Why can't I lease a bolt in Georgia for under $550 a month?

[swanlee]

So we have been waiting over a year to get th chance to lease a Bolt here in Georgia and now they are trickling into dealerships and the best 3YR lease we can find is $550 a month. I've called every dealer in the area we have test driven it and worked out numbers and $550 is the best we can do. We have good credit I can put a few thousand down but the numbers still come up to around $550.

That is a pretty ridiculous price for a lease, I can move up to BMW's, Lexus type cars for that type of monthly payment. To top it off i see deals in California, Boston, NY saying 3yr lease no money down for $250-350 a month.

I had a chevy dealership call me in saying $320 a month 2K down then we I get there to work it out and the lease jumped to $550 again. At this point I think I'm done with this car. We have waited so long after release but it seems they do not want to lease this car in Georgia.

What is the deal with this car and the State of GA?

 

[sgt1372]

Can't you drive to a nearby state to get one?

 

[swanlee]

It's not practical for me and my family to go out of state to lease one, not sure how I'd even get it back home. I've been told by the local dealers Chevy prices them by home residence. I like the car but I'm not willing to go to these extremes just to get a price I should be able to get in the state I live in. These lease prices are double of what other states are offering.

Something is wrong lease prices for other cars here in Ga are in line with other states why is it THIS particular car cost so much to lease here? I'm currently leasing a 2015 Leaf for $280 a month and wanted an EV with alot more range. I'm disappointed with the range of the 2018 leaf but looks like that is my only option to continue to lease my old leaf till I can get into a 2018 leaf.

 

[michael]

You can lease a premier in California, zero driveaway, 15000 miles per year for about $350 a month. I have to believe you can do the deal without leaving Georgia and have the car shipped to you for maybe $500-$1000.

Don't let them screw you over.


This place has good prices, but not the best, but pretty good. They are a starting point...

chevynorthridge.com

Rydell Chevrolet.

Call them, ask them if they can help you

People get cars out of state all the time, it's usually not a big deal at all. And shipping is easy...I've done it.

 

[swanlee]

Thanks I'll call out of state just to see and shipping would be the only option not drving out of state for this car. Still wondering WTF is with these prices in Georgia? How do they expect people to lease these at these insane prices.

 

[swanlee]

Just called Rydell Chevrolet and they said no dice on leasing out of state. I can only purchase out of state. Think I've hit the end of the road with my options on the Bolt. Chevy is really screwing up with how they are managing this car

 

[swanlee]

Well I filed a formal complaint with GM, first against the dealership that pulled the bait and switch and secondly against GM for not having any lease incentives for dealers in my state. Not like anything will happen but I have to complain about this ridiculous scenario with this car.

$550 a month to lease a car that is $300 or less in other states
Can't lease the car from another state
GM not providing any incentives to dealers in my state for lease breaks
Took a year for my state to even get any in stock
Local Dealer told me $320 a month and 2K down over the phone then somehow the lease is $550 when I get there in person.

Completely ridiculous how GM is handling this car.

 

[michaellax]

They wouldn't let me do it in Los Angeles, but my previous lessor, Ally Bank on my Chevy Volt, was very anxious to do the lease on my Bolt EV.

See if you can use them!

 

[bro19991]

Read and learn. This won't help you lease a Bolt, but at those quoted lease prices you may as well purchase outright.
https://bro05.blogspot.com/2016/12/bolting-into-future.html?m=1

 

[swanlee]

I'm not interested in purchasing a Bolt, my budget is $300-400 a month which should be a reasonable amount to lease one

 

[bro19991]

Unfortunately you need to live in a CARB state to get the best lease deals. Georgia is not a CARB state, so less incentives from GM on leases.

 

[swanlee]

But why can I lease a gas car in GA with an MSRP around $40K MSRP for $300-400 a month? Even taking EV out of the picture the car is way to expensive on leases compared to normal cars in it's price range.

 

[SparkE]

But why can I lease a gas car in GA with an MSRP around $40K MSRP for $300-400 a month? Even taking EV out of the picture the car is way to expensive on leases compared to normal cars in it's price range.

Well, rumor is that the Bolt makes less of a profit than an ICE - that GM is keeping the price artificially low to generate CARB credits (so they can sell more high-priced SUVs).

There are also rumors that GM is losing money on each sale (but no real explanation of HOW they are "losing money" - is it due to development costs that will be spread across multiple vehicles if the car is a success?)

 

[DucRider]

But why can I lease a gas car in GA with an MSRP around $40K MSRP for $300-400 a month? Even taking EV out of the picture the car is way to expensive on leases compared to normal cars in it's price range.

