However, the deals are usually limited to one or two styles in each model line — and often not on all models. 

Subaru is different. The company is offering lease deals on every model and every style. And there are multiple deals for each style, differing by monthly payment amount and lease months. For example, on the Subaru Outback 2.5i AWD 4-door Wagon with manual transmission, the deals range from $299/month for 42 months, $307/months for 39 months, $309/month for 36 months, $315/month for 48 months, to $448/month for 24 months. All are for 2011 models, have 10,000 miles/year allowances, and require $1700 down payment plus first month’s payment due at signing.

The good news is that you have so many choices if you want to lease a Subaru.

The not-so-good news is that the deals are only good-to-average, as rated by LeaseGuide.com. In other words, the deals are probably only slightly better than you could negotiate for yourself but are nevertheless worth considering.

Generally, the shorter leases, such as the 24-month, are better deals than the longer leases, even though monthly payments are higher. The reason is that you pay less in finance costs and get a higher lease-end residual value. The result is a lower cost-to-value ratio — a better deal.

If you need a lower payment, then go for a longer term but we don’t advise a term longer than the basic Subaru factory warranty of 36 months.  That way, you are covered for the entire term of your lease. A longer lease would expose you to having to pay for repairs for a vehicle that you don’t own.

You can evaluate these or any other car lease deals for yourself with the special Real Lease Value Calculator at LeaseGuide.com.

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All of the deals are for 12,000 miles per year (except Smart – 10,000 miles/yr) and require a down payment and first month’s payment due at signing. All the lease deals are good through September.

Here is a summary of the current cheapest car lease deals:

2011 Smart ForTwo Pure Coupe – $159/month, $1653 due at signing, 24 months

2012 Chevrolet Cruze – $169/month, $2079 due at signing, 39 months

2012 Hyundai Accent – $169/month, $1699 due at signing, 36 months

2011 Hyundai Elantra – $169/month, $1699 due at signing, 36 months

2012 Hyundai Elantra – $179/month, $1999 due at signing, 36 months

2012 Nissan Altima – $179/month, $2999 due at signing, 24 months

2012 Nissan Versa – $179/month, $1999 due at signing, 39 months

2011 Smart ForTwo Passion Coupe – $179/month, $2033 due at signing, 24 months

2011 Volkswagen Jetta – $179/month, $2199 due at signing, 36 months

2011 Chevrolet Silverado – $189/month, $2039 due at signing, 39 months

2012 Nissan Sentra – $189/month, $1999 due at signing, 39 months

If you don’t understand how car leasing works or how to determine if you are a good leasing candidate, visit LeaseGuide.com where you’ll find all the information and advice you need to make a decision, including a Lease-vs-Buy Calculator.

If you want information and details about finding $0 zero down car leases, read Is it Possible to Lease a Car With $0 Down?

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Dealers are allowed to use the “secret” cash almost any way they want, but the intent is that most, if not all, of it goes into price discounts for customers. This can mean some great car deals.

If a particular vehicle has factory-to-dealer cash and rebates or low interest lows, all the better. In most cases, but not always, dealers are allowed to combine the incentives.  Then, of course, dealers can kick in some discount out their own pockets to sweeten the deals even further.

This month, September 2011, we find some of the best factory-to-dealer cash incentives (sometimes called “marketing support”) to be the following. All of these deals are on 2011 and 2012 models. We previously reported on some really outstanding deals on leftover 2010 models in our article, Incentives on Leftover 2010 Vehicles.

2011 Ford Focus – $2000

2011 Ford Mustang – $1500-$2000

2011 Mercury Grand Marquis – $5500

2011 Mercury Mariner and Milan – $3500

2011 Mercury Mariner Hybrid and Milan Hybrid – $1500

2012 Chevrolet Impala – up to $4000

2012 Chevrolet Corvette – $1500

2012 Chevrolet Colorado – up to $1000

2011 Cadillac STS – $9000

2011 Cadillac DTS – $7000

2011 Chevrolet Impala – up to $4500

2011 Chevrolet HHR – up to $4000 

2011 Chevrolet Aveo and Camaro – up to $1500

2011 Land Rover Range Rover – $2000

2011 Infiniti FX50 – $3000

2011 Infiniti EX35 and FX35 – $2000

2011 Nissan 370Z – $1500

2011 Saab 9-3 – $4000-$5000

2011 Saab 9-5 – $3500

2011 Saab 9-4X – $1500

2011 Subaru Legacy – up to $1250

2011 Tribeca and Forester – up to $1000

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

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Actually the best selling vehicles are Ford and Chevrolet pickup trucks, but the Camry is the best selling car, ahead of other top sellers such as the popular Nissan Altima and Honda Accord.

