Instead, we typically see more subtle forms of incentives such as low-interest loans (rarely 0%), leases on certain models and styles, and hidden factory-to-dealer rebates on some models. Factory-to-dealer cash rebates are almost always used by dealers to discount prices to customers.

Here are a summary of the current Acura incentives for November and December 2009 (ending 1/04/2010):

2009 Acura MDX – $2000 factory-to-dealer cash, low-interest loans (1.9% APR for 24/36 months, 2.9% for 60 months), and a special lease deal on the Base model — $469 a month, 36 months, 10K miles per year, and $3299 due at lease signing.

2010 Acura RDX – Special lease deal on Base model — $399 a month, $3599 due at signing

2010 Acura RL – $2000 factory-to-dealer cash, and a special lease deal on the Base model — $569 a month, $3999 due at signing

2010 Acura TL – Special lease deal on Base model — $399 a month, $3299 due at lease signing

2009 Acura TL – $1500-$2000 factory-to-dealer cash, depending on style,

2010 Acura TSX – $1500 factory-to-dealer cash (on certain styles), and a special lease deal — $299 a month, $3599 due at signing

You may already know that you must have a good credit rating to get the low interest rates or the special lease deals. If you think you might want to lease, make sure you understanding how car leasing works first. We recommend reading the free Lease Guide at LeaseGuide.com.

You can get free price quotes from local dealers on any of the above Acura vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

There are few deals which we’ll mention below but we feel that other incentives are coming, albeit a little late in the month. However, when the incentives are announced, we expect them to cover the remaining part of November as well as December.

What we see are a few special leases and factory-to-dealer rebates on some models, as well as a few low-interest loans. All the current incentives end on 11/30/2009.

As you probably know, the factory-to-dealer rebates can, and usually are, used by dealers to offer customer price discounts.

On the 2009 Toyota Highlander SUV, there is a $1500 factory-to-dealer rebate and a $319 a month lease deal (48 months, 12K miles per year, $3204 due at lease inception).

The 2010 Toyota Corolla gets a special 0% APR loan rate for 36/48 months and 0.9% for 60 months, as well as a $750 factory-to-dealer rebate which cannot be combined with a low-interest loan. The LE style gets a special $149 a month lease (39 months, 12K miles per year, $2964 due at inception).

The 2010 Toyota Matrix (Base style) gets a special $199 a month lease (48 months, 12K miles per year, $2869 due at signing)

The 2010 Toyota RAV4 gets low-interest loan rates — 0% APR for 36 months, 1.9% for 48 months, 2.9% for 60 months — $1000 factory-to-dealer rebate, and a special lease deal on the Base model — $219 a month, 39 months, 12K miles per year, $2779 due at signing.

The 2009 Toyota RAV4 gets $1000 factory-to-dealer rebate.

The 2010 Toyota Sienna gets a $1000 factory-to-dealer rebate and a special lease deal (LE model) — $299 a month, 39 months, 12K miles per year, $2974 due at signing. 

The 2010 Toyota Tundra gets $3000 factory-to-dealer cash and special low-interest loan rates — 0% APR rate for 36 months and 1.9% for 48/60 months.

The 2009 Toyota Venza gets a low-interest loan deal — 0% APR for 36 months, 2.9% for 48 months, and 3.9% for 60 months.

The 2009 Toyota Yaris gets a $1000 direct factory-to-customer rebate and a special low-interest loan rate (which cannot be combined with a rebate) — 0% APR for 36 months, 1.9% for 48 months, and 2.9% for 60 months

You can get free dealer price quotes on any of the above Toyota vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Honda

In addition to its now-traditional excellent special leases on certain models and styles (see Honda Lease Deals), three are also some good low-interest loans (unfortunately no 0% loans however) and a number of healthy factory-to-dealer cash deals. As you might know if you read this website often, factory-to-dealer cash is a “secret” rebate that dealers can use to discount prices. In most cases, the discounts can be combined with low-interest loans, whereas a direct factory-to-customer rebate would not. Furthermore, a price discount is better than a rebate in that sales tax is not due on discounts, but not so for rebates.

