Lease Cost Breakdown

[samara2015]

Hello, I appreciate this forum, used it as a guide to lease a 2015 eGolf 3 weeks ago in NorCal. I think I got a great deal but there are some numbers in the lease that I don't understand (Capitalized cost reduction $8,049, Depreciation amount $9,987)

From Walnut Creek dealer I got the Blue/Beige. Here's my deal:

MSRP $36,300
Invoice -NOT SURE
Dealer trading margin -NOT SURE

Fed tax credit $7,500 (and $2,500 CA State Rebate is coming back to me separate from this deal)
Down payment $2,000
VCI lease bonus NONE NOT SURE
Dealer contribution NOT SURE

Adjusted cap cost $24,507
Residual value $14,520 (40% for 36 mo lease)
Depreciation amount $9,987

Due at signing was $2,000 down composed of:
- $550 cash
- $724 CAP RED TAX (?? maybe tax on the $7,500 fed tax credit applied towards lease??)
- $308 1st month payment (tax included)
- $296 DMV Registration
- $80 Dealer doc fee
- $41 some misc fees (like $8.75 tires fee, $25 doc tax, $7.20 sales tax)

Then my monthly payment $283 + tax = $308
with 7,500 miles/year (which is all I needed, 10K miles/yr was $299/month)

ALSO A BONUS: Walnut Creek agreed to a separate reimbursement for my Nissan Leaf vehicle return fee of $398. This totally rocks!!

@NewbieEV @svhoneymoon
How'd I do? I'm wondering if because I didn't understand the Capitalized Reduction Cost, the Dealer Invoice Amt and the Dealer Margin numbers perhaps they impacted how good my deal was on surface? Did I miss anything?

 

[oftheseven]

Worked a deal yesterday (last day of the month). They had a White/Beige but we wanted Limestone Gray/Black so will have to wait for delivery. Hopefully in a week or so. Let me know how I did:

MSRP $36,300
Gross cap cost $31675 (includes $625 acquisition fee)
Cap cost reduction $8192
Adjusted cap cost $23,482
Residual value $13,431 (37% for 36 mo lease!)
Depreciation amount $10,051

$2000 due at signing.
Monthly payment $293 + tax = $317 for 35 months

12,000 miles/year, 36 months

Do I have to wait for plates before I can apply for HOV stickers?

 

[Frank3]

In California, you have to wait for plates to get HOV stickers. Got my plates about 1 week after I picked up car. Took an additional 6 weeks for HOV stickers to arrive.

 

[oftheseven]

In California, you have to wait for plates to get HOV stickers. Got my plates about 1 week after I picked up car. Took an additional 6 weeks for HOV stickers to arrive.

My Cmax Energi came from the dealer with stickers on the car. Is that an option dealers can do?

 

[Frank3]

Sounds like your Cmax was a used car or a demo. DMV doesn't hand out stickers unless you have a license plate and only after you fill out an application. This is something the dealer can't do.

 

[oftheseven]

It was new. The dealer sent me transfer paperwork with the DMV after I leased the car. All their PHEVs had the stickers on the lot.

 

[Frank3]

oftheseven, interesting! I wonder of the green HOV stickers have different application requirements and/or dealers can get those in advance.

 

[johnqh]

Very confusing, but here it is

Limited Edition, 7500 miles/year

Amount due at signing:
--------
Capitalized Cost Reduction: 8658.75
First Monthly Payment 191.86
Registration Fees: 267
Doc Processing Charge: 80
Cal. Tire Fee: 8.75
Electronic Veh Registration or Transfer Charge: 29
Doc Tx: 7
Cap Red Tx: 757.64
Total: 10000
Rebates and non-cash credits: 7500
Amount to be paid in cash: 2500

Payment
-------
Agreed upon value: 27053.41
Qcquisition fee: 625
Gross Cap cost: 27678.41
Cap cost reduction: 8658.75
Adjusted cap cost: 19019.66
Residual value: 12679.90
Depreciation: 6339
Rent charge: 11.36
Total of base payments: 6351.12
Base payment: 176.42
Sales tax: 15.44
Total payment: 191.86

 

[s4alex]

Hoping to walk away with a Night Blue SEL this weekend.

Here is the offer I am getting from Boardwalk Redwood City....

Night Blue / Black Int
4000 total drive off (inclusive of taxes, fees, first month)
Montly $186+tax ($203 OTD)

The original deal was at 7500 miles per year, but I am going to see if I can get him to give me this at 10k per year.


$4000 Down
$7105 Total Montly Payments ($203 * 35)
($2500) Minus State Rebate

$8605 over 3 years. if at 10k
$10105 over 3 years. if at 7500 + 1500. 7500*.20 a mile to equal 30000.

I am thinking this is a good deal at 10k a year. Luke warm at 7500k a year. Thoughts?

