. My original salesman that I dealt with has since retired and we're now dealing with a new one. We just call the sales person, discuss some numbers, and if I say "yes" we usually pick up the car the next day (except the FFE of course). It helps to have close family working for Ford.

 

[ElSupreme]

The dealer is only offering $1k off of MSRP? You should try to get around invoice if possible. Even going through truecar.com you can get about $200 above invoice around Decatur. Try going that route and tell the dealer you want the same sale price, but for a lease instead of a full on sale.

The problem with that is none of the TrueCar hits in the N Georgia area actually have an FFE. And if you actually follow up with them they say they will order you one, but they can't promise the $6k Ford rebate. Which makes it a lost cause.

They claim they will sell you a car at that price, but in reality I don't think it would actually work out. I tried it a month ago, and it didn't look like I was going to make it very far going that route. I could have been mistaken, but doubt it.

And you would have to wait months for a car that way as well.

 

[blackbeasst]

well the only one in town i let slide. next closest is about an hour away and they aren't wanting to give too much info via email either.

 

[jachady]

The frightening thing is the fact that dealerships out there are charging $599 for their doc fee. Ours is $129 because that's close to legitimately what it costs us to manage the items in the state requirement and we dont' charge one on a lease. The higher doc fee allows them to advertise "under invoice" but they make it up on the fee. I've seen some as high as $895.

The other thing is they are charging you full list on the lease. All other numbers look good / or are as required by Ford and the state.

 

[michael]

I see maybe a hundred FFE's in stock in the Los Angeles area alone acording to the Ford website. Why don't you guys see what it would cost to ship a car from here, might be the way to go?

 

[blackbeasst]

2 more back in stock at my local. i think i might pull the trigger this weekend as i got a killer offer on my 09 jetta from a private party.

my other option im considering is to try and do a swapalease on a 13 leaf for the next 9 months at $225/month. beats $340, but in 9 months if there isn't another electric to swap, im without a car.

 

[michael]

Check the details on your possibility of assuming a lease. They are usually not a good idea. If there is a transfer fee (typically $500 but don't know about Leaf lease) then it effectively adds $50 to your monthly. Also, if there is any GA rebate, you don't get to take advantage of it.

Most cases, new leases are the way to go.

 

[blackbeasst]

Check the details on your possibility of assuming a lease. They are usually not a good idea. If there is a transfer fee (typically $500 but don't know about Leaf lease) then it effectively adds $50 to your monthly. Also, if there is any GA rebate, you don't get to take advantage of it.

Most cases, new leases are the way to go.

no matter as he sent me a message saying he had an offer he couldn't refuse as far as an incentive a potential leasee was going to pay him. so im back on looking at getting something done before the end of the month.

 

[hybridbear]

Check the details on your possibility of assuming a lease. They are usually not a good idea. If there is a transfer fee (typically $500 but don't know about Leaf lease) then it effectively adds $50 to your monthly. Also, if there is any GA rebate, you don't get to take advantage of it.

Most cases, new leases are the way to go.

Depends on the situation. This is how we're getting our Focus Electric. Our total out-of-pocket costs to begin the lease are just sales tax & registration with MN and the monthly payment is much lower than anything we could get locally. I tried contacting more than 10 out-of-state dealers with FFEs in stock to ask if they would do something comparable and they all said no.