Ok forum people, we know now that the US Bank lease offer will continue unchanged through 2/28/11. This comes from a regional GM mgr and other sources. So, still one bank, .00025 MF, $2000 GM rebate, and .44 residual using 36 months/12k figures. They believe as stated before that the offer will be extended through the rest of 2011. Still $350 a month before TTL and options.

This is great news for those who are wanting/needing a lease on the Volt. Atleast, most of us who want/need a Volt lease. Personally, we choose a dealership who later turns out will not be honoring the national lease or any lease deal on the Volt. So, there should be a disclaimer on the national lease such as:

*National lease subject to Dealership agreeing to US Bank terms, fees, and conditions. Dealerships are allowed to order Volts are not required to honor US Bank terms, fees, and conditions.

Our specific dealership- Hewlett Chevy-Buick in Georgetown,TX will not honor the national lease. I suspect given the US Bank terms, there are many other dealerships that will put customers in the same boat of having to choose a purchase or no car.

We are in the process of deciding what to do at this point. We might be able to swing a purchase (possible, but unlikely), but looking like we will be forced to give up #724 and start all over again waiting months. So let this news serve as GREAT news for most and a warning for all to confirm your dealer is good to go with US Bank lease terms.

Paul (Cari's husband)

Paul, how about you or Cari make a comment on the main thread today. It's not too far OT, since Henry gave lease details in his post. There are some who only read the main thread (I used to), or hardly ever come to the forum. Some of them have been bemoaning the loss of the lease deal. You could actually just copy and paste. Thanks.

Done, assuming I just cut/paste under today's thread on the homepage.

This is GREAT news. Barring my dealer be able to get the lease and not pulling any shenanigans during my final lease details I will be a proud volt owner this month. Sorry to hear about them not honoring the lease. What lease offer are they giving you? What are the details?

This is GREAT news. Barring my dealer be able to get the lease and not pulling any shenanigans during my final lease details I will be a proud volt owner this month. Sorry to hear about them not honoring the lease. What lease offer are they giving you? What are the details?

No lease offer period. Ally is the main bank they use and I would think we could get better terms through our CU or bank if we were to entertain buying.

Cari,
I sent you a message.....check your inbox...

Stilgar

If they don't offer the lease we will not be purchasing the Volt. I have been leasing for years. I hate getting cars fixed and love driving a new cars.

Matt

If they don't offer the lease we will not be purchasing the Volt. I have been leasing for years. I hate getting cars fixed and love driving a new cars.

Matt

Offering the national lease is totally up to the dealership if they work with US Bank. They either do or not. We now have a deposit with another dealership and will be a month or more out. We will offer more details soon, but we are releasing #724 as we have no choice. No lease, no deal.

I would like to step in here to say that this is shameful and reprehensible behavior on the part of this dealer, Hewlett Chevy-Buick in Georgetown, TX.

In this forum a couple months ago, Cari responded to late Volt seekers about the availability of cars at the dealer she was doing business with. She was so eager to drive business to this dealer that I honestly thought (at first) that she was a shill for them. I understand that three customers ended up with that dealer as a result of her direction here.

Now as her car arrives in Texas, the dealer has made known that it won't offer the lease option, because they can't justify the US Bank fees on limited business. You know what? We're probably talking fees on the order of a couple hundred dollars, and at this point I think they should eat it. Pay the fees, offer the lease, and treat your best damn customer right.

My dealer was in the same situation, sucked it up and did a lease deal with me.

They probably have MSRP+premium customers waiting, wanted to bail out of an MSRP deal, and are using the lease deal as an excuse. I have been one of the few people on this forum who has been defending the right of dealers to sell at MSRP+premium if they want (find a buyer? two happy parties!), but a deal is a deal once it has been struck. Shame on you, Hewlett Chevy-Buick in Georgetown, TX.

(and I'll be happy to be corrected on facts by a Hewlett rep, if they would like to chime in here)

I would like to step in here to say that this is shameful and reprehensible behavior on the part of this dealer, Hewlett Chevy-Buick in Georgetown, TX.

