No deals right now?

[Campfamily]

So, been getting serious about trading my Ford Focus Electric for a new Bolt. This time I want to lease, but I'm not finding any sort of deals out there. The Chevrolet website lists a low mileage lease for $437/mo with $500 down + fees for a base model. A dealer in my area gave me a Costco quote of zero down, $509/mo, on a LT with DC charging, Comfort & Convenience and Driver Confidence Packages (MSRP $39,360). They are offering a cap cost of $36,355 and residual is 57%. 36/12K. Both of those seem to be terrible deals. I'm in the Los Angeles area, so inventory is pretty good, so vehicle availability shouldn't be the issue. I also noticed that Chevy doesn't seem to have many rebate deals going right now on the Bolt, just $500 off if you currently lease a late model vehicle (I don't) and the typical military/college grad programs. With these kind of numbers, I'm either going to go for another FFE if I can find one (leases down around $200/month on those), or just wait for the Hyundai/Kia twins to come out with their EVs at the end of the year.

Is anybody seeing anything better out there?

Keith

 

[user 124]

I wouldn't hold my breath for a good lease or purchase deal. The Bolt is very much supply constrained right now - demand is very high in other countries. GM has recently announced (in the last week) that they will increase production at least 20%. DOn't know if those will go to the US or other countries. GM does not seem very interested in meeting demand - they probably don't want prices to drop.

 

[Campfamily]

I wouldn't hold my breath for a good lease or purchase deal. The Bolt is very much supply constrained right now - demand is very high in other countries. GM has recently announced (in the last week) that they will increase production at least 20%. DOn't know if those will go to the US or other countries. GM does not seem very interested in meeting demand - they probably don't want prices to drop.

Thanks for the response....but I find it hard to believe that supply is an issue. When I look on cars.com, there are 446 new Bolts for sale within 75 miles of my house; my closest dealer has 18 in stock, some of the other dealers have well over 30.

I was wondering whether GM was actively trying to stifle sales to delay the phase out of federal incentives that kick in after 200,000 in sales until the next quarter; maybe some new incentives will be coming out in a few weeks. Also I know the 2019 models are coming out pretty quick, so that should also help 2018 sales.

Just going to be patient, I think, rather than go the new FFE route for the low lease payment. My current car is meeting most of my needs, but I lose carpool lane access in January, so would like to have a replacement vehicle by then.

Keith

 

[SeanNelson]

When I look on cars.com, there are 446 new Bolts for sale within 75 miles of my house; my closest dealer has 18 in stock, some of the other dealers have well over 30.

Those figures can be very misleading because they can refer to cars that are on order, haven't been delivered, and have already had a deposit placed on them by a customer.

 

[BoltyMcBoltFace]

Is anybody seeing anything better out there?

I'd suggest checking EV-vin (http://ev-vin.blogspot.com/). It's a regularly updated list of the best advertised lease deals. Right now it looks like Sierra and Community have the best deals in SoCal. I got mine at Community almost a year ago. Mine was the second Bolt they sold that day out of 8 or 9 cars, so they know Bolts. The last time I was at Sierra was almost 5 years ago when I got my first Spark EV (didn't buy from them - went with Rydell). The salesman was pretty knowledgeable for the time though the dealership didn't seem all that keen on EVs in general, but in 2013 few dealerships were. Email the dealerships and see what they'll do. In my experience email negotiations are much easier, faster, and more likely to get you the better deal.

 

[Campfamily]

Is anybody seeing anything better out there?

I'd suggest checking EV-vin (http://ev-vin.blogspot.com/). It's a regularly updated list of the best advertised lease deals. Right now it looks like Sierra and Community have the best deals in SoCal. I got mine at Community almost a year ago. Mine was the second Bolt they sold that day out of 8 or 9 cars, so they know Bolts. The last time I was at Sierra was almost 5 years ago when I got my first Spark EV (didn't buy from them - went with Rydell). The salesman was pretty knowledgeable for the time though the dealership didn't seem all that keen on EVs in general, but in 2013 few dealerships were. Email the dealerships and see what they'll do. In my experience email negotiations are much easier, faster, and more likely to get you the better deal.

Thanks for the tip on Sierra, they are just a few miles away from me and they have a good amount of inventory.

The dealer I'm working with (via email) through Costco dropped a bit, to $425 with $1500 down (also forgot to mention that these payments include 9.5% sales tax), but that only works out to a ~$4000 or so discount from MSRP.

Keith

 

[SparkE]

I second the web site http://ev-vin.blogspot.com/ . It is generally updated weekly. They list various details, including *true* monthly price (not what you pay each month, but what the total of the payments, plus down payment + drive-off fee, etc divided by the # of months on the lease). That allows you to compare how much you are actually paying between different, confusing deals.

Their chart lists a location of "CA(S)" (southern CA). The cheapest deal for a Bolt in SoCal at the moment is at Martin Chevrolet: $320.08/mo (true price) but with a VERY large down payment, so the monthly payment would be $199. They don't list the model, but it is probably the base model. It is also for 10K mi/yr. Obviously adding options or additional miles will increase the price. The next lowest is Sierra Chevrolet ($350/mo, true cost), then a couple around $375, then Rydell at $400. There aren't any GREAT deals available at the moment, but there are a few decent ones - and they all sound better than what you were quoted (but they are all probably for the base model, and only 10K/yr). Heck, there are almost no leases for any model EV for less than $275/mo (true cost), and I wouldn't want to own any of the ones avail for $300/mo or less. Now, if I could lease for $150/mo, I would consider a few of them.

