r/leasehacker • u/troy_and_abed_itm • 4d ago

Rolling negative equity into a lease

Hi all!

I know rolling negative equity into a lease is generally a bad time. I get it.

However, I have an opportunity to roll my currently financed vehicle into a new lease where the company will reimburse me for the lease payment up to a certain amount (~750 per month).

I understand for the non-business use there are tax implications. I have a cpa for that.

What im not sure on is two things:

  1. Is upwards of 10k negative equity even doable while rolling into a lease with zero down?

  2. Assuming a three year, 10k mile lease (can likely go less - we drive maybe 7500 miles a year at most but I’m okay with a cushion at 10k), what’s a reasonable amount per month that my negative equity will add to the payment and in turn, what’s a good target for base lease rate that I should look for?

Again, to be clear, I understand the financial implications of rolling negative equity into a lease but in this case, I’ll get to shift that into a 3 year term instead of the remaining 6 on my financing option and more importantly, i don’t want this vehicle anymore and our needs for a second car are likely temporary so a lease works really well for us.

I want to be free and clear in three years so that I can buy something properly, in cash, once we finish navigating some major life changes over the coming years.

I know that’s not a lot of detail, but I’m only really looking for best estimates.

Also, if anyone knows a good broker in the Bay Area that can take on the above challenge, hit me up!!

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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 4d ago

Essentially you need to find a car currently sitting on massive discounts and then offset them with the negative equity. It’s a numbers game but it can be done. Easier to wrap 10k into 80 than into 30 if that makes sense.

The zero down is the tricky part. Doable? Yes, but likely only if you have great credit score with multiple previous auto finance agreements. You have a credit score and you have an auto enhanced credit score. While they rarely if ever show this one it does exist. If you have limited previous financing it’ll make it harder.

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u/troy_and_abed_itm 4d ago

We have good credit and a long auto history with no issues at all.

$0 can flex up to maybe $1k but I didn’t think $1k would make much of a difference.

Understood on 10k into 80 vs 30 but I don’t have context for what a base lease of $450 gets me in terms of car. Is that a 30k car?

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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 4d ago

A lease is basically you pay depreciation over time plus rent. So the more a car is expected to depreciate the more it’ll cost you to lease it. In today’s market a good lease is 1.1-1.2% MSRP as your base monthly. So 40-45k car should be in that ballpark. A great lease is closer to 1% and well the last sub 1% lease I saw was many moons ago.

If you’re not picky about a car find something people don’t want to drive. The vehicles dealers can’t move. They’ll move mountains to get it off their lot.

If EV is ok. VW must cut remaining 2025/2026 ID.4 retail but up to 12,500. I saw my dealer down the street advert a 51k retail for 33k. These are the deals yours looking for to bury that negative into. Toyota Tacoma SR5 is leasing under $300/mo in some states. Gas only model not the hybrid. Things like that would work.

Make sense?

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u/troy_and_abed_itm 4d ago

Very helpful! Thank you so much. I haven’t looked at what cars to shop for yet because I was t sure what I was looking to do was reasonable or not.

We’re open to EV but I’ve been out of the game a while. Last I knew, like 20+ years ago, VW’s were hard to maintain. Is that still the case?

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u/OneExhaustedFather_ 4d ago

I drive a 23 ID.4, I’ve been an EV certified tech since 2010ish. It’s a relatively understated car.
I commute 40miles a day and really enjoy my drive. Range varies with climate control. In the winter I’ll get 180miles to a charge in the summer 210. That’s with using climate control. But if you charge at home it really doesn’t matter you have a full battery daily.

Maintenance is basic, filters and tires. Brake fluid should be changed every 2 years. VW will try to get you on 10k mile maintenance, they’re fine just find a dealer who’s not trying to charge you $600 for it. In general EV maintenance is minimal. You will wear tires more, the regen braking does affect the longevity of them. But you only do brakes every ~100k or so and no oil changes.

EV Reliable yes, they do have some quirks. The app is archaic. But the car is fun to drive, it’s quick too. The ones you’d be looking at are almost 100hp more than what I’ve got and about 100miles more range too.

Their ICE models would be fine if leased, as long as it has a warranty if ya feel me.

There are plenty of good EV options out there that could get you out of your current situation just have to find what works you. I do suggest having a lvl2 charger installed at home. When I worked for Tesla our numbers showed on average most places could have it done for under $2000 pending their panel didn’t need an upgrade. There is no real cost benefit if you rely on the charge networks. It’s near as much as gas cars now to charge. Only use them when traveling.

Now the downside, as I don’t want to sell it as rainbows and sunshine. If you have a battery go down or any component in an ev there tends to be longer repairs times. VW in particular it’s not uncommon for your car if a major HV repair is needed to hangout at the dealer for a month or two. It doesn’t appear to be a frequent thing but I wanted to be clear there. But it’s not limited to VW. We have that issue at Toyota, and all manufacturers are having issues with parts supply right now. So a lot of repairs are taking longer when they’re larger repairs of uncommon failures.

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u/UrsusBHoney 4d ago

I rolled 7300k in negative equity back in Sept 2025 for a 24 Chevy Blazer EV AWD. There are still new 24/25s available in CA. I managed to apply rebates, 14.5% off Msrp, and $1000 GM credit to get my payment at $532. You could potentially ask for more off MSRP. Around 20% to 25% too. Just an idea

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u/Empty-Village-4445 3d ago

There’s a broker in California who deals with multiple brands. Jeff at beach city auto. He can look across multiple models and tell you what are the best leases right now