Like this one?
BMW X1 sDrive28i for $319/mo with an MSRP of $36,995

Sounds great!
But,
Requires :
$3000 cash down
$995 acquisition fee
$1691 "suggested dealer contribution"
$1000 BMW lease credit

So the answer is, yes you can get your monthly payments down on ANY car lease by throwing enough cash at it up front.

You have yet to give enough details on the lease offer they proposed to get much real feedback.
Was the $320/mo Bolt a base LT and you test drove and got quoted on a loaded Premier? The $319/mo in the example above "Tax, title, license and registration fees are additional fees due at signing". Advertised car leases always have this disclaimer and the advertised payment will be higher or require cash up front. Georgia has a 7% TAVT tax on car sales/leases.

And there is always this:
"eligible, qualified customers with excellent credit history"
Anything less than "excellent credit" will result in a higher payment.

Do you have a copy of the $550/mo lease quote they provided? It likely includes the 7% Georgia TAVT that taxes the "Agreed upon selling price" - which on a lease is before any CCR's, so Tax credits, dealers contributions, manufacturer contributions could all be subject to the tax depending on how the contract is written.
Starting Jan 1, you will only pay the TAVT on the sum of your lease payments.
https://www.leaseguide.com/glossary/georgia-car-lease/
https://dor.georgia.gov/sites/dor.g.../MVD/Bulletin/MV_ Dealer_Tax_Guide_2013_1.pdf

In the above example, the TAVT on the BMW X1 would be $2,590 or $72 mo (plus interest if you rolled it into the loan)
Waiting until Jan 1 reduces that to $803 or $22/mo

 

[swanlee]

I have credit in the 800's and could put several thousand down on a lease. I'm not putting $6000-9000 down like one of the dealers suggested. I should easily be able to get a lease for a car in this price range for $300-400 a month. I've done it before. The new tax laws here in 2018 are not going to bring the lease price down $220 dollars. I have my limits I'm not spending more than $400 a month on this car especially when I see people in other states paying less than $300 a month for the exact same car.

It is insane for GM to think a person is going to lease this car and end up paying nearly $30k into it after 3 years and then give it back to them, 7500 Fed tax + 550 a month is nearly $30K.

This is simply NOT how leases work, this car is pretty much alone in this state as far as being out of whack with how leases work for other EV's and other gas cars in this state.

In the end GM is going to lose a potential customer due to regional stupidity/pricing model of the Bolt

 

[DucRider]

I have credit in the 800's and could put several thousand down on a lease. I'm not putting $6000-9000 down like one of the dealers suggested. I should easily be able to get a lease for a car in this price range for $300-400 a month. I've done it before. The new tax laws here in 2018 are not going to bring the lease price down $220 dollars. I have my limits I'm not spending more than $400 a month on this car especially when I see people in other states paying less than $300 a month for the exact same car.

It is insane for GM to think a person is going to lease this car and end up paying nearly $30k into it after 3 years and then give it back to them, 7500 Fed tax + 550 a month is nearly $30K.

This is simply NOT how leases work, this car is pretty much alone in this state as far as being out of whack with how leases work for other EV's and other gas cars in this state.

In the end GM is going to lose a potential customer due to regional stupidity/pricing model of the Bolt

Without seeing the numbers for your lease, no way to tell what they are doing.
You are outside of CA, you will not get the discounts people are posting.
The published figures for a GM Financial lease on a loaded premier at MSRP would be $602/mo with zero drive off and 12K miles/yr.

Putting in numbers for a $40K Lexus at MSRP yields a $639/mo payment. If you are getting a $40K car of any brand for $300-400/mo you are getting a substantial discount off of MSRP.
Chevy dealers are independent franchises and are free to sell below, at, or above Manufacturers SUGGESTRED Retail Price.
GM dictating what dealers must sell the car for is prohibited by law. GA dealers appear to have few (if any) Bolts on their lots. If you want less than MSRP, you may have to wait for supply to increase and the price to drop or go thru a prenegotiated discount service like Costco Auto.

What you are complaining about is not really the lease payment, but the price of the car. Unless your dealer is willing to sell it for thousands of dollars below MSRP, you will not even approach the lease payments you are seeing on the forums (and keep in mind some of those include State incentives).

You cannot lease a vehicle (Even a luxury brand with a high Residual Value) with an "Agreed upon price" of $40K for $400/mo unless the Capitalized Cost is reduced - either through an incentive or down payment.

 

[IMAdolt]

There are tons of threads here on leases and how they're set up, without state or dealer incentives and a sales price somewhat inline with MSRP zero drive off 3 year lease LT runs like 400-450 taxes and fees in? So unless you're local prices are in low inventory gouge territory it sounds like you're trying to buy a premier and expecting LT prices?

