Some vehicles have 0% APR loans for other loan terms. For example, the 2009 Ford Explorer gets 0% for 36, 48, and 60 months.

Ford’s current deals are a little strange in that some vehicles get better incentives on the 2010 models than on 2009 models. This might be explained by a shortage of 2009 inventory as a result of the very successful “cash-for-clunkers” program in August and September. There’s no need to put incentives on vehicles they don’t have to sell.

Following are some examples of current Ford new-car deals for October (until 11/02/2009). As usual, customers must accept either the rebate or the low-interest loan, but not both. We advise that, in most cases, rebates are usually a better deal, especially if the customer needs down payment money — which the rebate can serve for.

2010 Ford Edge – $2000 customer rebate, 0% APR  loan rate for 36 months, 0.9% for 60 months, 1.9% for 60 months, and 3.9% for 72 months.

2009 Ford Edge – $1500 rebate, 0% APR for 36/48/60 months, 1.9% for 72 month

2010 Ford Escape – $1000 rebate, 0%/1.9%/2.9%/4.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford Escape – no special incentives

2010 Ford Expedition – $3000 rebate, 0%/1.9%/2.9%/4.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford Expedition – $2000 rebate, 0%/0.9%/1.9%/3.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2010 Ford Explorer – $2000 rebate, 0%/1.9%/2.9%/4.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford Explorer – $3000 rebate, 0% APR for 36/48/60 months and 1.9% for 72 months

2010 Ford F150 – $2000 rebate, 0%/2.9%/3.9%/5.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford F150 – $2500 rebate, 0% APR for 36/48/60 months and 1.9% for 72 months

2010 Ford Flex – $1500 rebate, 0%/0.9%/1.9%/3.0% for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford Flex – $2500 rebate, 0% APR for 36/48/60 months and 1.9% for 72 months

2010 Ford Focus – $500 rebate, 0%/4.9%/5.9%/7.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford Focus – $1000 rebate, 0%/4.9%/5.9%/7.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2010 Ford Fusion – $500 rebate, 0%/2.9%/3.9%/5.9%  for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford Fusion – no special incentives

2010 Ford Mustang – $500 rebate, 0%/2.9%/3.9%/5.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford Mustang – $1500 rebate, 0%/1.9%/2.9%/4.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2010 Ford Taurus – $500 rebate, 0%/3.9%/4.9%/6.9% for 36/48/60/72 months

2009 Ford Taurus – no special incentives

2009 Ford Taurus X – no special incentives

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

Acura

The incentives include low-interest loans, special lease deals, and factory-to-dealer cash that dealers can pass along to customers as price discounts. Acura, like most other luxury car makers, doesn’t want to be viewed as a “discount” brand. Therefore, they offer no direct factory-to-customer rebates but, instead, offer other ways of creating attractive deals.

The new Acura incentives are a little out of the ordinary in a couple of ways. First, the factory-to-dealer cash is only offered on 2009 models that the dealer already had in inventory as late as September 9, 2009. The cash rebates, therefore, provide incentive for dealers to to get rid of “old” cars that have been sitting on the lot for a month or more — by using the rebate as a price discount for customers.

The second way in which the new Acura incentives are different is that customers can combine the factory-to-dealer cash with low-interest loans. Such combinations are not usually allowed.

Here is a summary of the new Acura deals. All apply to 2009 models unless otherwise indicated.

Acura MDX – $2000 conditional factory-to-dealer cash rebate (see above discussion of special conditions of this rebate), and 1.9% APR loan rate for 24/36 months and 2.9% for 60 months. A special lease deal is available for the Base model: $469 a month, 36 months, 10K mileage allowance, and $3299 due at signing, which includes the first month’s payment, a down payment (cap cost reduction), and a bank fee (acquisition fee).

 Acura RDX – $1500 conditional dealer cash (see above discussion). For the 2010 RDX Base model, a special lease deal is available: $399 a month, $3599 due at signing.

Acura RL – $3000 conditional dealer cash. For the 2010 RL, $2000 dealer cash and a special lease deal:  $569 a month, $3999 due at signing.

Acura TL – $2000 conditional dealer cash and low interest loan rates: 1.9% APR for 24/36 months and 2.9% for 60 months. The same low APR rates also apply to the 2010 TL but not the dealer cash.

