Ep.89- How to Find a Great Deal on a Car Lease
📸 IG handle: DollarSenseLA
TL;DR
Generally, I don’t recommend leasing a car, because it will always be cheaper to own if you keep a car for 5 years or more. However, I understand buying is not an option for everyone, nor it is what some people want. I fully support people put money behind what they truly want, as it will increase one’s happiness.
If you are indeed looking to lease a vehicle, Rodo should be your best friend for a week.
WHAT IS RODO?
Rodo (formerly known as Honcker) is an online aggregator for auto leases. Think about it as the Google Flights (or Expedia) of airline tickets, or the Hotels.com of the hotel rooms. In a nutshell, Rodo pulls a lot of the dealership deals together into one place and makes it easy for the customers. Moreover, you can basically lease a car without ever stepping outside of your house.
HOW SHOULD YOU USE RODO?
If you plan on leasing a car, you can lease directly within Rodo (either the website or the app). However, I personally think it’s better to use Rodo as a research tool on pricing, and then take the best price from Rodo to a dealership to see if they can beat it. If they can, then great for you. If they can’t, you can just lease within the Rodo.
HOW MUCH DOES LEASE COST ON A $50K BMW X3 ON RODO
In Ep.88, I talked about getting $8,000 off on a BMW X3 with an MSRP of $50,495. Let’s find a vehicle of similar price on Rodo to see how much it costs as a lease.
First I search by the key term “ BMW X3”, and then I narrow down my price range to $50k to $51k, so that I can get as close to the MSRP of $50,495 as possible. It turns out there are two cars available.
I am going to pick the cheaper one (the black one) at $507k/month and $3,884 down for a 36-month lease deal. Rodo’s numbers include all taxes and fees. The total cost is $22,136 for 3 years ($507 x 36 + $3,884).
Alternatively, you can choose to roll the costs due at signing into the monthly payment, which comes out to be $607/month. The total cost at the end of the 3-year lease is slightly cheaper at $21,852 ($607 x 36), by about $200. In this case, if you do lease through Rodo, you should pick the deal at $607/month.
TAKE THE DEAL TO A DEALERSHIP
After shopping around on Rodo, I recommend you pay a visit to the dealership that’s closest to you. You can simply tell them the offer you have from Rodo, to see how the dealership’s deal compares. The chances are the dealership may be able to find a way to beat it.
TAKEAWAYS
If you are in the market for a car lease, you should absolutely use Rodo to get a sense of what a good lease deal for your specific vehicle looks like. If you want an even better deal, instead of leasing through Rodo, you should try to have a local dealership beat it. The chances are, they probably will.