It's up to the dealer to price gouge if they wish, around here stocks so low and demand so high dealers are offering the smoking deal of MSRP minus 1 or 2 thousand but the dealers keeping the 11,000 $ worth of incentives "If applicable" lol. It is what it is, just wait a few months and you'll be in better shape.

 

[Dgodfrey]

Most likely it's a combination of a potentially low residual (think Leaf) since it's still not on par with an ICE and they purportedly loose money on each one along with Georgia not recognizing CARB credits. It's a triple whammy, trifecta of "no incentive to lease".

 

[swanlee]

I have credit in the 800's and could put several thousand down on a lease. I'm not putting $6000-9000 down like one of the dealers suggested. I should easily be able to get a lease for a car in this price range for $300-400 a month. I've done it before. The new tax laws here in 2018 are not going to bring the lease price down $220 dollars. I have my limits I'm not spending more than $400 a month on this car especially when I see people in other states paying less than $300 a month for the exact same car.

It is insane for GM to think a person is going to lease this car and end up paying nearly $30k into it after 3 years and then give it back to them, 7500 Fed tax + 550 a month is nearly $30K.

This is simply NOT how leases work, this car is pretty much alone in this state as far as being out of whack with how leases work for other EV's and other gas cars in this state.

In the end GM is going to lose a potential customer due to regional stupidity/pricing model of the Bolt

Without seeing the numbers for your lease, no way to tell what they are doing.
You are outside of CA, you will not get the discounts people are posting.
The published figures for a GM Financial lease on a loaded premier at MSRP would be $602/mo with zero drive off and 12K miles/yr.

Putting in numbers for a $40K Lexus at MSRP yields a $639/mo payment. If you are getting a $40K car of any brand for $300-400/mo you are getting a substantial discount off of MSRP.
Chevy dealers are independent franchises and are free to sell below, at, or above Manufacturers SUGGESTRED Retail Price.
GM dictating what dealers must sell the car for is prohibited by law. GA dealers appear to have few (if any) Bolts on their lots. If you want less than MSRP, you may have to wait for supply to increase and the price to drop or go thru a prenegotiated discount service like Costco Auto.

What you are complaining about is not really the lease payment, but the price of the car. Unless your dealer is willing to sell it for thousands of dollars below MSRP, you will not even approach the lease payments you are seeing on the forums (and keep in mind some of those include State incentives).

You cannot lease a vehicle (Even a luxury brand with a high Residual Value) with an "Agreed upon price" of $40K for $400/mo unless the Capitalized Cost is reduced - either through an incentive or down payment.

$550 a month X 36 = 19,800 + 7500 fed tax + 2000 down = 29,300

Why am I going to pay in $30K on a $40K car just to give it back to GM after 3 years? If GM is pocketing the fed tax and not putting it towards the MSRP then that's another shady tactic they are pulling, Nissan did not do that when I leased the Leaf they applied the $7500 directly to the MSRP and my lease was based off of MSRP - $7500 fed tax .

The Bolt is going to be worth much more than $10K in 3 years.

If leases worked like this no one would lease any cars and dealers would have a ton more cars sitting on their lots doing nothing.

 

[DucRider]

$550 a month X 36 = 19,800 + 7500 fed tax + 2000 down = 29,300

Why am I going to pay in $30K on a $40K car just to give it back to GM after 3 years? If GM is pocketing the fed tax and not putting it towards the MSRP then that's another shady tactic they are pulling, Nissan did not do that when I leased the Leaf they applied the $7500 directly to the MSRP and my lease was based off of MSRP - $7500 fed tax .

The Bolt is going to be worth much more than $10K in 3 years.

If leases worked like this no one would lease any cars and dealers would have a ton more cars sitting on their lots doing nothing.

Without seeing the actual numbers on your lease quote (this is the third request), there is no way to tell what they are quoting.
In your calculations, you show that GM Financial gets to keep the 7% GA tax. Nope.
We have no way of knowing if they added in things like an extended warranty, scotchguard for the seats, prepaid service for 5 years, undercoating, VIN etching, etc.

Did you get an actual quote? It would have the following info:
MSRP
Agreed upon Price
CCR
Residual Value
Money Factor (some dealers will pad this significantly)
Aquisition Fee
Doc Fees
Titling and license fees
Miles/yr


I completely agree that your numbers don't add up and we are trying to help figure out why. Your claims to be knowledgeable about leasing are becoming harder to believe.

But is still does not change the fact that a $40K car (purchased at MSRP) will NOT have $300/mo lease payment. That requires the dealer and/or manufacturer to do something to lower the depreciation on the car, even on luxury brands that have a high RV.