In this forum a couple months ago, Cari responded to late Volt seekers about the availability of cars at the dealer she was doing business with. She was so eager to drive business to this dealer that I honestly thought (at first) that she was a shill for them. I understand that three customers ended up with that dealer as a result of her direction here.

Now as her car arrives in Texas, the dealer has made known that it won't offer the lease option, because they can't justify the US Bank fees on limited business. You know what? We're probably talking fees on the order of a couple hundred dollars, and at this point I think they should eat it. Pay the fees, offer the lease, and treat your best damn customer right.

My dealer was in the same situation, sucked it up and did a lease deal with me.

They probably have MSRP+premium customers waiting, wanted to bail out of an MSRP deal, and are using the lease deal as an excuse. I have been one of the few people on this forum who has been defending the right of dealers to sell at MSRP+premium if they want (find a buyer? two happy parties!), but a deal is a deal once it has been struck. Shame on you, Hewlett Chevy-Buick in Georgetown, TX.

(and I'll be happy to be corrected on facts by a Hewlett rep, if they would like to chime in here)

Thank you for chiming in ChrisC. I wish I could say Cari was a shill, atleast we would get something for our efforts :) Bottom line, the 3 people who ordered because of how we were treated until last Friday all will get their cars before we do. We have now been forced to drop #724 after following it since early Dec. This evening, we put down a deposit on another dealer allocation at an Austin dealer that will be selling it at msrp. They have done 2 US Bank Volt leases already. Most likely looking at another 4-8 weeks, but that is just the way it goes.

The right thing in our minds would have been to do a dealership trade. Sure Hewlett would have not made money on the car then, but they wouldn't have been out hardly anything and would have looked better in our eyes. They have informed us no lease, no trade, and we are parting ways at this point. I am sure they have a list of people waiting. As upset as we are about this, it would have been WAY more upsetting if we had ordered exactly what we wanted from the start. Since it was a dealer ordered car, we can get unattached a little easier.

As for the US Bank requirements, they want a $1000 a month plus $250 per lease if min. number of leases are not done. This might not be 100% correct, but it is close. They also require alot of paperwork to get setup. Regardless, we still feel a dealership should not be able to order without honoring the national lease.

Paul (Cari's husband)

Need some help. Can anyone confirm these numbers 00025 MF, $2000 GM rebate, and .44 residual using 36 months/12k figures. My dealer told me that the residual was .43 on my lease. Also, I was told that i have to pay tax on the full purchase price (thanks Texas!) of the car (loaded $44695) and that i could not trade against the sales tax. I heard that some banks have tax credits that they can offer you as well (I guess this is something they get when the car comes back or can sell to the dealer?)

Any advice would help as this is my first Lease. Thanks!

#685 Texas

The residual WAS 0.44 for a 12k miles/yr lease. The 0.43 was for the 15k miles/yr lease. Based on what people have said this hasn't changed but no written proof has been shown that I have seen (I have absolutely no reason to doubt anyone and more than one person has confirmed the numbers). Are you leasing 15k or 12k miles/yr?

I leased at 15K miles, 0.43 residual. 0.18 per mile over 45K at lease end. It's much cheaper to buy the miles now than later. Based on previous data I typically drive just about 15K/year.

The residual WAS 0.44 for a 12k miles/yr lease. The 0.43 was for the 15k miles/yr lease. Based on what people have said this hasn't changed but no written proof has been shown that I have seen (I have absolutely no reason to doubt anyone and more than one person has confirmed the numbers). Are you leasing 15k or 12k miles/yr?

Ah, the mileage is the difference. He must have quoted me the 15k mile lease rate. I am mainly upset about NOT getting:

Tax deduction for State Sales Tax
Credit for my trade in Sales Tax (almost $2k)

Paying 6.25% tax on $44695 ($2793.4375) is not what I had anticipated and makes me question the value in Leasing the Volt in Texas.