Why is that, you might wonder?

It’s not the most stylish car out there. It’s not the fastest. It’s not the sportiest. It’s not a SUV or minivan. It’s not the biggest or the smallest.

It’s not even the cheapest.

So what makes the Toyota Camry a best seller and why should you consider buying or leasing one, especially if you are offered a special deal?

It’s the almost ideal combination of all the reasons people buy cars: 

• Attractive
• Affordable
• Safe
• Inexpensive to insure
• Excellent fuel economy
• Good performance
• Comfortable
• Easy to drive
• Super reliable
• Maintains high resale value
• 2-year (24,000 miles) free service

All of these factors, added together, make the Camry attractive to a wide range of buyers.

Toyota is currently offering a special lease deal on the Camry LE model for September, good until October 3, 2011. Here are the details of the national lease deal:

2011 Toyota Camry LE 

• $189/month (not including sales tax)
• $2729 due at signing (includes first month’s payment)
• 36 months
• 12,000 miles per year allowance (36,000 miles total)

This deal rates as Outstanding (score=91) by LeaseGuide.com. You can score any lease deal using the special Real Lease Value Calculator at LeaseGuide.com.

Because Toyota has distributors in various sections of the U.S., the above Camry lease deal might be slightly different, depending on where you live. For example, the above deal is as described in many states, but in the Southeast it has a payment of $199/month with $2599 due at signing with a $500 customer bonus cash back that can be applied to reduce the monthly payment, while in New England the deal has a payment of $179/month with $2399 due at signing. These are almost the same deals, just with different details.

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Some dealers who are currently selling 2011 models and even 2012 models, still have a leftover supply of 2010 models. They desperately need to sell them and are willing to make good deals. Make no mistake, these are brand new never-titled vehicles with full factory warranty.

In most cases, dealers purchased too many cars from the manufacturer during what was a period of slow sales, and ended up with left over inventory.

The incentives are being offered in the form of “hidden” factory-to-dealer cash. A dealer uses this cash to discount the price of his left over cars to customers. He may also add some additional discount out of his own pocket to sweeten the deal. All the deals expire at the end of September 2011, except Ford’s which expire December 31, 2011.

Here are the current 2010 vehicles with high factory-to-dealer cash deals:

Ford F-150 – $4500-$5000

Ford Explorer Sport Trac and Fusion Hybrid – $2000

Lincoln MKT – $5000

Mercury Grand Marquis – $5500

Mercury Mountaineer – $4500

Mercury Mariner and Milan – $3500

Mercury Milan Hybrid – $3000

Mariner Hybrid – $1500

Mitsubishi Endeavor – $4500

Mitsubishi Galant – $3500

Mitsubishi Eclipse and Eclipse Spyder – $3000

Mitsubishi Lancer and Outlander – $2000

Saab 9-3 – $4500-$6000

Saab 9-5 – $5500

These are all great deals but is there a catch?

The “catch” is that you may not find many of the vehicles in the above list at dealers in your area. Furthermore, you may not have much choice in styles, features, and colors when you do find them. However, if you can be flexible, you could save a lot of money on a brand new car with full manufacturer’s warranty.

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Let’s take a look at the best deals being offered on 2011 models by various car companies:

BMW – Low-interest loans on most styles of the 1-Series, 3-Series, M3, 5-Series, Z4, X5, and X6.

Mini Cooper – 0% APR loan rate

Ford – Rebates on most models as high as $3000 on the F-150 truck, to about $500 on smaller models such as the Fiesta. Average is about $1500-$2000. 0% APR loans are available on most models except the F-150, Fiesta, and Explorer, which have low interest rate deals.

Lincoln – $3000 rebate on the Town Car, $2000 on the Navigator, and small rebates on other 2011 models. 0% APR loan rates are available on all models.

