31 Days of Cool Cars and Hot Savings: Day 3 | TrueCar Blog

Friday, December 3, 2010 5:00 am

Image via CrunchBaseTrueCar Blog

Welcome to Day 3 of TrueCar.com’s 31 Days of Savings.  Yesterday we featured the luxury of Lexus, the simplicity of Mitsubishi and the fuel economy of Chevrolet.  So far, we have featured 5 cars that offer at least a 10% discount, with discounts as high as 24%.  Now is a great time to buy.
As a reminder, the following needs to be remembered when considering these deals:
• Incentives and leasing programs are subject to change and should be confirmed with your dealer
• Many of the 2010 models are great deals because they are in short supply, check with your dealer for inventory
• Many of the 2011 models are just becoming great deals as 2010s go completely away
• Advertised lease specials can be improved upon, as we have stated previously
…
Deal #2:  2010 Volkswagen Routan S

Image via WikipediaThough the TV show Lost featured the iconic VW van in full-on retro mode over the course of its 6 years, most people stopped thinking about Volkswagen as a maker of minivans sometime after Woodstock.  But the manufacturer still makes outstanding vehicles and, though this might be in short supply because of model year changeover, getting your hands on one is a great buy.  The TrueCar average price is $23,082, which represents a 14% discount from MSRP.

Related articles

• TrueCar.com Pricing Can Lower Advertised Lease Payments (prnewswire.com)
• Report: Today is the best day all year to buy a new car (autoblog.com)
• BMW Tops Lexus, Mercedes in U.S. Luxury Auto Sales for November (businessweek.com)

Monthly Round-Up: August 2010

Ride With G--Auto Leasing De-mystified

Hey everyone! Welcome back to this month’s Round-Up!!! For those who are new to the site, here is a quick explanation of what this Round-Up is all about:

Towards the end of every month, I examine the Top Ten leases based on the information I have collected. …

Image via CrunchBaseFYI, according to TrueCar’s “TrueTrends Report”, the best time to get a car is 9/2/2010. Truecar projects approximately 11.23% discount off MSRP on average. …

Here are some ground rules that I follow:

1. Participating vehicles will be based on the lease rates gathered on this website throughout the corresponding month (and limited to a maximum price of $50,000). I encourage you to share the information you’ve gathered during your research so we can make The Round-Up more complete each month.
2. Only 36-month/15k lease terms will be examined since it’s the ideal lease term.
3. A $1650 drive-off fee will be assumed for all cars. Remember, this is ONLY an estimate, the drive-off could be lower or higher depending on the car.
4. Estimates will be based on the Southern California region using Truecar.com data, so your numbers may vary.
5. All estimates assume you qualify for the base rate. A minimum FICO® Score of 700 may be required.
6. Sales taxes not included in order to keep things simple. Please refer to “Understanding Sales Tax” to learn how taxes affect your monthly payments.
7. The rating system used is based on my Lease Calculator, which assumes that 1.09 or a monthly payment of 1.09% off the MSRP (or less) is a GREAT lease deal.

HERE IS THIS MONTH’S ROUND-UP!

2010 Infiniti G37 Sports Coupe
36-month | 15k miles | residual 63% | .00131 base money factor

MSRP $44,595
Sale Price $39,500
Monthly $405 + tax
(0.91) …

2010 Nissan Altima 3.5 SR Sedan
36-month | 15k miles | residual 56% | .00112 base money factor

MSRP $31,790
Sale Price $26,630
Monthly $323 + tax
(0.93) …

2010 Nissan Maxima SV
36-month | 15k miles | residual 52% | .00047 base money factor

MSRP $37,500
Sale Price $31,296.00
Monthly $351 + tax
(0.94) …

Image via Wikipedia

2010 Volkswagen Routan SEL w/RSE and NAV
36-month | 15k miles | residual 43% | .00007 base money factor

MSRP $39,400
Sale Price $30,671
Monthly $384 + tax
(0.97) Big families rejoice! If you are shopping for a minivan with the works, the Routan may be for you. Assuming TruCar is not screwing with me on the “sale price”, you can knock off almost $9000 off the MSRP, making this a fantastic deal! This actually makes the residual tolerable and can even qualify this van under the “Lease-To-Buy” category! If you managed to get this deal from your local VW dealer, please come back with your comments because I am interested in seeing how you pulled it off or not. If this is still a bit beyond your budget, try the SE trim.

