The internet already contains tons of information about negotiating auto purchases, and general negotiation strategies so I'm just going to provide an overview as it relates to negotiations after being armed with the information at this site.
Call multiple Dealerships and have them negotiate against each other. This is pretty standard internet advice and it will work well for leasing vehicles too. When you call each Dealership you should get as much information about their lease offer as you can. Don't settle for the quote they give you on the monthly payment, as we've seen elsewhere on the site that can be misleading. Try to get all the information necessary to calculate the monthly payment using the calculator. That way you can compare the offers from all the Dealerships at a deeper level. For example, if Dealership A and Dealership B quote different Money Factors, Residual Percentages, Cap Costs, etc. you can use the lowest quotes for each individual element of the lease and negotiate each of those separately. Since we can calculate the lease payments using the Calculator we'll want to have the individual elements.
Demonstrate to the Dealership as soon as possible that you have done your homework and that you understand how the lease payments work. If the Dealership thinks you are not informed about the vehicle you are discussing or how leasing works they are going to try every trick in the book to have you pay as much as possible. The sooner you can demonstrate to the Dealership that you've done your homework the better off you will be.
You have to have patience when dealing with the sales person, finance manager, or anyone else who you may negotiate with at the Dealership. It may help to think of the negotiation process as a game. The Dealership's role in the game is to have your monthly payment be as high as possible, and your role is to have it be as small as possible. Don't be discouraged or frustrated with some of their tactics. These people negotiate every day and it's part of the way they make their money. They are good at drawing things out and making things tough on you. But if you've done your homework as outlined at this site, you know you are asking for a fair price, hold your ground and don't give in.
This is another piece of advice that is pretty common for auto purchases, and again it can serve us well. For example, I've walked out of the Dealership on many occasions because they "could never get to the number I was asking for". Most of the time the Dealership has stopped me from leaving, or called me later with a counter offer that was very close to the "numbers they could never get to". So don't be afraid of walking out of the Dealership if necessary. Worst case scenario is that you can call them back and accept their last offer so there really is no down-side to this strategy.
What are some of the strategies that you have used to reduce your monthly lease payment? Send us a Message with some of the tactics that you have used in the past.