Buick – $3000 rebate on the Lucerne, $2000 on the Enclave and LaCrosse

Cadillac – $3500 on the Escalade, $3000 on the CTS. 0% APR on Escalade, CTS, and SRX.

Chevrolet – $4505 rebate on the Silverado 1500 truck, $4000 on the Avalanche, up to $3500 on Impala and HHR, $3005 on Silverado 2500HD/3500HD, $3000 on the Suburban, Tahoe, Corvette, and Colorado, and $2500 on the Malibu. 0% APR loan deals on selected styles of the Impala, HHR, Corvette, and Malibu.

GMC – $4505 rebate on Sierra 1500, $3005 on Sierra 2500HD/3500HD, $3000 on Yukon and Canyon, $2000 on the Acadia. Low interest loans available on all models.

Hyundai – $1000 rebate on the Veracruz and Santa Fe, 0% APR loan rates on Veracruz, Santa Fe, Accent, and Genesis sedan.

Jaguar – 0% APR deals on the XF, XJ, and XK models

Mercedes – 1.9% loan deals on most 2011 models

Mitsubishi – $4500 rebate on Endeavor, $3500 on Galant, $2000 on the Eclipse Spyder. 0% APR loan incentives on all models.

Nissan – up to $5250 rebate on the Titan truck, up to $4000 on Altima Hybrid, $3500 on the Armada, and up to $3000 on the Maxima and Frontier. Zero percent loans are available on all models.

Saab – Low interest loans (1.9% APR) on 9-3, 9-4X, and 9-5.

Subaru – Low interest loans (0.9%-1.9% APR) on Impreza, Legacy, Tribeca,  Forester, and Outback.

Suzuki – $2000 rebate on the Equator. 0% APR loan rate incentive on all models.

Toyota – September incentives not yet available at time of this writing

Volvo – Low interest loans (1.9%-2.9% APR) available on all models

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

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Volkswagen

What makes the new offers unusually attractive is that these special no-interest deals are offered for as long as 72 months.  Some are limited to 60 months. Maybe you haven’t noticed but most other car companies offering zero interest loans typically restrict them to 24 or 36 months. If you want a longer loan, you pay a higher rate.

When you buy a car with a 0% interest loan, it’s really easy to figure your monthly payments — simply divide the amount you’re financing by the number of months in your loan. But if you have a loan with any other interest rate, you must use an online loan calculator or business calculator — no more simple manual calculations.

Normally, if Volkswagen were offering rebates (which they aren’t) we would recommend that you consider the rebate over the 0% loan (see 0% Loans – Good Deals?). But since we don’t have that dilemma here, it’s not an issue.

Here are the current (until September 30, 2011) Volkswagen 0% APR incentives:

2011 Volkswagen Eos Komfort (0% for up to 72 months)

2011 Volkswagen CC (0% for up to 60 months)

2011 Volkswagen Tiguan (0% for up to 60 months)

2011 Volkswagen Routan (0% for up to 72 months)

Other Volkswagen models including 2012 models have 1.9% APR deals for up to 60 months. The 2012 New Beetle gets 2.9% for up to 60 months.

One of the conditions for qualifying for these 0% or reduced interest deals is that you have good credit. If you don’t know your most recent credit score, you should. Don’t let dealers know more about you than you know about yourself. You can get your instant credit score online at companies such as FreeCreditScore.com.

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

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However, the September deals from Honda are not so much brand new deals as a continuation of many (but not all) of the good deals from August.  Actually, the deals are good for both September and October. All deals end on October 31, 2011

Honda’s familiar “zero due at signing” or “$0-$0-$0” leases are back on three models:

2012 Crosstour EX V6 – $330/month (also available at $319/month with $2699 due at signing)

2011 Odyssey LX – $370/month (also available at $259/month with $1999 due at signing) 

2012 Pilot EX – $330/month (also available at $259/month with $2699 due at signing) 

Other special leases are available on the following models:

2012 Accord Sedan LX – $199/month, $1999 due at signing

2011 CR-V LX – $219/month, $1999 due at signing

These are genuinely good lease deals as determined by LeaseGuide.com. Before you decide to lease, visit LeaseGuide.com to make sure you understand how leasing works and if you are a good candidate for leasing. You should also know your most recent credit score to know if you meet the credit requirements to qualify for these lease deals. You can get your credit score online from companies such as FreeCreditScore.com.

