The story of my volt, or how I got a $350 per month lease deal w/ tax in CA!

[Garison]

the USAA car buy service price quote for a loaded Volt (see the option sheet below) is $44,380, which is $1,385 off MSRP: (the MSRP: $45,765)

hmm, that sounds like they use ZAG.

I've used Zag before. Try it out, go to http://capitalone.zag.com. Zag is great, if you want to get a starting point for the price of a car.

The problem with Zag is the dealer doesn't have to honer the offer. If you are leasing, a lot of times, they will try to tell you the zag price is only good for a sale and not a lease. (this is sometimes true, but mostly not true as it depends on dealer incentives from the manufacture. if zag used incentives to come to the quotes price. Zag will let you know if that is the case.)

Anyone reading this: try ZAG. It's free and doesn't require you to use Capitalone (or USAA). It's just a quote.

That would be my starting point -- send an email to every Chevrolet dealer in southern CA and see who will meet that price. Then find out what their applicable fees are and negotiate the price you will write a check for—do this with multiple dealers. Then take the offer with the lowest “check price” and see who will beat it. Keep doing that until all but one cries uncle! This too may take a week or two to iterate through the process but it works.

I like this. Even if dealers don't honor Zag(or the USAA deal, if it's different) you could still use the written quote to get other dealers to bid on your volt. In other words, use the writen quote (even if not honored by the quoting dealer) to have others out bid them.

Does the $350.20 include all fees - is that your total monthly payment? When I tried to lease Volt they told me that there was a "lease fee" and all sorts of additional fees which pushed the total payment into the high 400s.

Yes, it includes all fees and taxes. Remember, I paid $1500 down. That shouldn't make a $150 per month difference. Anyone quoting you high 400s is blowing smoke. You should be able to get lower then that. If not, go somewhere else. (like Stingray or Keys, if their deals are as real as you've read.)

I honestly think, one of the reasons I got the deal I got, was because they couldn't sell the car in a hot environment. That was to my advantage. If you can figure out something like that on your volt (perhaps, heated seats in a hot environment, if that's what you wanted) you should look for that.

It does sound rather complex . I went to my local dealer 5 miles away and he gave me $2950 of MSRP . The money factor was .00074 or 1.78 % and after all the other incentives I ended up with the leather package and Bose stereo for slightly less than the National lease special on the base model .

Sounds good to me if that's a real deal. $2950 is a lot better than my deal, and better than the deal currently listed in this forum from keys. (for $2500 off msrp)

Look, we are now in a world where every dealer should be bidding aginst each other, anywhere in the US. If the volt (and I think it is) truly CA ulev certified... Then it should be good to buy the volt in any state and ship it to where you are. (no promise. But if I were a betting man, the CA regulations seem to be more stringent then the rest of the US.)


Have every dealer bid agnist each other.... Why not? Only you can win.

[RScott]

I've used Zag before. Try it out, go to http://capitalone.zag.com. Zag is great, if you want to get a starting point for the price of a car.

I, too, tried Zag through USAA. Great for pricing, but lots of tricks. As you point out, some dealers do not honor the prices (although in some states, like Connecticut, that is likely illegal, where dealers are required to honor advertised prices).

In my case (about a year ago), I wanted an in-stock 2011 Volt (GM hadn't released them in my state). Zag/USAA gave me a list of 3 dealers, 1 with a price quoted. They don't give you the name of the dealer, but given the distance, it was pretty clear it was out of state (and therefore could have some in stock). So I clicked "OK" or whatever for that dealer. I get a call, and get someone claiming not to be a salesperson, but with a slick bait-and-switch sales tactic. She never says that they do not have and cannot get from GM the car I got the quote for (it turns out they are in another state that didn't get the 2011s), but instead tries to get me to come in to order one.

So Zag gave me a quote on a car from a dealer that did not have it, and could not get it. And that dealer (perhaps not intentionally) tried getting me to buy a more expensive car that I did not want, and they did not even have in stock.

[Rooster]

hmm, that sounds like they use ZAG.

I've used Zag before. Try it out, go to http://capitalone.zag.com. Zag is great, if you want to get a starting point for the price of a car.

The problem with Zag is the dealer doesn't have to honer the offer. If you are leasing, a lot of times, they will try to tell you the zag price is only good for a sale and not a lease. (this is sometimes true, if zag used incentives to come to the quotes price. Zag will let you know fnthat is the case.)

Anyone reading this: try ZAG. It's free and doesn't require you to use Capitalone (or USAA). It's just a quote.

I like this. Even if dealers don't honor Zag(or the USAA deal, if it's different) you could still use the written quote to get other dealers to bid on your volt. In other words, use the writen quote (even if not honored by the quoting dealer) to have others out bid them.

Have every dealer bid agnist each other.... Why not? Only you can win.

Actually USAA is Zag plus...USAA offers additional discounts that you can get off of the zag Price, they also identifiy any additional manufacturer discounts that are available. For example when I purchased my Enclave I got a GM discount of $2500 plus a USAA discount $750 off the Zag price-there was a numeric code for both discounts that my dealer used to get reimbursed.

That said, your recommendation to use Zag as a starting point for negotiation is spot on. It works best for an out right purchase, but you can also use it when negotiating the selling price on a lease, just make sure you pay full attention and understand the fine details in the lease contract. Keep in mind most banks offer leases too, and you can negotiate the terms with them before going to a dealer to see how your bank's terms and conditions compare to any dealer offered lease. If you lease through your bank, all you have to do with the dealer is negotiate the price -- and I still recommend you do this via email to get the lowest "check price" (selling price + all applicable dealer fees + shipping + TTL= everthing!)

[Rooster]

So, let's look at my numbers:

My deal:

MSRP: $44,575 (Almost fully loaded, no NAV)
- Negotiated Reduction: $2381
= Selling Price: $42,194
- Ally Cash: $4400 (Not a CA HOV Volt, so I got the higher lease cash rate)
- Down payment: $1519 ($19 more than I wanted to pay, but whatever.)

+Acc Fee: $795
+Doc Fee: $499
+Security: $375
=Total cost used for calculation of lease payment: $37944

Residual: 62% (Lease Residual Value is $27,636.50... 10K miles per year... I live five minutes from work, less than 2 miles. If you want 12K per year, use 60%)

Money factor: 0.00059 (1.416% I now believe the dealer inflated this slightly. Oh well.)

Base payment: 325.01

Payment, W/ Tax: $350.20 <--- $0.20 over my target.

[/QUOTE]

Here's my problem with leases...the bank is making 62% interest on each payment:

Ally gave you $4,400 off the price, and they get $7500 from the gov't, so they pocket $3100.

Selling price is $39,944
Residual = $27,636.5
You are financing $10,307.50, but the bank is getting $3100 from the gov't, so from the banks perspective you are financing $10307.50 - $3100 = $7207.50.

You paying $325.10 a month, I assume for 36 months
The cost per month to pay back $7207.50 in 36 months is $200.21, the bank is making $124.80/month on this "lease", that equals $124.80/200.21 = 62% interate rate from a person with an 800 credit rating!

Of course, assuming you don't bust 30K miles and have no "damage", you can simply give it back to them at the end of the lease and they have to sell it (their risk).

[sinnombre]

I checked my dealer's website and noticed he has them listed on the web with different discounts . Here is a similar one to mine:

http://www.classicchevrolet.com/Vehi...-TX/1779847003