When you say its cheaper to buy the miles now than later are you talking about going to the .43 residual for 15k? What about going over 15K? Can you get a deal on miles over the 15000 miles per year if you pre-pay or is it a set 18 cents per mile over? I know Ill be driving between 18-20K a year and would love to knock off some money from that 18 cents per mile

I don't believe you can go over 15k. I also think the lease is set at 36 months because personally I would love a 27-30 month lease.

When you say its cheaper to buy the miles now than later are you talking about going to the .43 residual for 15k?

Yes, exactly. A residual point is 1% of the purchase price, roughly $420. That buys you 9,000 miles over the lease term which works out to about 4.67 cents per mile. At 0.6% effective interest the time value of the money is a non-issue.


What about going over 15K? Can you get a deal on miles over the 15000 miles per year if you pre-pay or is it a set 18 cents per mile over? I know Ill be driving between 18-20K a year and would love to knock off some money from that 18 cents per mile

Over 15K per year I think you're stuck with the 18 cents per mile unless you can negotiate something ahead of time, good luck with that.

At 18K to 20K miles per year you might be better off with a purchase instead of a lease, or rent a car for long trips, or put $30 or $40 per month into savings for the $900 hit (plus $395 disposal fee) at the end of the lease.

Need some help. Can anyone confirm these numbers 00025 MF, $2000 GM rebate, and .44 residual using 36 months/12k figures. My dealer told me that the residual was .43 on my lease. Also, I was told that i have to pay tax on the full purchase price (thanks Texas!) of the car (loaded $44695) and that i could not trade against the sales tax. I heard that some banks have tax credits that they can offer you as well (I guess this is something they get when the car comes back or can sell to the dealer?)

Any advice would help as this is my first Lease. Thanks!

#685 Texas

The numbers on the lease are correct assuming .44 36/mo 12k yr miles or .43 36/mo 15k miles per year. It is true that we in TX get to pay taxes on the full amount at almost $1800 more than most. Can't trade against sales tax because you are not buying the car. Some dealers might have tax credits issued by the auto maker as we had them on Acura and Infiniti leases in the past, but wouldn't expect that from GM. Still worth it for a lease if you are doing 15k or less a year and want/need lower payments. Your payment should be about 485 with about 3500 down +/- 200 on the out the door amount for 12k mile lease. Use the previously posted cal. to get the numbers exact. If you can handle the higher payments, put down as little as possible given the .00025 mf

Paul (Cari's husband)

The numbers on the lease are correct assuming .44 36/mo 12k yr miles or .43 36/mo 15k miles per year. It is true that we in TX get to pay taxes on the full amount at almost $1800 more than most. Can't trade against sales tax because you are not buying the car. Some dealers might have tax credits issued by the auto maker as we had them on Acura and Infiniti leases in the past, but wouldn't expect that from GM. Still worth it for a lease if you are doing 15k or less a year and want/need lower payments. Your payment should be about 485 with about 3500 down +/- 200 on the out the door amount for 12k mile lease. Use the previously posted cal. to get the numbers exact. If you can handle the higher payments, put down as little as possible given the .00025 mf

Thansk for the information Cari! You can't deduct State sales tax on your Federal tax either...

Here is a new input for those Volt buyers planning to lease their car from US Bank. My nephew manages a dealership and has told me to avoid using US bank for a lease. He said that US bank is extremly fussy about the condition of the car when you are turning it in at the expiration of your lease. They charge for repair of even the smallest parking lot dent etc. Just be aware folks. I will buy the car so this warning doesn't affect us.

Here is a new input for those Volt buyers planning to lease their car from US Bank. My nephew manages a dealership and has told me to avoid using US bank for a lease. He said that US bank is extremly fussy about the condition of the car when you are turning it in at the expiration of your lease. They charge for repair of even the smallest parking lot dent etc. Just be aware folks. I will buy the car so this warning doesn't affect us.

Great warning and is needed, however not really much one can do about it at the start as you are unlikely to get the $2000 GM help or .00025 mf from any other leasing company. You will pay one way or another. It isn't like most people like how the $7500 part is handled by US Bank and I don't think US Bank is going to get people saying a lot of positive things about the company as hole. Picky at the lease end will hopefully not be a big deal, but regardless of that, any lease that requires a fee at the lease turn in period already sucks in the eyes of the public.