Currently, the 2010 Accord and 2010 Civic get special loan rates of 1.9% APR for 24/36 months and 2.9% for 48 months. The 2010 S2000 gets 3.9% APR for 24/36 months and 4.9% for 60 months.

Dealers get factory-to-dealer cash rebates for several 2009 models. As we mentioned, these rebates can, and usually do, end up as customer price discounts. The best deal is for the 2009 Ridgeline with a $3000 factory-to-dealer rebate. The 2009 Accord gets $1500. The Odyssey and Pilot get $1250. The Civic gets $750 and the CRV gets $500.

You can get free dealer price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.

Honda

If you’ve been following, Honda always puts its special lease deals on the LX style within most of its model lines — Civic, CRV, Accord, Insight, Odyssey, and Pilot.

The good news is that the deals are always excellent leases. The bad news is that you have to want the exact model and style that is being offered in the deals.

The Honda leases are excellent deals because they have combined the three main lease factors — price, money factor (form of interest rate), and residual (lease-end value) — in way that makes for a very low monthly payment for the vehicle.  If you don’t understand car leasing and how it works, we suggest you see LeaseGuide.com.

The current Honda lease deals are all for 2010 models, LX style, 12,000 miles a year allowance, and 36 month lease term.  In each deal, an amount of money will be due at the time you lease. This amount covers a down payment, the first month’s payment, and a bank fee (lease acquisition fee). You may also have to include your state’s official tag and registration fees.

Here are some examples of the deals :

Honda Civic – $199 a month, $1999 due at lease inception

Honda Accord – $209 a month, $2799 due at lease inception

Honda CRV – $239 a month, $2499 due at lease inception

Honda Insight – $199, $2199 due at lease inception

Honda Odyssey – $299, $2999 due at lease inception

Honda Pilot – $349, $2999 due at lease inception

If you want to lease another model or style, or modify one of the above deals, make sure you understand leasing first. Our sister website, LeaseGuide.com can help.

General Motors has announced some very generous new incentives, which expire November 30, on all its brands — Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC as well as on its discontinued brands — Hummer, Pontiac, Saturn, and Saab. The incentives vary across the board from heavy factory-to-customer cash rebates (especially on 2009 models), 0% loans, low-interest loans, and a few cases of factory-to-dealer cash.

Zero percent loans are plentiful in the new GM incentives, especially on 2009 models for which 2010 models are already available. Of course we all know that in the case a vehicle has both a 0% APR or low-interest loan deal and a customer rebate, that you have to choose one or the other, but not both. All Saturn models, as do all Pontiac models, get 0% loan deals for 12/24/36/48/60/72 months, which is very unusual. Many 2009 Chevrolet and some Buick models also get 0% APR loans, but for shorter term loans, generally 24/36/48 months.

Some examples of the excellent rebate deals are: 2009 Buick Lacrosse – $2500, 2009 Cadillac DTS and STS – $3000, 2009 Cadillac CTS – $2000, 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche – $3500, 2009 Chevrolet Malibu – $1500, 2009 Pontiac G6/G8 – $3500, 2009 Pontiac G5/Solstice/Torrent/Vibe – $2500, 2009 Saturn (all models) – $4000.

If you want a Hummer, which GM will no longer be producing, you can get some great deals. Hummer dealers get as much as $6000 in factory-to-dealer cash on each vehicle that they can use to provide customer discounts.  The H3 model gets $6000, the H3T gets $3500, and the H2/H2 SUT get $5000.

Although GMAC is back in the car leasing business now, there have been no special lease deals announced (so far) on GM vehicles.

———

BMW has also just announced new incentives for November and December (see Good BMW Deals). In fact, these are some of the best deals we’ve seen from the company this year.

———

Ford has announced some outstanding deals for November and December. See Great Ford Deals.

———

Other intentives for November, as well as December in some cases, have also been announced by Acura, Honda, and Toyota.

You can get free dealer price quotes on any 2009 and 2010 vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available.