Other than special lease incentives, Honda is also offering low-interest loans on at least one style within each model line. For example, you can get 0.9% for 24-36 months or 1.9% for 37-60 months for the 2011 Accord Coupe, 2011 Accord Sedan, 2011 CR-V, 2011 Fit, 2011 Odyssey, 2011 Crosstour, 2012 Crosstour, and 2011 Pilot. Special rates of 1.9% for 24-36 months or 2.9% for 37-60 months are offered on 2012 models of the Civic Coupe, Civic HF, Civic Sedan, and Civic Si. Low interest loans also require a good credit score, which you can always get online at FreeCreditScore.com.

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Nissan

All the Nissan lease deals we discuss below are for 39 months (with one exception), 12,000 miles per years, and require a down payment as well as first month’s payment, as with all leases. The combination of down payment and first month’s payment is called the amount “due at signing.” The Nissan lease offers expire on October 3, 2011.

The rating of each lease deal is by LeaseGuide.com using their Real Lease Value Calculator.

Here are the current Nissan special lease offers. Remember that such offers can vary by region of the country.

2012 Nissan Altima 2.5S (24 month lease) – $189/month, $2999 due at signing – Rated: Outstanding (score=120)

2011 Nissan Maxima S – $309/month, $2999 due at signing – Rated: Excellent (score=80)

2012 Nissan Sentra 2.0 SR – $189/month, $1999 due at signing – Rated: Excellent (score=75)

2011 Nissan Pathfinder S 4×4 – $329/month, $2999 due at signing – Rated: Good (score=74)

2011 Nissan Murano S AWD – $329/month, $2999 due at signing – Rated: Good (score=74)

2011 Nissan Xterra X 4×4 - $289/month, $2999 due at signing – Rated: Good (score=70)

2011 Nissan Versa Hatchback S AT w/Plus - $179/month, $1999 due at signing – Rated: Good (score=68)

2011 Nissan Rogue S AWD - $259/month, $2999 due at signing – Rated: Good (score=67)

Notice that the 2012 Nissan Altima 2.5S at $179 a month for 24 months is the best of all the deals, getting a rare Outstanding rating. This is made possible because of a very high (good) lease end residual value of 70% of MSRP and a low, low money factor equivalent to almost 0% APR.

Are these the best deals you can get?

Maybe not.

None of the above deals contain any price discount by the Nissan dealer. The lease prices on these deals are simply MSRP (sticker price) minus the customer down payment. There is no “dealer contribution” in the deals. Therefore, you can always ask the dealer to throw a little discount your way to sweeten the deal and reduce the monthly payment. Don’t expect your dealer to necessarily roll over for you. He may “explain” how such a concession is not possible.

Having said the above, all the listed Nissan deals contain good residuals and low money factors that you could not negotiate for yourself. Therefore, you are still getting a good fair deal without any additional discount. Just sayin’ in case you don’t like haggling with dealers.

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To be clear, car companies don’t announce new incentives until after old incentives have expired. August incentives will end on August 31,  or September 5, or September 6, depending on car company. New deals will be announced soon thereafter. Even dealers don’t know what’s coming until the official announcements. 

September and October have traditionally been good months in which to buy or lease a new car. It’s because most of next year’s models are out or will soon be out and dealers have stock of this year’s models to sell off.  This year is no exception. 

We expect Honda and Toyota to be mostly back to full production after the recent earthquake event and they’ll be fighting to regain previous sales levels with some excellent incentives. We may also see some rare incentives on these companies’ luxury brands, Acura and Lexus. 

Other Japanese car companies such as Nissan, Mazda, Infiniti, and Subaru who were not as affected by the earthquake will have to up the ante with improved incentives to stay in the game. Nissan’s rebates on 2011 models average about $2500 and there are 0% APR loans on neary every model. We expect to see this high level of incentives continue into September — on 2011 models. 

American car manufacturers, Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, have taken advantage of the Japanese situation in the last few months, offering some of the biggest and best deals in the industry, attempting to lure customers back. Chrysler and Ford currently have  rebates averaging about $2500 and 0% APR loan rates on nearly every 2011 model vehicle.

