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Lease rate questions

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Sorry if this has been asked and answered, I searched and couldn't find it (please let me know where if so).

I bought my Model S in 2013 before there was consumer leasing (business leasing probably started right around when I bought it). I am planning on leasing a new one. I have been building and pricing out my new Model S in the design studio every few months, and each time the monthly lease payment it shows is less than before.

What are the monthly payments it shows based on? Prime rate hasn't gone down, it was flat for an eternity and then raised a fraction of a percent, so that doesn't explain why the monthly lease payment shown by Tesla has steadily gone down (the cash price of the car has remained the same).

Also I like the payment rate I see now a lot, but I suspect even if I ordered and put down a deposit today I wouldn't get that payment. When is the monthly payment amount locked in, when the deposit is made, or at delivery, or is there some other time when the lease is finalized and terms become firm?

Thanks for any info on these questions.
 
Sorry if this has been asked and answered, I searched and couldn't find it (please let me know where if so).

I bought my Model S in 2013 before there was consumer leasing (business leasing probably started right around when I bought it). I am planning on leasing a new one. I have been building and pricing out my new Model S in the design studio every few months, and each time the monthly lease payment it shows is less than before.

What are the monthly payments it shows based on? Prime rate hasn't gone down, it was flat for an eternity and then raised a fraction of a percent, so that doesn't explain why the monthly lease payment shown by Tesla has steadily gone down (the cash price of the car has remained the same).

Also I like the payment rate I see now a lot, but I suspect even if I ordered and put down a deposit today I wouldn't get that payment. When is the monthly payment amount locked in, when the deposit is made, or at delivery, or is there some other time when the lease is finalized and terms become firm?

Thanks for any info on these questions.

It is based on a set Money Factor. Keep in mind though that they sometimes change this Money Factor for special promotions.

In December of last year their lease money factor came down to .0016. Not sure what it is now.
 
As of three weeks ago the money factor was 0.0017, which is 4.08%. The other thing that affects the payment is the residual value of the car, which varies with the model and options chosen and can change with Tesla's view of market conditions.

I don't know when the rate gets locked in on an order; that's a question for Tesla.

For a PDF of Tesla leasing information:

Tesla Leasing Highlights
 
As of three weeks ago the money factor was 0.0017, which is 4.08%. The other thing that affects the payment is the residual value of the car, which varies with the model and options chosen and can change with Tesla's view of market conditions.

I don't know when the rate gets locked in on an order; that's a question for Tesla.

For a PDF of Tesla leasing information:

Tesla Leasing Highlights

I always build it with the same options and verify the cash price is the same so I am sure to be comparing the lease payments on exactly the same thing each time. The monthly lease payment shown has gone down by about $60 and now it is less to lease a new one than my loan payment on my 2013 one. So I am very happy about that but I still don't know why the lease has gone down (unless it was a reduction in the Money Factor).

Thank you for the document, that is very informative!
 
They are only confident until the end of March though (at least that's when they say the special offer will expire) :biggrin: I think it's a pure marketing gimmick.

What special offer do they say ends at the end of March? Where can I find out about that? (Knowing that the lease payments will be more if executed after March would have a huge impact on my plans.)
 
I assume the revised money factor that ultimately influences the lease cost. This is the wording at the bottom of the lease quote:

lease.png
 
This is the wording at the bottom of the lease quote:

Thank you for posting that info. Maybe they change it quarterly but in any case it's very handy to know it will probably change on April 1.

My lease approval end of Dec came out to be about $70 more per month than my final paperwork when I took delivery this week. The residual went up about $3k between those two docs.

Thank you for that info, too -- it answers my main question. It seems the figures aren't set in stone until delivery. That being the case, I wonder how many people see the new numbers at delivery, and if they are higher than what they were told before decide not to sign.