If you can wait, you might want to wait until the 2019s are starting to arrive in dealers (or about to) because, the left-over 2017s were pretty highly discounted once the 2018s were available. You can also simply check the web site twice a week until you see a deal you can live with. You do have until Nov or so (enough time to get the new carpool sticker before Jan 1st).

 

[Campfamily]

I second the web site http://ev-vin.blogspot.com/ . It is generally updated weekly. They list various details, including *true* monthly price (not what you pay each month, but what the total of the payments, plus down payment + drive-off fee, etc divided by the # of months on the lease). That allows you to compare how much you are actually paying between different, confusing deals.

Their chart lists a location of "CA(S)" (southern CA). The cheapest deal for a Bolt in SoCal at the moment is at Martin Chevrolet: $320.08/mo (true price) but with a VERY large down payment, so the monthly payment would be $199. They don't list the model, but it is probably the base model. It is also for 10K mi/yr. Obviously adding options or additional miles will increase the price. The next lowest is Sierra Chevrolet ($350/mo, true cost), then a couple around $375, then Rydell at $400. There aren't any GREAT deals available at the moment, but there are a few decent ones - and they all sound better than what you were quoted (but they are all probably for the base model, and only 10K/yr). Heck, there are almost no leases for any model EV for less than $275/mo (true cost), and I wouldn't want to own any of the ones avail for $300/mo or less. Now, if I could lease for $150/mo, I would consider a few of them.

If you can wait, you might want to wait until the 2019s are starting to arrive in dealers (or about to) because, the left-over 2017s were pretty highly discounted once the 2018s were available. You can also simply check the web site twice a week until you see a deal you can live with. You do have until Nov or so (enough time to get the new carpool sticker before Jan 1st).

Thanks, all, for the responses. Yes, I have been checking the lease deals website each week, and did see the various offers from Martin and Sierra. And, I have a couple of lease calculators so that I can take advertised deals and "tweak" the inputs to see what the payments are with various down payments (prefer a zero down deal). But, it seems as though the rebates and special programs that directly impact the cap cost for the lease have all dried up for this car, which is a bit of a surprise to me, I would have expected those to continue, perhaps get even larger as inventory grows, and the release of the 2019 gets closer.

My Focus Electric is still going strong (in fact, the thought is that I will keep it when I get the replacement to become the second local runaround car, assuming insurance for my 17 year old son on that car isn't too outrageous.

Again, thanks for the inputs and insights. They are appreciated.

Keith

 

[Sperling3]

Received an email from Dublin Chevrolet today (California) that they're offering $4,500 off their stock of 2018 Bolts.

 

[SparkE]

Did the mailing say whether the promo was from the dealership, or from GM? Either way, it might be interesting to contact them via email and see what lease deal he can negotiate. (Since he lives in the L.A. area, a drive to Dublin Chevrolet must be called "road trip!!") But, it is entirely possible (and easy) to drive from the Bay Area to L.A. down CA-99 - *IF* you are an EVgo member; there are EVgo DCFCs all down CA-99 (Manteca, Modesto, Merced, Chowchilla, Madera, Fresno, Visalia, ...). And their new rate plan is actually reasonable. Pick up the car on Sat (or Fri night) and drive it home over the weekend. You must insist that the car be completely, fully charged - explaining to them that you are going to drive it to L.A. immediately after pickup. You'd also need the DCFC option to do that drive, obviously. (If it isn't there are lots of DCFCs between Dublin and CA-99.)

The key to getting the fastest (and cheapest, since EVgo charges by the minute) is to start the charge with a low State Of Charge (SoC). At under 55% charge or so, the car will charge at the max rate (up to 55 kW). Then it will taper the charge down to about 38 kW (which is about the max rate of a 100Amp charger) until about 75%. So, If you charge from (say) 25% to 75%, you are minimizing both the charge time as well as the amount you pay per kWh. Oh, and make sure that you have changed your EVgo rate plan if you became a member more than 6 months ago - they have a new rate plan(s) available, but they didn't automatically switch people over to the new plan : you have to call and request the switch. (The new rate plans are MUCH better than the old ones.)

I would probably drive Dublin -> Fresno (about 150 miles) and charge up to 70% or so (Fresno has 4 or 5 DCFC locations, so it shouldn't be difficult finding an available plug - plugshare app will show you which EVgo chargers are in use, so make sure to put the plugshare app on your phone if it isn't already). Then make another stop in Bakersfield and fill to 70%, even though it's only about 100 miles or so (to make sure that you have enough juice to make it over the grapevine). If you slow to 55 mph up the grapevine, it will extend your range quite a bit - especially if you get behind a big rig - even at a safe distance, the 'roiling' of the air will decrease wind resistance and improve mileage (of course, behind a big rig, up the grapevine, you won't be going 55). And then you should have enough juice to make it almost anywhere in L.A. county, but once you hit the L.A. basin there are LOTS and LOTS of DCFCs if you want a quick 20-minute top-up for insurance. Now, you *should* be able to make the drive with only two DCFC stops, but I am a belt AND suspenders man, and the extra 30 mins is worth it to me to guarantee that I don't run out of juice.