General Motors (Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac) rebates are a bit smaller, on average, and 0% APR loans on slightly fewer models but nevertheless very attractive. We expect to see September incentives that are at least as good as August, if not better to compete with the expected aggressive campaigns from the Japanese companies. 

Now that many new 2012 models are out or will be coming out in September and October, we will see better incentives on those models, especially after leftover 2011 models have been mostly sold off. 

In summary, if you are in the market for an American car brand, it’s hard to see how deals on 2011 models can be much better in the coming months. Why wait? If you want a Honda or Toyota, or other Asian brand, waiting might be a good strategy. There will be good lease deals, but few rebates and zero percent loans, on European brands such as Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes, and Volvo. 
 

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

However, that’s about to change.

Car deals are about to get even better.

You see, Toyota and Honda had been market leaders until the devastating Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March. Production was impacted, inventory dwindled, and sales suffered. There was little need to offer aggressive sales  incentives if their cars were in short supply. Taking advantage of the situation, American (GM, Ford, Chrysler) and Korean (Hyundai/Kia) car companies have been offering some attractive incentives to capture customers and maket share.

Other Japanese brands such as Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Suzuki, Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura have also been impacted in varying degrees.

However….Japanese car makers are rapidly recovering. Manufacturing production is growing steadily month to month. Supply is increasing at dealers. Between now and the end of 2011, full recovery is expected.

The Japanese are going to be very eager to regain lost sales and customers. As a result, we expect to see some of the best new car deals and incentives of the year starting as early as September and rolling past the end of the year into the first months of 2012. The companies will not only be competing with other Japanese car makers but with the American, European, and Korean companies who have tried to take business away while they were incapacitated. Everybody will have to rachet up their ante to stay in the game.

The result could be an all-out food-fight with dueling rebates, low interest rates, and special lease deals, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time — maybe ever. Some experts discount this idea, saying it won’t be as significant as all that due to the repressed economy. We’ll have to wait and see.

However, there is no doubt that we’ll see some of the best car deals we’ve seen this year during the coming months of 2011. These deals will be on leftover 2010 models (best deals), new and leftover 2011 models, and even new 2012 models.

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We never know (and dealers don’t know) about new incentive programs ahead of time. And car manufacturers are sometimes slow to announce new programs each month.

One thing is for sure. Dealers still have leftover 2010 models now that many 2011 models are out. These cars must go and deals can be had without asking.

Dealers can lower their prices — and they do — but the real deals come from the manufacturers in the form of special incentives — direct customer rebates and bonuses, low loan interest rates, 0% APR interest rates, special lease deals, and “hidden” factory-to-dealer cash that dealers use to lower prices even further.

Don’t expect great deals on new 2011 models until the 2010s are gone. The best deals right now are on leftover 2010 models.

Here are the deals we see in September:

BMW – Low interest rates and dealer cash on 2010 models. Large dealer cash on 5-Series and 6-Series

Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep - Heavy rebates or 0% APR loans on all 2010 models. Special rebates or low interest loans on 2011 trucks. Modest dealer cash on many 2010 models

Ford -  Heavy rebates or 0% APR loans on nearly all 2010 models. Special deals on 2011 trucks. Large dealer cash on leftover 2009 models.

General Motors – Moderate rebates or medium-low-interest loans on most 2011 models. Heavy discounts or 0% APR loans on remaining 2010 models

Honda – 0% APR or low-interest loans on all 2010 models. Modest dealer cash on Odyssey, Accord, Civic, and Insight

Hyundai-Kia – Modest rebates or low-interest loans on 2011 models

Mazda – 0% APR loans on most 2010 models

Mercedes – Low-interest loans on some 2010 models

Mitsubishi – Good rebates or 0% APR loans on most 2010 models

Nissan – Good rebates or 0% APR loans on most 2010 models

Suzuki – 0% APR loans on 2010 models

Toyota – Modest rebates or 0% APR loan rates on most 2010 models. Modest dealer cash on many 2010 models

Audi / Volkswagen – 0% APR on most 2010 models. Heavy dealer cash on 2010 Audi models.

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

Dealers need to get rid of the older models to make room for new models. Money is tied up in the old models and that money needs to be retrieved to buy new models.

