Lease Check! 2021 Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo Sedan

Evolved

My girlfriend is looking to lease a 2021 Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo Sedan. We went to test drive it today and had zero plans to negotiate until after I did my research. Needless to say, the guy obviously tried to haggle us to make a deal and threw numbers at us.

She currently has a 2019 Civic Hatchback with a payoff around $19,740 and Carvana is willing to take it from her lease and pay us $1,200 on top. With that said, below is the what the Mazda guy handed us which has a tiny $250 in credit for her Civic (Carvana was $1,200), and a ridiculously high $404/month payment (mind you with taking her Civic with only $250 in credit, and her putting down $2,000 as well). Before walking out he dropped to $359/month. Picture below of his write-up (no clue why he put in $299 "Aftermarkets" and could someone please explain what "Cap Fees" are? And is "Cap Tax" just the normal tax on the car for the duration of the lease or some other weird thing?):



After leaving the dealer and actually doing my own research…my calculations and what i'm shooting for are zero down and $348/month. I do not think this is too aggressive as this is only 7% off MSRP (TrueCar shows in my area for this car the average is 6.3% off), and keep in mind the original calculations where at full MSRP because I was not planning on making a deal that day), also upping the Civic to $1,200 value which I just took off the MSRP on top of the 7%, and removing the unnecessary charges.

For reference of what some of the major companies are wiling to pay for her Civic:
Carvana: $20,935 (I put it was a lease and the amount so this is the most legit)
Vroom: $22,406 (could not input it was on a lease, not sure if they would offer less)
Carmax: $23,800 (could not input it was on a lease, not sure if they would offer less)

Do you guys think I should shoot for better, if so at what angle? Or do you think this is a good deal if I can get close to this? Here is a link to a lease calculator that i tired to fill out as best as possible (I think I filled it out correctly): My Lease Calculator Estimate

Lastly I heard the weeks for Memorial Day that dealers/companies just take away all the good deals/incentives, and then just bring them back during Memorial Day to make it seem like it’s a bigger deal than usual. Can anyone confirm, and would it be wise for us to hold off until Memorial Day week to see if there are any incentives? Appreciate everyones input and help, thank you all in advance!

Evolved

Link to my lease calculator estimate since the hyperlink seems to not work in the original post (copy & paste, don't know why it's not linking):

leasehackr.com/calculator?make=Mazda&miles=10000&msd=0&msrp=31440&sales_price=28039&months=36&mf=.00008&dp=0&dealer_fee=699&acq_fee=650&taxed_inc=0&untaxed_inc=0&rebate=0&resP=58&reg_fee=144&sales_tax=6.625&demo_mileage=0&memo=&zero_driveoff=true&totalLeaseTax_radio=true&bmw_demo_25=true

Michaell

Evolved said:

My girlfriend is looking to lease a 2021 Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo Sedan. We went to test drive it today and had zero plans to negotiate until after I did my research. Needless to say, the guy obviously tried to haggle us to make a deal and threw numbers at us.

She currently has a 2019 Civic Hatchback with a payoff around $19,740 and Carvana is willing to take it from her lease and pay us $1,200 on top. With that said, below is the what the Mazda guy handed us which has a tiny $250 in credit for her Civic (Carvana was $1,200), and a ridiculously high $404/month payment (mind you with taking her Civic with only $250 in credit, and her putting down $2,000 as well). Before walking out he dropped to $359/month. Picture below of his write-up (no clue why he put in $299 "Aftermarkets" and could someone please explain what "Cap Fees" are? And is "Cap Tax" just the normal tax on the car for the duration of the lease or some other weird thing?):



After leaving the dealer and actually doing my own research…my calculations and what i'm shooting for are zero down and $348/month. I do not think this is too aggressive as this is only 7% off MSRP (TrueCar shows in my area for this car the average is 6.3% off), and keep in mind the original calculations where at full MSRP because I was not planning on making a deal that day), also upping the Civic to $1,200 value which I just took off the MSRP on top of the 7%, and removing the unnecessary charges.

For reference of what some of the major companies are wiling to pay for her Civic:
Carvana: $20,935 (I put it was a lease and the amount so this is the most legit)
Vroom: $22,406 (could not input it was on a lease, not sure if they would offer less)
Carmax: $23,800 (could not input it was on a lease, not sure if they would offer less)

Do you guys think I should shoot for better, if so at what angle? Or do you think this is a good deal if I can get close to this? Here is a link to a lease calculator that i tired to fill out as best as possible (I think I filled it out correctly): My Lease Calculator Estimate

Lastly I heard the weeks for Memorial Day that dealers/companies just take away all the good deals/incentives, and then just bring them back during Memorial Day to make it seem like it’s a bigger deal than usual. Can anyone confirm, and would it be wise for us to hold off until Memorial Day week to see if there are any incentives? Appreciate everyones input and help, thank you all in advance!

The math on that worksheet is correct.

Show the dealers the offers from the other places; they may bump up their trade offer on the Civic (I did this once and got the dealer to come up $2000 on the trade value).

Not sure that the websites showing discounts are accurate, given how short the inventory is at the moment.

What is your location?

Evolved

Michaell said:

The math on that worksheet is correct.

Show the dealers the offers from the other places; they may bump up their trade offer on the Civic (I did this once and got the dealer to come up $2000 on the trade value).

Not sure that the websites showing discounts are accurate, given how short the inventory is at the moment.

What is your location?

NJ. Thanks and yea this was just the first place...you can tell the guy really wanted to get us to sign that day when I already had it in my head NOPE, gotta go research, not doing this blind.

When you say the sheet is correct are you referring to the dealer worksheet? And is my calculated lease number a feasible option with how I laid it out? I want to go in knowing my number, but at the same time don't want to have unreasonable expectations. As mentioned I only took 7% off the MSRP and then discounted the $1,200 for her Civic. Came out to about $248/month with everything rolled in (zero down). Would appreciate your input on that deal if I should shoot for that. Thank you

Michaell

Evolved said:

Michaell said:

The math on that worksheet is correct.

Show the dealers the offers from the other places; they may bump up their trade offer on the Civic (I did this once and got the dealer to come up $2000 on the trade value).

Not sure that the websites showing discounts are accurate, given how short the inventory is at the moment.

What is your location?

NJ. Thanks and yea this was just the first place...you can tell the guy really wanted to get us to sign that day when I already had it in my head NOPE, gotta go research, not doing this blind.

When you say the sheet is correct are you referring to the dealer worksheet? And is my calculated lease number a feasible option with how I laid it out? I want to go in knowing my number, but at the same time don't want to have unreasonable expectations. As mentioned I only took 7% off the MSRP and then discounted the $1,200 for her Civic. Came out to about $248/month with everything rolled in (zero down). Would appreciate your input on that deal if I should shoot for that. Thank you

The math on the dealer worksheet is correct.

Always a good idea to shop multiple dealers.

We don't track pricing, so can't tell you what's possible, price-wise.
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