[czar44]

Hello,

Test drove my first Volt today, which I plan to move to after driving an e-Golf that is now stretched too far outside the range of my r/t commute. I really like the car and am impressed - this would be my first Chevy.

The dealer was no-pressure and provided an offer to me before I left (again, with no pressure). I will detail it below, but I am wondering what I should expect off MSRP. Please note I am in CT and this car is legible for the $3,000 CHEAPR rebate from the state, which goes to the dealer (and is noted below). My concern with this is that when I purchased my e-Golf, I found that dealers were less likely to move on sale price because the incentives were so good, making the lease (relatively) inexpensive. Thanks for any feedback!



Volt LT MSRP $35,640
SALE PRICE $34,381.25

REBATES $10,150

• $4400 rebate from Chevy
• $2250 Select/CCR rebate from Chevy
• $500 competitive lease rebate from Chevy
• $3000 CHEAPR rebate (from State of CT)

With $0 drive-in this gets me to $280.15/month, including tax. Is that a good deal or should I be looking to negotiate more on the sale price? I feel like ~$1300 off sticker isn't so great?

 

[llninja]

Wait you're getting a $35.6k car for $24.2k and you're worried about that $1300? Of course another way to think about it is assuming it's a 3 year lease, you'll be spending $10,085.4 to use the car then at the end of the 3 years, you're back looking for a replacement. Even if you doubled that $1300 sale price discount to $2600, it's going to barely affect the overall lease costs because they will find a way to make money off you somewhere in this.

 

[bro1999]

You should be able to get more than $1300 off MSRP as a dealer discount. Like at least double.

Dealer should NOT be factoring in the CT rebate as far as determining a discount.

 

[czar44]

Thank you. I spoke to another dealer this morning who offered more flexibility in the price, bringing the payments down.

Thanks

 

[Bacardi]

Thank you. I spoke to another dealer this morning who offered more flexibility in the price, bringing the payments down.

Thanks

Sweet; was going to parrot what bro said and add you may need to go to different dealers...Perhaps spend 5-10mins online researching previously reported cheap deals...

 

[czar44]

It looks like I should be getting something close to $200/mo or so with $0 drive-off in CT given the rebates and incentives in place.

 

[freshcut]

Looking at the rebates, Unless all of those total rebates of $10K are for the lease option (only the $500 competitive lease rebate from what I could tell) and not available if you decide to purchase then you might be better off going for a purchase since you could also likely include the $7500 federal rebate bringing the total down even more if you qualify for the full rebate.

I can see the attraction in choosing to lease, but financially, it doesn't look like they are offering the federal rebate into the deal which the lease company will almost certainly get as well. Make sure if you do decide to make a deal that they also include the federal rebate which should bring the cost down to around $16.7K.

 

[Bacardi]

Looking at the rebates, Unless all of those total rebates of $10K are for the lease option (only the $500 competitive lease rebate from what I could tell) and not available if you decide to purchase then you might be better off going for a purchase since you could also likely include the $7500 federal rebate bringing the total down even more if you qualify for the full rebate.

I can see the attraction in choosing to lease, but financially, it doesn't look like they are offering the federal rebate into the deal which the lease company will almost certainly get as well. Make sure if you do decide to make a deal that they also include the federal rebate which should bring the cost down to around $16.7K.

Leasing goes beyond "rebates" as residuals and MF greatly affect the lease, I'll also add that in the CARB states GM waives the first payment...In this case the OP is in the "select market" which is a CARB state so they're getting close to the full tax credit with the extra $2250 on top of the $4400 everyone gets so he $7090 total + the first payment waived or is within a couple hundred dollars to have the choice to turn in the car after three years or can purchase it at anytime...

To the OP, incentives change month to month, there were some strong incentives last month, there is another $500 off for Farmers Bureau yet you have to be a member for 30 days...If you have the luxury of time, could sign up and get the Volt in May or if the incentives still aren't as strong, wait another two weeks for June...Costco has vehicle under invoice as well...I'd strongly recommend picking a % off MSRP, 15% off and that's BEFORE incentives is what deal sites recommend; so that's $5346 off this vehicle...Be prepared to email a bunch of dealers to get that price...

 

[llninja]

Looking at the rebates, Unless all of those total rebates of $10K are for the lease option (only the $500 competitive lease rebate from what I could tell) and not available if you decide to purchase then you might be better off going for a purchase since you could also likely include the $7500 federal rebate bringing the total down even more if you qualify for the full rebate.

I can see the attraction in choosing to lease, but financially, it doesn't look like they are offering the federal rebate into the deal which the lease company will almost certainly get as well. Make sure if you do decide to make a deal that they also include the federal rebate which should bring the cost down to around $16.7K.

I doubt all the incentives work towards purchasing. But if I were comparing leasing for $10k over 3 years or buying for $16.7k for the life of the car,, or even $18-20k for the life of the car, buying seems to win. But compared to buying a new volt right after introduction at MSRP, no way.