Car manufacturers help dealers sell leftover models by providing factory-to-customer rebates, low interest loans, special lease deals, and hidden factory-to-dealer cash that dealers can use to reduce prices.

We’ll see plenty of that kind of help in August and September of this year.

What this means is that August and September are two of the best months of the year to buy a new car. Some incredible deals can be had.

Let’s look at some examples of the kinds of deals we can expect:

BMW will be offering extremely low interest loans (although not quite 0%) on 2010 models such as the 6-Series, M6, X3, and some 5-Series. Factory-to-dealer cash as high as $10,000 (6-Series and $7000 (5-Series and M5) will also be available. Some excellent lease deals will be available on the 3-Series.

Chrysler will have rebates in the $2000-$1000 range on nearly all 2010 models — as well as 0% APR loan deals on nearly all 2010 models. Dealer cash of approximately $1000 will be offered on some models.

Ford will offer customer rebates in the $500-$2500, depending on model for 2010s — or 0% APR loan deals on nearly every 2010 vehicle. Dealer cash in the $3000-$6500 range will be available for many 2010 Ford models, especially Lincoln and Mercury.

General Motors, for 2010 models, will promote rebates as high as $4000 on some models (even higher for trucks) and low interest loans, including some 0% APR on selected models.

Honda will have low-interest loans on many 2010 vehicles.

Hyundai-Kia will offer rebates in the $1000-$2500 range, depending on specific 2010 model.

Land Rover will offer low interest loans.

Mercedes will offer low interest loans.

Mitsubishi will have rebates in the $1000-$4000 range for leftovere 2010 models.

Nissan will have rebates in the $1000-$4000 range (higher for Titan and Armada) and 0% APR loans for most 2010 models. Dealer cash in the range of $1000-$4500 will be available for all 2010 models.

Toyota will have modest rebates and 0% APR loans on most 2010 models (Toyota incentives are subject to change quickly). Factory-to-dealer cash of $1000-4500 will be available.

Volkswagen and Audi will offer low-interest loans, including some 0% APR. Factory-to-dealer cash of $2000-$6000 will be offered on 2010 Audi models.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above cars 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.

Chrysler

The incentives are being offered in the form of some generous customer rebates and 0% APR loans. Of course, as you may already know, you must select either the rebate or the 0% loan, but not both.

We generally advise our readers to take the rebate as being the better deal, especially if the reader is short on down payment cash. Rebates can serve as your entire down payment if it’s large enough, as are most of the Chrysler Corp. rebates shown below.

Let’s look at some of the new Chrylser company deals now.

Chrysler – Excellent rebates are being offered on most Chrysler models — Chrysler Sebring – $2500, PT Cruiser – $3000, Town and Country – $3500, and Aspen – $4500. Alternatively, 0% APR loans are offered on these models for 36/48/60/72 months (except Town and Country which is 2.9% for 72 months).

Dodge – Large rebates are offered on most Dodge models — Dodge Avenger – $2500, Nitro – $3000, Dakota, Grand Caravan, Journey, Ram 1500 – $3500, and Charger, Durango, Ram 2500, Ram 3500 – $4500.  Alternatively, 0% APR loans are offered on these models for 36/48/60/72 months (except 2.9% for 72 months for Grand Caravan).

Jeep – High rebates are offered on most Jeep models — Wrangler – $1000, Compass and Patriot – $1500, Liberty – $3000, and Commander and Grand Cherokee – $4500. Alternatively, 0% APR loans are offered on these models for 36/48/60/72 months (except 2.9% for 72 months for the Liberty).

Please understand that the above deals may vary depending on the part of the U.S. in which you live, and on dealer participation. Also know that you may be able to negotiate additional dealer price discounts on top of any rebates being provided by the manufacturer.

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

BMW

 The new incentives are in the form of low-interest loans and hidden factory-to-dealer cash for a few select models. Dealers typically use the cash to create price discounts for customers.

In typical BMW fashion, there are no direct factory-to-customer rebates.

There are also a number of excellent special BMW lease deals being offered at this time. See New BMW Lease Deals for September and October.

Most BMW models get special low-interest loan rates that range from 0.9% for 24/60 months (6-Series and M6), 1.9% (3-Series), 3.9% (5-Series and M5), and 5.9% (X5). Other models, including new 2010 models,  also have special loan rates. 