 

[sweetwagon]

Should be doable. Sunnyvale VW is running a special for SEL that is around the same neighborhood. $199/mo+tax, $2435 down plus tax and license. 30K miles/36 month lease. Says 1 available at this price but my experience with them is that you can choose whatever color you want that's in stock.

 

[anesthete]

Hoping to walk away with a Night Blue SEL this weekend.

Here is the offer I am getting from Boardwalk Redwood City....

Night Blue / Black Int
4000 total drive off (inclusive of taxes, fees, first month)
Montly $186+tax ($203 OTD)

As you may have learned already, the only number that matters is the Gross Capitalized Cost, or the price at which the dealer is agreeing to sell it to the lease company -- in this case, Volkswagen Credit Leasing. Typically this will include the destination fee, but nothing else: no rebates, no cash down-payment ("capital reduction"), no acquisition fee, no taxes. In the post above yours, I believe the author labels this "Agreed upon value: 27053.41." (He then adds the lease acquisition fee to get GCC, so my definition of that term differs from his)

GCC is the only number that's variable and negotiable. Everything else, assuming the dealer doesn't tack on any bogus fees, is either set by VCL or a consequence of arithmetic. Make sure you're being shown that number. Dealers like to hide it behind monthly payments and money down, etc. so that your head swims and your emotions take over.

Another number that's not readily obtainable is the residual percentage. This is what varies when you pick a different combination of lease length and annual miles. And this changes over time -- it goes down a little every month, because the car is getting older and less desirable and will be worth a little less when you bring it back in 2018.

Right now (month of July), the residual value for a 36 mo lease on an SEL is 37% for 7,500 miles and 36% for 10,000 miles. Last month, those were 38% and 37% respectively. Again, these numbers are set by VCL and should be consistent from dealer to dealer.

That one percent difference in depreciation works out to about $363 over the span of the lease (plus tax). 9,315 miles is the break-even point where, if you go over that, you'd have been better off opting for the 10K plan.

I don't know what the exact numbers are for the LE model, but I can guess. Working backwards from the numbers in the previous post, and assuming an MSRP for the LE of $33,450, it looks like residual on a 36/7.5K lease of the LE is 38%, so the 36/10K is probably something like 37%.

Oh, and the interest rate from VW Credit Leasing right now is super low (money factor of 0.00001 = 0.024% APR) so there's no reason not to finance as much of it as you can, doing as close to zero of a capital cost reduction as possible. Dealers seem to really like pitching you a figure of $2495 down, because in your mind you'll subtract the $2500 California rebate and think "oh, I'm driving off for free." But remember: that money goes back in your pocket whether you pre-pay all the lease at signing or none of it.

Caveat: I may be wrong about anything above, and may have mucked up the math. I welcome corrections.

 

[anesthete]

Should be doable. Sunnyvale VW is running a special for SEL that is around the same neighborhood. $199/mo+tax, $2435 down plus tax and license. 30K miles/36 month lease. Says 1 available at this price but my experience with them is that you can choose whatever color you want that's in stock.

Tax and license work out to about $1750-1800, so be aware if you're comparing that to a "due at signing" or "drive-off" price that already includes those.

 

[johnqh]

GCC is the only number that's variable and negotiable. Everything else, assuming the dealer doesn't tack on any bogus fees, is either set by VCL or a consequence of arithmetic. Make sure you're being shown that number. Dealers like to hide it behind monthly payments and money down, etc. so that your head swims and your emotions take over.

I agree that the GCC is the only variable. However, that also means one can negotiate strictly over the total lease payment (drive-off + monthly x 35). The money factor is close to 0, so the total lease payment is pretty constant regardless the down payment you want to put in.

 

[s4alex]

Hoping to walk away with a Night Blue SEL this weekend.

Here is the offer I am getting from Boardwalk Redwood City....

Night Blue / Black Int
4000 total drive off (inclusive of taxes, fees, first month)
Montly $186+tax ($203 OTD)

As you may have learned already, the only number that matters is the Gross Capitalized Cost, or the price at which the dealer is agreeing to sell it to the lease company -- in this case, Volkswagen Credit Leasing. Typically this will include the destination fee, but nothing else: no rebates, no cash down-payment ("capital reduction"), no acquisition fee, no taxes. In the post above yours, I believe the author labels this "Agreed upon value: 27053.41." (He then adds the lease acquisition fee to get GCC, so my definition of that term differs from his)

GCC is the only number that's variable and negotiable. Everything else, assuming the dealer doesn't tack on any bogus fees, is either set by VCL or a consequence of arithmetic. Make sure you're being shown that number. Dealers like to hide it behind monthly payments and money down, etc. so that your head swims and your emotions take over.

Another number that's not readily obtainable is the residual percentage. This is what varies when you pick a different combination of lease length and annual miles. And this changes over time -- it goes down a little every month, because the car is getting older and less desirable and will be worth a little less when you bring it back in 2018.