Acura TSX – $1250 conditional dealer cash. For the 2010 TSX, two special lease deals are offered for October. For the 2010 TSX Base 2.4L 4-cylinder auto transmission, $299 a month, $3599 due at signing. For the 2010 TSX Base 3.5L 6-cylinder auto transmission, $359 a month, $3799 due at signing.

If you don’t understand how car leasing works and would like to learn, we suggest LeaseGuide.com. The site contains a free guide to car leasing and payment calculators.

You can get free dealer price quotes 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.

Audi

Just to be clear, the “loyalty” rebates being offered are for current owners or leasers of 2003 or newer Audi vehicles. The vehicles do not have to be traded to qualify.

As is typical of Audi, the company does not want to be viewed as a discount car brand. Therefore they don’t offer straight out rebates. However, along with the “loyalty” rebates, they currently have generous factory-to-dealer cash that dealer’s usually pass along to customers in the form of price discounts (not rebates). 

Let’s take a look at the new October Audi deals:

Audi A3 – $1000 customer loyalty bonus rebate, $2500 factory-to-dealer cash, and 0.9% APR loan rate for 12/36 months, 1.4% for 48 months, and 1.9% for 60 months.

Audi A4 – $2000 loyalty rebate, $5000 dealer cash, and 0.9% APR loans for 12/36/48/60 months.

Audi A5 – $1500 loyalty rebate, $1000 dealer cash, and 3.9% APR for 12/36 months, 4.4% for 48 months, and 4.9% for 60 months.

Audi A6 – $3000 loyalty rebate, $4000 dealer cash, and 1.9% APR for 12/36 months, 2.4% for 48 months, and 2.9% for 60 months.

Audi A8 – $5000 loyalty rebate, $5000 dealer cash, and 1.9% APR for 12/36 months, 2.4% for 48 months, and 2.9% for 60 months.

Audi Q5 – $1000 loyalty bonus, $1000 dealer cash, and 3.9% APR for 12/36 months, 4.4% for 48 months, and 4.9% for 60 months.

Audi Q7 – $5000 loyalty bonus, $4000 dealer cash, and 1.9% APR for 12/36 months, 2.4% for 48 months, and 2.9% for 60 months.

Audi S6 – $4000 loyalty bonus, $4000 dealer cash, and 2.9% APR for 12/36 months, 3.4% for 48 months, and 3.9% for 60 months.

Audi S8 – $5000 loyalty bonus, $5000 dealer cash, and 2.9% APR for 12/36 months, 3.4% for 48 months, and 3.9% for 60 months.

Audi TT – $2000 loyalty bonus, $3000 dealer cash, and 0.9% APR for 12/36 months, 1.4% for 48 months, and 1.9% for 60 months.

Audi TTS – $2000 loyalty bonus, no dealer cash, and 0.9% APR for 12/36 months, 1.4% for 48 months, and 1.9% for 60 months.

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

UPDATE: As of October 1st, a number of car manufacturers have announced new incentives for October. Others have not yet announced. We provide specific details in posts and articles on this site as we learn about them.

Remember, BMW extended their September deals through Ocotber, and Ford’s September deals don’t end until October 5. 

Of course we are all wondering what the new deals will be, if they are better than the current deals — and whether we should go for the current deal or wait for the next deal.

And as usual, we tell you that we or nobody else knows what car manufacturers are going to do for October. They don’t even tell their dealers what’s coming. They prefer that dealers and customers concentrate on current deals and not put off purchases until next month.

So it becomes a little bit of a crap shoot — do we take the current deals or do we wait to see what happens next month? The chance we take is that the October deals may be worse or no better than September’s deals — or that there are no deals at all for the make/model we want.

Most of the current car incentives for this month end on September 30. This means there is no chance of knowing what the new deals will be until at least Ocober 1, or later. Furthermore, deals can change during the month, so the deals you see at first might not be the same deals two weeks later. The good news is that the deals usually get better, not worse. 

Since this is the time of year when many 2010 models are being released, you can expect to see incentives on both 2009 and 2010 models at the same time. However, the best incentives will be on 2009 models, especially when dealers and manufacturers have excessive inventory and need to make room for new 2010 models. If you are looking for the absolute best deals, there are actually many leftover 2008 models still around. See our article, Leftover 2008 Cars for Cheap.