 

[freshcut]

I doubt all the incentives work towards purchasing. But if I were comparing leasing for $10k over 3 years or buying for $16.7k for the life of the car,, or even $18-20k for the life of the car, buying seems to win. But compared to buying a new volt right after introduction at MSRP, no way.

Thats why I took the competitive lease rebate of $500 out of my figure. If the remaining rebates are in fact eligible for purchase, that certainly would be better than spending money on a lease and having to give the car back since at that point you've paid most of the full, after rebate price and can sell or trade the car in after 3 years and recoup a lot of your payments rather than just letting it all go by giving the car back.

 

[llninja]

Thats why I took the competitive lease rebate of $500 out of my figure. If the remaining rebates are in fact eligible for purchase, that certainly would be better than spending money on a lease and having to give the car back since at that point you've paid most of the full, after rebate price and can sell or trade the car in after 3 years and recoup a lot of your payments rather than just letting it all go by giving the car back.

So let's assume that after the fed tax credit, you can indeed get this car for $16.7k. Even if you sold the car after 3 years of use, all one would have to do is sell it for more than $6.6k (16.7-10.1) to come out ahead. The real issue is whether the Op has cash sitting around to pay for the $24.2k initial cash outlay plus taxes to make this work while waiting for the fed tax credit. One way to quickly offset this is to adjust dial fed tax withholdings to $0 until they've saved up $7500 - no use giving Uncle Sam a zero interest loan. But if coming up with the full price of the car is a showstopper for some, then they really shouldn't be buying or leasing a new car anyway.

 

[czar44]

I think the best I could do on a straight purchase with the available incentives and rebates for a purchase would be about $22,000 on the base Volt, including state sales tax.

A lease for a base Volt is coming in at $200/mo with $0 drive off and a loaded premier at $275 with $0 drive off. Just trying to pick which is the better option. I really want leather, but not sure it's worth the price difference and I can't find a base Volt with leather with a dealer willing to negotiate. I also do like the safety packages of the premier that this specific car has but not sure if they're worth it?

Anyway I believe I am better off leasing especially if there is an opportunity in 3 years to negotiate the buy price of that's what I wanted to do.

 

[Bacardi]

I think the best I could do on a straight purchase with the available incentives and rebates for a purchase would be about $22,000 on the base Volt, including state sales tax.

A lease for a base Volt is coming in at $200/mo with $0 drive off and a loaded premier at $275 with $0 drive off. Just trying to pick which is the better option. I really want leather, but not sure it's worth the price difference and I can't find a base Volt with leather with a dealer willing to negotiate. I also do like the safety packages of the premier that this specific car has but not sure if they're worth it?

Anyway I believe I am better off leasing especially if there is an opportunity in 3 years to negotiate the buy price of that's what I wanted to do.

Leasing would be the way to go...Even if you can't buy it out you can always try to track the car because when you turn it in, the LENDER (not the dealership) sends the car through auction so it'll generally be put up for sale and fair odds you can eventually locate it by simply googling your VIN daily...

Call your insurance and have them price out a LT vs Premier in some locations folks are finding vehicles with auto-braking (C2) is actually cheaper to insure than a LT but YMMV...

 

[czar44]

Persistence. Just circled back with a dealer who was willing to match the lease offer that one dealer (far away) had on the one LT they had in stock with leather for $199/mo with tax and $0 drive-off, but which sold before I could grab it. So that's my ticket. I think that's a pretty good deal so I am going to stop going back and forth with dealers and scheduled pickup for Thursday morning.

 

[freshcut]

Call your insurance and have them price out a LT vs Premier in some locations folks are finding vehicles with auto-braking (C2) is actually cheaper to insure than a LT but YMMV...

I agree with pricing insurance. I got a quote on a '13 volt, no vin and they came back with $1600/yr. full coverage, 20K/yr. mileage. When I finally found mine it was a premium with SP1 and 2 and ended up coming down to $1100/yr, same coverages and mileage. The difference appeared to be the inclusion of the two safety packages.

 

[czar44]

Good to know thanks for the advice I'll call Geico today!

 

[czar44]

Persistence. Just circled back with a dealer who was willing to match the lease offer that one dealer (far away) had on the one LT they had in stock with leather for $199/mo with tax and $0 drive-off, but which sold before I could grab it. So that's my ticket. I think that's a pretty good deal so I am going to stop going back and forth with dealers and scheduled pickup for Thursday morning.

Actually, the lease pricing on this for $199/mo included the optional VIN etch and with that removed it dropped the payment to $193/mo with tax. So $87 cheaper than the original deal, or $3132 less in payments over the lease term.

 

[HiHoSilverVolt]

czar44: Can you share the dealer name? I am looking for a great deal in NJ

 

[czar44]

Sure but I am in CT

czar44: Can you share the dealer name? I am looking for a great deal in NJ

 

[HiHoSilverVolt]

Sure but I am in CT

NJ and CT are very close and I dont mind traveling an hour or two for a great deal