Right now (month of July), the residual value for a 36 mo lease on an SEL is 37% for 7,500 miles and 36% for 10,000 miles. Last month, those were 38% and 37% respectively. Again, these numbers are set by VCL and should be consistent from dealer to dealer.

That one percent difference in depreciation works out to about $363 over the span of the lease (plus tax). 9,315 miles is the break-even point where, if you go over that, you'd have been better off opting for the 10K plan.

I don't know what the exact numbers are for the LE model, but I can guess. Working backwards from the numbers in the previous post, and assuming an MSRP for the LE of $33,450, it looks like residual on a 36/7.5K lease of the LE is 38%, so the 36/10K is probably something like 37%.

Oh, and the interest rate from VW Credit Leasing right now is super low (money factor of 0.00001 = 0.024% APR) so there's no reason not to finance as much of it as you can, doing as close to zero of a capital cost reduction as possible. Dealers seem to really like pitching you a figure of $2495 down, because in your mind you'll subtract the $2500 California rebate and think "oh, I'm driving off for free." But remember: that money goes back in your pocket whether you pre-pay all the lease at signing or none of it.

Caveat: I may be wrong about anything above, and may have mucked up the math. I welcome corrections.

Okay, so I picked it up today as the numbers worked for me.

My numbers:

GCC = $31848.43 (Agreed Value 29,480.43 + Aq Fee $625 + Service Contract $1313)

The service contract is both the 20k+30k service and the lease return warranty.

I wanted a little bit of a lower monthly.

$5000 out the door, I paid for the lease return and service upfront. This is inclusive of all fees, taxes, and first month payment.
$240 a month after tax

I picked a nice Night Blue with Black leatherette. So far have been happy with the car...

My only real cons..

No Homelink
No Seat Memory
The Start/Stop is way too close to the mode button. Just got to experience that today.

 

[miimura]

I picked a nice Night Blue with Black leatherette. So far have been happy with the car...

My only real cons..

No Homelink
No Seat Memory
The Start/Stop is way too close to the mode button. Just got to experience that today.

The Night Blue looks awesome. If I was choosing for myself, I would have chosen that color. The car was for my wife and she chose Limestone Gray.

Don't bother with the mode button. Just leave it in Normal and go easy on the accelerator and use the regen modes as necessary when you need to stretch the range. You can also adjust the A/C by yourself to reduce energy use. When the battery gets low, the car will automatically go into ECO and ECO+ anyway.

 

[s4alex]

I picked a nice Night Blue with Black leatherette. So far have been happy with the car...

My only real cons..

No Homelink
No Seat Memory
The Start/Stop is way too close to the mode button. Just got to experience that today.

The Night Blue looks awesome. If I was choosing for myself, I would have chosen that color. The car was for my wife and she chose Limestone Gray.

Don't bother with the mode button. Just leave it in Normal and go easy on the accelerator and use the regen modes as necessary when you need to stretch the range. You can also adjust the A/C by yourself to reduce energy use. When the battery gets low, the car will automatically go into ECO and ECO+ anyway.

Good to know about the ECO and ECO+ modes and battery. Yeah, I have been driving all day in B mode. Not as harsh as I thought it would be.

Luckily for me, both me and my wife really loved the Night Blue. The Pacific Blue was a close third after Black.

The real head turner was the Urano Grey. I like that matte look. BUT, I know I might get old of it after a little bit. Just like the pastel look of the Pacific Blue.

 

[sweetwagon]

Congrats! Didn't even know it came in that color. I don't recall ever seeing it - must be rare.

 

[bobk2824]

I always wondered about that: On longer trips I do set Eco and Eco+ and it is RIGHT next to the power button. What happens if you accidently hit it while going 60mph? I've never had to guts to try it!

 

[s4alex]

I always wondered about that: On longer trips I do set Eco and Eco+ and it is RIGHT next to the power button. What happens if you accidently hit it while going 60mph? I've never had to guts to try it!

For me, I was doing about 10-15mpg and hit the Start/Stop when I thought I was hitting the mode. Shut down. Freaked me out at first, with no engine noise, it was hard to tell the car was powered off until I looked at the meter/tach area.

A push of the start button and I was off, luckily no one was behind me.

 

[Jimbo435]

Howdy! Found this group when researching chargers. Picked up my SEL on Sunday, Pacific blue / Beige. (Didn't know there was another blue) not going to look, it's too late now...
Winn Vw in Fremont, easy to deal with.

Didn't even know there was an e-golf until a week ago. Came pretty close on an i3 before coming to my senses. Was leaning toward leaf before I saw golf, golf seemed better fit and finish than leaf.
After a week, really like this car!

My GCC: 31402
Out of pocket $5000
36 months, 10,000 miles
222/month incl taxes
Think I could have gotten it for 200, but didn't want to get stuck with a leaf.

Jim