We will bring you information about new car incentives for October as soon as manufacturers announce them.

There are no special lease deals.

All 2009 model Pontiacs get a 5.9% APR loan rate for qualified customers for 36/48/60/72 months. This is lower than the current average new-car loan rate of about 7.5%, but not significantly less. Most customers will be better to take the alternative rebate.

All Pontiac models also get a $500 factory-to-dealer rebate, which dealers can do with as they like. However, these direct-to-dealer rebates usually end up being passed on to customers as a price discount (not rebate).

There are also factory-to-customer rebates as well. The amount varies by model. The 2009 Pontiac G3, G5, Solstice, Torrent, and Vibe all have a $2500 rebate, while the 2009 Pontiac G6 and G8 have a $3500 rebate.

The above Pontiac incentives end November 2, 2009.

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

In typical Honda fashion, there are no direct customer rebates. However there are hidden factory-to-dealer rebates on most models and styles — and low-interest loans. These rebates can, and usually are, passed along to buying and leasing customers in the form of price discounts. However the rebates cannot be combined with low-interest loan deals.

Following are some examples of current Honda deals. These are for 2009 models and the deals end on November 2, 2009.

Honda Accord – $1500 dealer rebate or 1.9% APR loan for 24/36 months, or 2.9% for 60 months. For the Accord LX sedan model, a special lease deal is available – $209 a month, 36 months, 12K mileage allowance, and $2799 due at signing. The $2799 includes first month’s payment, a down payment (cap cost reduction), and a bank fee, all of which are common for any car lease. The lease price includes the $1500 dealer rebate.

Honda CRV – $500 dealer rebate. No low-interest loans. A special lease rate is available for the CRV LX model – $239 a month, $2499 due at signing.

Honda Civic – $750 factory-to-dealer rebate. Low interest loans: 1.9% APR for 24/36 months and 2.9% for 60 months. A special lease deal is available for the LX sedan model – $199 a month, $1999 due at signing, and includes the $750 factory-to-dealer rebate.

Honda Element and Fit – Low-APR loans for recent college graduates.

Honda Odyssey – $1250 factory-to-dealer rebate or 2.9% APR loan for 24/60 months

2010 Honda Odyssey LX - Special lease deal: $299 a month, $2999 due at signing.

2010 Honda Insight LX - Special lease deal: $199 a month, $2799 due at signing.

Honda Pilot – $1250 dealer rebate or 2.9% APR for 24/60 months.

Honda Ridgeline – $1500 dealer rebate or 2.9% APR for 24/60 months.

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

All of the BMW car lease deals are for 36 months only and have a 10,000 mile average mileage allowance. Most also require a modest security deposit, roughly equivalent to one month’s payment, unless your credit score precludes it.

As you may know, car manufacturers create special lease deals by reducing the price of the car (on which the lease is based), combined with a low money-factor (form of interest rate) and high lease-end residual value. Most such deals are genuine good deals but have very specific conditions such as down payment requirements, annual mileage allowance, and model/style. If you prefer a different set of conditions, or prefer a different model/style you may not be able to get as good of a deal.

Here are some of the best lease deals currently being offered by BMW:

2009 BMW 135i coupe – $439 a month and $4614 due at signing

2009 BMW i28i coupe – $369 a month and $4294 due at signing

2009 BMW 335i AWD coupe - $489 a month and $5214 due at signing

2009 BMW 328i wagon – $489 a month and $4864 due at signing

2009 BMW 335d sedan – $489 a month and $5514 due at signing

2010 BMW 535i sedan – $559 a month and $5384 due at signing

2010 BMW 528i sedan – $489 a month and $5214 due at signing

2009 BMW  650i coupe – $809 a month and $7884 due at signing

2009 BMW 750Li sedan – $1039 a month and $8314 due at signing

The amount “due at signing” includes the first month’s payment, a down payment (cap cost reduction), an acquisition fee (bank fee), and possibly a security deposit. It does not include any official tag and registration fees that are local to your area. Furthermore, in most states, sales tax is added to your monthly payment.

If you want to better understand car leasing, see LeaseGuide.com for a complete leasing guide, lease payment calculators, and a Lease Kit.