Anyone know the best time of a year to lease a new MDX? I've heard around the holidays is when the best deals can be acheived.

However, I want to find out if that is opinion is shared among a majority of the users on this forum.

Please let me know. Thanks.

 

Acura calls it The Dec Event.
Lexus calls it Dec to Remember.
Either way ... you will get a gift card Ho Ho Ho ...

 

One of my good friends is a car salesman. He says the best time to "buy" is September-October as the factory-to-dealer incentives are at their highest as they move inventory for the coming models. The time to buy is when the factory wants to make room for the new models.

Leasing is a little different. Acura is very good about offering corporate leases in advertisements and at acura.com (current offers). For example, Acura has a very aggressive lease on the remaining 2011 TLs: $339.00 per month for 36 months. $2,499.00 total due at signing (10K miles/yr).

That being said, the MDX corporate offer has remained fairly consistent at $499.00 per month for 36 months. $2,999.00 total due at signing (10K/yr.). They have variations of this lease with $0/down, etc., but it remains about the same. Obviously these are all +tax.

The best time, IMO, to lease an MDX is when you see this corporate lease fall. It means corporate is trying to move inventory. Obviously most of us want a higher mileage lease than 10K/yr, but the corporate offers are a good starting point in working a deal.

I leased our TL, TSX, and MDX using the corporate lease as my negotiating tool and waited for the price to fall. Once it did, I started getting quotes. Make sure to work the price of the vehicle down first as that's where the factory-to-dealer incentives are, then work the payments.

 

My wife says that Mothers Day is the best time for me to lease!

 

Good advice, but you didn't mention the FICO score in determining the best lease deal--the higher your credit rating the better deal you can get, but you have to be aggressive. Remember, you are still paying interest regardless of what Acura, or any other car dealership, calls it.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that all lease deals you see advertised are based on the MSRP of the vehicle. You should always negotiate the price of the new vehicle before you mention you want to lease. If the salesperson changes the price then just walk away.

 

When do you think the price will begin to fall? When do the 2012 MDXs come out?

 

Good question. It's my understanding that the '12 is basically the same as the '10-11, so I doubt there's going to be a rush to flush out the '11s.

That being said, I would guess that August-September you may see lower corporate deals as the '12s are ready for dealer lots. I wouldn't expect a huge difference: maybe $469/mo w/ $2999 down (10K/yr). So probably about 30 bucks a month drop (based on past deals) for a 2011 MDX.

 

Actually if you look into the fine print of the lease offers it will disclose the cap cost, many of the current leases are well below MSRP and when there is no 1st payment that also comes out of the gross cap cost as well. From a dealer source Most production is almost non existent from what gas happened in Japan, it will be interesting to see if the offers continue or will change after May 2nd. 0, down 0 first payment, 560 month is a pretty reasonable deal.

http://www.acura.com/tools/shopping/CurrentOffers.aspx

 

the price of this generation will fall a LOT when the 2012 model comes out later this year. The 2012 is going to be the FULL redesign of the MDX inside and out!

 

Reports we've read contradict this...where did you get this information?

Honda has recently been producing a 6-year cycle (see: Civic) or longer (see: Element), so given Japan's supply shortages and the strength of the current MDX, I'd be shocked if 2012 was a new redesigned MDX.

 

You are mostly correct about "cap cost", but there is a whole lot more involved in the final price you are going to pay on. As you note Acura will always use the MSRP in their "generic" lease terms. As I stated earlier you should be able to negotiate down from the MSRP; if not walk away. Here is an explanation for those who might not know the ins and outs of leasing:

On a lease, the gross cap cost is the effective "selling price" of a vehicle that is used to calculate monthly payments. Most of the leases written in the past did not have cap cost disclosure, so many dealers were able to charge prices that were much higher than those negotiated by customers or posted on vehicles. (This is known as the "secret price increase," a dirty trick that has also been used to steal down payments, trade-ins, and rebates.)

A. Total Depreciation is that part of the total monthly payments that pays for depreciation, not taxes or lease (finance) charges. There are three ways to calculate this number: 1) On some lease contracts (like Wells Fargo), the "average monthly lease depreciation" may be listed. If your lease has this figure, multiply it by the number of months in the lease and write the result on line A. 2) If your lease only lists the "average monthly lease charge," subtracting that figure from the "base monthly payment" (w/o tax) will give you the monthly depreciation. Then multiply that figure by the number of months in the lease and write the result on line A. 3) On lease contracts that only list the total lease charges (like Ford), first multiply the "basic monthly payment" (w/o tax) times the number of months in the lease to get the total of basic monthly payments. Then subtract the total lease charges from the total of basic monthly payments and write the result on line A.

B. Enter the Residual figure listed on the lease. (It may be listed as "residual value," "lease residual value," or "estimated wholesale value of vehicle at end of lease term.")

C. Add the Total Depreciation (A) to the Residual (B) and put the result on line C. This figure is the Net Cap Cost, or total amount financed.

D. Cap Reduction is any combination of cash down payment, rebate, and/or trade-in allowance that reduces the net cap cost (amount financed). It does not include amounts used for the first month's payment, security deposit, or any taxes/registration fees due at lease signing. (For example, if you gave the dealer $3,000 in cash, but $1,000 of that was needed for the first payment/security deposit/taxes, then the cap reduction amount should be $2,000. If it's a "zero-down" lease, the cap reduction should be zero.) Enter the correct amount on line D.

E. Add the Net Cap Cost (C) to the Cap Reduction (D) and put the result on line E. This figure is your Gross Cap Cost, the "selling price" of the vehicle that was used to calculate the monthly payments. This figure does not include any lease (finance) charges, and it should be the same as the negotiated or advertised price that you thought you were paying.

Note: In some cases, legitimate charges may have been added to the "selling price" which would make the Gross Cap Cost higher than the negotiated (or advertised) price of the vehicle. Examples: 1) Any taxes and/or registration fees due at lease signing that were not covered by the down payment. 2) If you did not pay an acquisition fee as part of your down payment (usually $400 to $450), this may have been added to the price. (This fee does not apply to Ford Credit leases, because they have not charged "official" [disclosed] acquisition fees. Instead, Ford's acquisition fees have been hidden in their total lease charges, with no disclosure provided.) To verify whether any taxes or fees should have been charged, call several dealers in your area, or ask your state DMV/tax authorities. (It's usually a waste of time to ask the lender or car company about previous lease charges--they're not going to say that their own dealer overcharged you.)

 

That is a good breakdown on terms, I am curious if there is any information about a 2012 redesign on the MDX?

http://www.insideline.com/acura/future-vehicles.html

 

Acura is doing it's 5 year cycle, just take a look at the TL and the TSX and this gen MDX and RDX.

The RL has been the only exception to this and we all know why that's happening. Also the Element and civic were due to "redesign constraints. The Civic story is pretty well known with initial views being pretty lackluster of the design they had last year so it was essentially scrapped and redone for what it is now.

 

Honda/Acura is taking it's time on the 3rd Gen MDX as they have to get it right right out of the box, or risk losing sales for Acura's top seller and profit maker. The 3rd Gen has been in the pipeline for several years as they have to get specs to suppliers for parts, and new stampings, etc. for the body. Hopefully, the new MDX will have several common features seen on most upscale vehicles now like smart access, push-button start, LED DRL/headlights, and advanced telematics; all the while keeping the price below the magic $60K number for the top model. I would not be surprised to see the 3rd Gen losing the 3rd row seating to be more competitive with the Lexus RX350. Also, I am guessing the RDX's days are numbered if it keeps the turbo 4 banger.