Looking to lease a clarity in Maryland
- Thread starter trevor68
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izudin
Member
Ditto that. I live in Maryland and leased two months ago. My sales manager was pretty upfront about the financial process - that $209 / $2300 down is just an "example" - they will use the same money factor (i.e. interest rate) and generate a lease number for any amount you want to put down. You can still negotiate on the sales price used in the calculation (though mine claimed that the lease already required a concession from the dealer so there wasn't as much room to negotiate as there was against MSRP).
As a data point, after agreeing to a modest reduction in price, and asking for 15,000 mi/yr instead of 12,000 (those are the only two choices for promotional leases, though) - which cost me another $700 as lower end-of-lease value - I came out with a lease at $276/mo with only the taxes and dealer fees paid upfront, about $2250.
The promotional lease uses a cost of around $23,000 after EV credits, a lease-end value of $14,400 for the 12k mi/yr version, and I worked out that the interest rate being charged is about 1.2%. I considered those pretty good numbers and this deal is part of why I so quickly chose the Clarity over the Ioniq EV or the Bolt that I was also looking at. (On paper the MSRP of the Ioniq is less but I'm not sure it would come out cheaper on the lease.)
By the way, I was told that in Maryland we pay sales tax on the entire vehicle value upfront for a lease, but then don't have to pay any sales tax if we buy the vehicle at end-of-lease. If anyone has had a different experience in Maryland I'd like to hear about it. (I know other states do it differently.)
One other thing - I did consider paying a lump-sum lease but decided against it. This is my first time leasing, and I had some uncertainty about how the money will be handled if the car is totaled or the lease otherwise gets terminated. I didn't want a potential situation where I had paid more than the depreciation on the car and didn't get it back. And at 1.2% I consider that almost free money - the difference from what I am earning in the bank is less than the value of keeping ready cash on hand for other needs, IMO.
As a data point, after agreeing to a modest reduction in price, and asking for 15,000 mi/yr instead of 12,000 (those are the only two choices for promotional leases, though) - which cost me another $700 as lower end-of-lease value - I came out with a lease at $276/mo with only the taxes and dealer fees paid upfront, about $2250.
The promotional lease uses a cost of around $23,000 after EV credits, a lease-end value of $14,400 for the 12k mi/yr version, and I worked out that the interest rate being charged is about 1.2%. I considered those pretty good numbers and this deal is part of why I so quickly chose the Clarity over the Ioniq EV or the Bolt that I was also looking at. (On paper the MSRP of the Ioniq is less but I'm not sure it would come out cheaper on the lease.)
By the way, I was told that in Maryland we pay sales tax on the entire vehicle value upfront for a lease, but then don't have to pay any sales tax if we buy the vehicle at end-of-lease. If anyone has had a different experience in Maryland I'd like to hear about it. (I know other states do it differently.)
One other thing - I did consider paying a lump-sum lease but decided against it. This is my first time leasing, and I had some uncertainty about how the money will be handled if the car is totaled or the lease otherwise gets terminated. I didn't want a potential situation where I had paid more than the depreciation on the car and didn't get it back. And at 1.2% I consider that almost free money - the difference from what I am earning in the bank is less than the value of keeping ready cash on hand for other needs, IMO.
Don't know where you are in MD but I just leased mine with a similar deal to Walt from Herson's Honda in Rockville, MD. Everyone was really friendly and upfront there. The finance guy was the best and had no issue trading obscenities with me and my wife (we're all in our mid 30s) and he was very upfront that the lease deal on the Clarity is phenomenal (and was asked this after we signed on the dotted line).
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4sallypat
Active Member
Is MD part of the "Northeast ZEV DLFC" incentive where you get an extra $3,000 against a lease ?
I know most other ZEV participating states get the $7600 Honda incentive and if you are in NY you get an extra $1700.
I wish I could get the sweetest deal in NY - $7600 + $3000 + $1700 off the MSRP on a Clarity...
I know most other ZEV participating states get the $7600 Honda incentive and if you are in NY you get an extra $1700.
I wish I could get the sweetest deal in NY - $7600 + $3000 + $1700 off the MSRP on a Clarity...
Still waiting on my $1,700 check. I sent in the applications for both it and the HOV sticker and the sticker came a few weeks ago.
Last I heard was that applications received by a certain date (I don’t remember exactly when it was but it was in late November) would be processed but anything after that would have to wait until new funds were received which I think said end of 2019.