2010 Infiniti Journey G37 Sedan
36-month | 15k miles | residual 59% | .00107 base money factor

MSRP $40,065
Sale Price $35,300
Monthly $387 + tax
(0.97) …

2010 Honda Accord EX-L Sedan
36-month | 15k miles | residual 54% | .00121 base money factor

MSRP $27,580
Sale Price $22,800
Monthly $279 + tax
(1.01) …

2010 Volkswagen Jetta S | Limited Sedan
36-month | 15k miles | residual 51% | .00002 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 54% | .00016 base money factor

MSRP $24,652
Sale Price $21,581
Monthly $250 + tax
(1.02) Some of the Jettas are great deals right now due to the low money factors and decent residual values. Unfortunately, availability could be an issue in some areas since VW is in “clearance” mode right now. The SE trim priced itself out of the “Great Deal” category due to a higher money factor. It is still a good deal, just not a “Great one”. The Limited edition model also makes the cut as a “Great Deal”, scoring a 1.08 on the rating system.

2010 Acura TSX
36-month | 15k miles | residual 58% | .00100 base money factor

MSRP $30170
Sale Price $27,500
Monthly $322 + tax
(1.07) …

2011 BMW 328i Sedan | 2011 BMW 328xi Sedan
36-month | 15k miles | residual 61% | .00130 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 61% | .00125 base money factor

MSRP $40,925
Sale Price $38,000
Monthly $440 + tax
(1.08) …

2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited
36-month | 15k miles | residual 56% | .00050 base money factor

MSRP $28,200
Sale Price $26,000
Monthly $304 + tax
(1.08) …
Parting Shots
…Got comments? questions? Disagree with my analysis? Please chime in with your thoughts on what you think this month’s Top Ten should be.

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European Carmakers Offering Attractive Leases For April

PriceWheels Blog

Apr 2nd, 2010 by Ross Edwards

…Volkswagen is offering low interest rates on most of its cars during April, but the standouts are the CC, Passat and Routan, which are all available with 0.9% financing for up to 60 months. …

New Website Demystifies Car Pricing--For Free

BNET Auto Blog

By Jim Motavalli | Dec 16, 2009
Did you know that two of the best days to buy a car (if you can get away) are Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve? Did you know that you can get 20 percent or more off Saturn Vues and Auras right now because GM is trying to run through their remaining inventory?
I didn’t either, but I’m up to speed now. These are a couple of the insights provided in TrueCar’s “TrueTrends” report, released today (and available at http://www.truecar.com/). The report also offers information on which cars are the most and least negotiable in purchase price. For obvious reasons, the 2009 Chrysler Aspen is one of the most negotiable, but who knew that the much more desireable  2010 Mini Cooper would be on the list? For the reason, read on.
Other very flexible models include the GMC Yukon (big SUVs are hard to sell these days), the Audi A5, and the Chrysler Sebring (bad ratings in Consumer Reports don’t help). Least flexible models include the VW Routan (the comeback of the minivan?), the Toyota Yaris (small cars are back), the Mazda Miata (the bestselling sports car of all time) and the Mazda5. But why does the Hummer H3 appear on this list? Again, read on. …
OK, that’s out of the way. I talked to Jesse Toprak, who is TrueCar’s vice president of industry trends and insights. “Why isn’t pricing on the Hummer H3 more flexible?” I asked. “The point is not that the least flexible models are the most expensive,” he said. “It means that they could be giving it away [a likely scenario with the H3] but they’re giving it away in a similar range. When you walk in, you know what you’re likely to pay?
And the Mini Cooper as most flexible? “That’s on the other extreme,” Toprak said. “The range of prices on the Mini Cooper is extremely wide. People can walk into the same dealership on the same day, and the one who is well informed will pay much less than sticker, and the other who is clueless will pay $3,000 over MSRP.”
Upon disparities like this, businesses are based. TrueCar is a web-based California-based startup launched last spring, with $2.8 million in A-series financing and a second round aiming to bring in a lot more early next year. Toprak is a refugee from the respected Edmunds.com, and he has helped assemble a staff of 20 in Santa Monica (with 10 hires to come). …

2009 VW Routan Van lease rate October

oDotSix... it is "THE" BLOG

A Coworker is looking for a Van, checking out the Certified pre-owned Honda Odyssey and found out that a low miles EX model would cost almost $25k. Then, we discovered that the VW Routan (aka Town and Country etc... ) are running some aggressive promotion.
0% up to 72 month in addition to $1500 cash, plus another $1~2k hidden rebate.
Yeah, i know someone might be looking at leasing it due to concern about long term reliability. Here it is
Routan S 36mo 15k/yr MF 0.00033 residual 38%
Routan S w/ rear entertainment system 36mo 15k/yr MF 0.00033 residual 36%
Routan SE 36mo 15k/yr MF 0.001 residual 38%
Routan SE w/ RES 36mo 15k/yr MF 0.001 residual 36%
So, in terms of monthly payment, you are looking at around $350 for 72mos ($0 down)
For lease, it's about the same payment but you need to pay the inception fee up front. As i always see, it's better to lease newer year model and purchase older year model because the residual for older model always kill the deal. I will check again for 2010 program when the van is available.
Posted by oDotSix at 9:48 PM