Who is the Leasing Company?
While many people will deal directly with the dealership in order to get their car leases this year, many people fail to realize that the company that they're actually dealing with is the car leasing company and not the dealership, which is actually acting as a middle-man to the entire deal.
A car leasing company is usually a subsidiary of an automotive company that deals with the various dealerships around the world. For each car company, there is a leasing company that a dealership will contact when you're ready to enter a lease. Because the dealership is acting as a middle-man to the deal, this can sometimes raise the prices for your lease. However, some leasing companies will give incentives to dealers that may lower the cost for your lease past what a leasing company can offer you. In order to get the best deal possible, it is often necessary to deal with both the dealership and the car leasing companies, then.
The first step to getting the best deal on a leased car is to first contact your dealer and arrange for your test drive. Leasing companies often will not have the vehicles for you to test drive on their location, so failure to arrange a test drive now can greatly slow down the negotiations with a leasing company. Because all the negotiations, test driving, and paperwork can be done in a dealership, it is also a good idea to go through the motions of negotiation to get the best price you can out of the dealership—make sure not to agree to anything, though. Let the dealership know that you need to think on it and walk away with the paperwork.
Now you should approach the car leasing company. It's important to be specific about the car that you want and to be as direct as you can during your negotiation with them on the terms. Though you may not be able to talk them as low in some areas as the dealership, you may be able to get them to add extra miles to your lease. Depending on your needs, a deal such as that may be better than a discount. Once you have gotten a price from the leasing company, compare the two prices. If the dealership's price seems far below that of the leasing company's, there is likely an incentive that the dealership has tried to pass on to you that could warrant leasing it through a middle-man.
Now that you see that you are actually dealing with car leasing companies in the background of every leasing arrangement you make with a car dealership, you are far more prepared to get the best deal when you arrange your car's lease. Use it to your advantage and get the best price for the best car that you can.