Your best car lease negotiating tips, please.

[Anonymous]

First time potential shopper here. Any advice about how to avoid being suckered on a lease? I get the basics, and I understand advertised specials and the fine print, but it seems like there are so many ways for dealers to roll various extra costs into the monthly fee.

[Anonymous]

I only negotiate cars through email. It levels the playing field, doesn’t waste my time and gives me time to run my numbers.

I go in. Test drive. Get a business card and leave. Email them if I’m interested in the car.

[Anonymous]

Leases are actually really easy to negotiate with multiple dealers. I agree with PP- do it all over email. When they try (and oh they will) to keep you in the dealership to hear the offer just say you have a commitment and you will email them. What is your credit like? If you have excellent credit you can tell them they don't have permission to run your credit but to give you the price for the top credit level. Here are some things I included in my email:

Exact car you want- trim level, etc including color choices
I wanted $0 down (have excellent credit)
Length of lease
Mileage per year
What is the monthly payment all in

This made it very easy to compare. I was surprised that Toyota dealers only 15 miles apart were very different on their quotes. I went with the lowest- who also happened to be the easiest to deal with.