Paul (Cari's husband)

I would like to state for the record exactly what US Bank charges dealerships.
1. A one time application fee of $100 when the dealership signs up to do business
2. $9.79 per month , reserve account fee.
Period thats it. NO per deal charge to the dealer , no minimum number of deals or else .

So Paul , sorry to say your estimate is not even close.

As for the paperwork. It consists of a 16 page document that will take you all of 15 minutes to sign your name a few times and fill in a couple of blanks . All standard stuff. Oh yes , the dealer may want to have a couple of forms programed if they choose , however , US Bank will accept hand written contract if the dealer is not able to afford the programing costs. {perhaps a couple of hundred $$}

Sad to say that some dealerships would rather not spend $100 up front and $117.48 per year to offer the best option for its customers.
These are the same dealerships who will charge you a "doc" fee of $300 for doing the "paperwork" . Tell me thats not a joke!!

Oh , one other thing. A dealership has to be on sound financial ground or US Bank will not enter into a relationship with them. Hmmmm :) Where would you want to do business ???

I would like to state for the record exactly what US Bank charges dealerships.
1. A one time application fee of $100 when the dealership signs up to do business
2. $9.79 per month , reserve account fee.
Period thats it. NO per deal charge to the dealer , no minimum number of deals or else .

So Paul , sorry to say your estimate is not even close.

As for the paperwork. It consists of a 16 page document that will take you all of 15 minutes to sign your name a few times and fill in a couple of blanks . All standard stuff. Oh yes , the dealer may want to have a couple of forms programed if they choose , however , US Bank will accept hand written contract if the dealer is not able to afford the programing costs. {perhaps a couple of hundred $$}

Sad to say that some dealerships would rather not spend $100 up front and $117.48 per year to offer the best option for its customers.
These are the same dealerships who will charge you a "doc" fee of $300 for doing the "paperwork" . Tell me thats not a joke!!

Oh , one other thing. A dealership has to be on sound financial ground or US Bank will not enter into a relationship with them. Hmmmm :) Where would you want to do business ???

While I have no proof regarding the facts, I find it hard to believe that a very large dealer such as the one I was dealing with would refuse to work with US Bank if it was just a couple of hundred dollars. The figures I listed were not my estimate, but a direct quote from the finance mgr at the dealership. I can tell you that I heard there is a volume min from several dealers as well as our GM regional rep didn't dispute this either. This isn't a small delership and they have a great reputation overall from what my research shows. While the dealership will have no trouble selling Volts for the near future, not honoring the national lease deal is not a good way to do business, so it has to be more than what you state as "facts". So, unless you can provide something as proof, it is simply going to stay as "what we hear and believe" status. Maybe it isn't money, but more of a principle thing. The dealership stated no other lender charges them to do business with them. I wouldn't put it past me to tell US Bank to piss off if I were them and that were true. However, I would feel obligated to do what it takes to honor GM's offered national lease if I were ordering Volt allocations.

Bottom line, it doesn't really matter the reason. If you need/want to lease, US Bank is the best deal and one must make sure the dealership they use is signed up with US Bank. Period.

Paul (Cari's husband)

Good afternoon Paul,
I am a Regional Account Manager with US Bank's indirect lending division. What I state as "facts" are exactly that.
Trust me when I tell you I have heard it all. And for the record every lender charges a dealer for doing business. If not up front then they charge them through higher rates , limited programs , lower residuals , higher fees per contract , lower flats , etc etc.

I spent over 15 years in the automotive business and very often I have witnessed short sighted behavior.
Here is a question for you. If I told you that for a cost of around $200 per year you could have a profit opportunity of up to 3 % on subvented and 6% on standard {of the adjusted cap cost} of any vehicle your dealership leased, would you pass on the deal on "principle" ?

You sound like you have access to the program guidlines or know people who do . Dont take my word for it , take a look.

Botton line : As you state , in order to offer your customer base the most attractive rates and terms US Bank is a must have source.

US Bank is one of the top performing banks in the country and continues to offer premium programs to qualified customers.

Have a great weekend :)

I am a Regional Account Manager with US Bank's indirect lending division.
Hi Merc, nice to have you providing what seems to be some good information.

Done, assuming I just cut/paste under today's thread on the homepage.

How's that? It's great!

Merc1Skymaster, how long will us bank continue the current advertised lease at the approximate $350/month?

After reading some of the bad experiences here, I was concerned my Volt would arrive and the lease terms would not be what I was expecting. So I confirmed with the finance manager at my dealer they are signed up with US Bank and do $millions of leases with them every quarter. :) However she said she had not yet done a Volt lease. I am sure all I have learned from this forum will be a great help when it comes time to write the lease. Thanks to everyone who has posted, for all of the lease information.

Good afternoon Paul,
I am a Regional Account Manager with US Bank's indirect lending division. What I state as "facts" are exactly that.
Trust me when I tell you I have heard it all. And for the record every lender charges a dealer for doing business. If not up front then they charge them through higher rates , limited programs , lower residuals , higher fees per contract , lower flats , etc etc.

I spent over 15 years in the automotive business and very often I have witnessed short sighted behavior.
Here is a question for you. If I told you that for a cost of around $200 per year you could have a profit opportunity of up to 3 % on subvented and 6% on standard {of the adjusted cap cost} of any vehicle your dealership leased, would you pass on the deal on "principle" ?

You sound like you have access to the program guidlines or know people who do . Dont take my word for it , take a look.

Botton line : As you state , in order to offer your customer base the most attractive rates and terms US Bank is a must have source.

US Bank is one of the top performing banks in the country and continues to offer premium programs to qualified customers.

Have a great weekend :)

Merc1,

I am happy that you have provided correct information over what I have been told. Perhaps either the dealer lied to me or they misunderstood US Bank requirements. Why would a large dealership such as Hewlett Chevolett in Georgetown refuse to sign up with US Bank then if we are talking such a small sum? If it is truely about money, they do enough deals I would think to figure out it is worth it. If it isn't about money, then what else is there except principle? Perhaps they don't like how US Bank handles the $7500 by adding it back if the person chooses to buy at the lease end.

I would think you would want people to have a positive experience with US Bank, so a dealership stating fees and costs that US Bank charges are too much and that is the reason you can't have the national lease and get your VOLT would make a customer not think good thoughts about the GM/Volt lease deal.

Perhaps you could also confirm credit min. required in order to qualify for the Volt lease as we have seen someone state a 700 is min? Also, why can't a customer call up US Bank and do the lease directly if the dealership doesn't work with US Bank?

Paul (Cari's husband)

I have enough $ to pay for the lease, and even prepay all the payments for 3 years. However, I don't have a high enough credit rating. I need to do the lease to get a tax benefit cooked in, because I don't make enough money each year to get the money back. If I buy the Volt, I'm paying sticker, and not getting $7500 back because I don't pay that much in. (Am I right?) However, they won't lease me the car despite this. :(

Even if I want to eat it on the $7500, I cannot afford the payments because to qualify for financing, I assume I will have to put all the money I was going to throw at the lease down. I will have enough to pay for the car in a year, but I was hoping to lease it for a while, and hopefully have US Bank claim some of this tax cred, since I can't.

I am at a loss as to what to do. Without this tax credit, the car is way overpriced...

Any suggestions?

GM and US Bank are working together to provide these programs. Subvented programs such as these are driven by the manufacturer.

Paul,
The minimum credit score is 650 . Score is not the only factor in a credit decision.

Us Bank does not offer direct consumer leasing. This Bank through dealer to customer is called indirect lending. Aside from that US Bank is not a dealership and does not have direct access to vehicles.

I can not address any specific dealerships reasoning . It would only be speculation on my part and I would rather not.

The dealer told me I had a 660, and that US Bank required a 700 for approval on the Lease. :(

GM and US Bank are working together to provide these programs. Subvented programs such as these are driven by the manufacturer.

Merc1Skymaster,

Any knowledge of the lease being extended or any changes coming regarding leasing for March?

Merc1Skymaster,

Any knowledge of the lease being extended or any changes coming regarding leasing for March?

Good Question. I was on track to get my car in February (built 1/26), but alas it is still at the factory. No way it will make it to CA for at least another 3-4 weeks.

So...
Extension or not? It may be moot for me since due to much faster than expected rail transportation my car may be ready for delivery by Monday. The question is that if for some reason it takes more than 4 days to get from the rail distribution center to the dealership 25 miles away should I close the lease on Monday without seeing the car. I really hate to do that but I don't want to miss the promotional lease deal either.

What to do...

Guess it was a waste to ask him this question. It appears he pops in, makes 4 posts and doesn't come back for a month?? Starting to question if he really knew things or cared. Meanwhile, since my Volt is on a non-moving train as far as I know, have to figure out if I am going to push to do the lease paperwork this weekend or just risk possible change in March.

Paul (Cari's husband)

so what are your buyout prices at the end of your leases? IF you wanted to buy your Volt after your lease is up?

Guess it was a waste to ask him this question. It appears he pops in, makes 4 posts and doesn't come back for a month?? Starting to question if he really knew things or cared. Meanwhile, since my Volt is on a non-moving train as far as I know, have to figure out if I am going to push to do the lease paperwork this weekend or just risk possible change in March.

Paul (Cari's husband)


so what are your buyout prices at the end of your leases? IF you wanted to buy your Volt after your lease is up?

I read in the forum somewhere that a person paid a total package of $55K for leasing a volt from US Bank. This is way higher than buy a Volt with MSRP + sale tax+ interests from a credit union. Plus your dealer is collecting $7500 tax credit. The current rate of credit union is between 3.3-3.9% APR. GM dealers also have credit union loan program in each state. Perhaps credit union is the way to go for a loan.

Well.. I did the math and for no more than we are going to use the Volt over the next 3 years, a lease was perfect. If one looks at the total out of pocket for 36 months, a loaded 44,695 msrp with taxes of about 2700 in Texas means 550 a month or less averaged after down payment interest, etc.. So, less than $20k and we can move on to the latest version. Perhaps it would be worth more than the estimated value and a purchase at that time might be a good idea, but it almost never is... so to each their own. We would not have seen the tax credit anyway as we don't have that kind of tax liability. Now, if it was a REBATE, then we would have purchased.

Paul (Cari's husband)

Well.. I did the math and for no more than we are going to use the Volt over the next 3 years, a lease was perfect. If one looks at the total out of pocket for 36 months, a loaded 44,695 msrp with taxes of about 2700 in Texas means 550 a month or less averaged after down payment interest, etc.. So, less than $20k and we can move on to the latest version. Perhaps it would be worth more than the estimated value and a purchase at that time might be a good idea, but it almost never is... so to each their own. We would not have seen the tax credit anyway as we don't have that kind of tax liability. Now, if it was a REBATE, then we would have purchased.

Paul (Cari's husband)

[QUOTE=marlow;66764]From todays Detroit Free Press

Autodata reports that GM sold 1,210 volts in the U.S. the first quarter of this year.

GMs' Director of vehicle line for the Volt, Tony Posawatz, reports that a sample of their early Volt customers were driving 1,000 miles before their first gas stop. Also that the demand for the Volt is very, very high.

Mark Phelans' review of the new Electric Smart Fortwo is titled "Not Such a Smart Idea". It is currently only available for lease at $599/ month with $2,500 down, for 48 months. Two passenger with a max speed of 64 MPH (down hill), average range 63 miles/ charge, 12 hours for a full charge from 120 volt line, rear wheel drive. But you can get a convertable version for $649/ month with the same specs. The only expect to sell 250 total this year.QUOTE]

If you start with a $44,695 with $5,000 down, a ARP of 3.87% x 6 years, your monthly payment is $620, so the difference between a lease and a purchase is between $21 to $70 per month.

Well, it is really depending on personal preference. If you plan to always drive new cars, then lease is the option to spend your $20,000, nearly half the price (44.7%).