A few models have excellent factory-to-dealer cash (“marketing support”) that translates into good price discounts for customers. The BMW 3-Series sedans (only sedans) have $1840 going back to dealers from BMW. The 5-Series and M5 sedans (only sedans) have $2500 going back. The diesel X5 35d gets $4500 and the 6-Series and M6 get $6000 in factory cash.

You can get free price quotes on any of the above BMW vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any incentives or discounts that are currently available.

Generally, the better deals are on 2009 models where both 2009 and 2010 models are available.

General Motors — Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Hummer, Saturn, Saab, and Pontiac — has announced a slew of low APR loans, including many 0% deals, and customer rebates on many models. There are no special lease deals in the mix, however.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the GM deals:

Chevrolet – Cash rebates of $1500 are offered on the Chevrolet Cobalt, Aveo, and Tahoe. The Traverse gets you $2000 rebate, and the Equinox, Impala, and Equinox get you $2500. The Trailblazer has the highest rebate at $3500. Additionally, 0% APR loans are offered on nearly all models.

Hummer – Incentives on the Hummer come only in the form of factory-to-dealer cash, sometimes called “marketing support.” As you may know, this is money that a dealer can use in any way he chooses but he usually gives it to customers in the form of price discounts. The Hummer H3T gets $3500, the H2 gets $5000, and the H3 gets $6000. This could make for some nice discounts.

Pontiac – Incentives for Pontiac for September come in the form of customer rebates for all models ($2500, except for the G6 with $3500), $500 factory-to-dealer cash (possible extra price discount), and low-interest loans (2.9% for 12/36/48/60 months).

Saab – The only incentives on Saab models are in the form of high factory-to-dealer cash — $5000 for the Saab 9-3, $7000 for the 9-5, and $8000 for the 9-7X.

Saturn – In keeping with Saturn being known as a “fixed price” brand, there are no direct customer rebates but there are hidden factory-to-dealer cash that ends up being price discounts. Dealers get $3000-$3500 depending on model. 

GMC – Customer rebates are being offered on most models, such as $1500 on the GMC Canyon and Yukon, and $2000 on the Acadia. 0% loans are available on many models as well. For example, the Yukon gets 0% for 12/36/48/60 months.

Cadillac – Most Cadillac models now have some excellent rebates in the range of $2000-$3500 (the Cadillac XLR gets a whopping $10,000 rebate). Most also have alternative 0% APR loan offers for 12/36/48/60/72 months.

Buick – Buick models get direct customer rebates for September, as well as 0% APR loans on the Buick Enclave (LaCrosse and Lucerne get 4.9% APR loans).

You can get free price quotes on any of the above vehicles from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any manufacturer incentives or discounts that are currently available.

So, at the time of this writing, we don’t know what deals will be offered for August 2009 for those deals that are ending on July 31 or August 3. New deals won’t be revealed until the day after, or sometimes a few days later. Will the new incentives be better than the last ones? Nobody knows.

However a few car manufacturers have already announced incentives for July that extend through August and September.

Here are some examples:

BMW is currently offering (through August 31) low interest rates on most of its models and styles, and special lease deals on the BMW 3-Series models, as well as on selected styles of the BMW 1-Series, 5-Series, X5, X6, and Z4. Also available are cash back rebates on the BMW 3-Series sedans and BMW X5. These are all good deals.

Volkswagen has current incentives that expire at the end of August. The Volkswagen deals come in a variety of forms, from “scrappage” rebates that supplement the new government “cash for clunkers” program (see Cash for Clunkers Rebate Program), to 0% APR loans on many models, to special “subvented” lease deals on selected styles within each model line. They also have some VERY healthy hidden factory-to-dealer rebates that show up as customer price discounts. For example, $6000 on the Volkswagen CC, $3000 on the Volkswagen Passat, and $1000 on the Volkswagen Tiquan.

Infiniti has some of the best deals for August and September we’ve ever seen on most its models and styles — some HUGE factory-to-dealer cash incentives that can’t be ignored. We’ve already written about these Infiniti deals in our article, Great Deals on Infiniti.

Honda’s current incentives are good for August 2009 and end on September 8. As usual, Honda has some incredible good deals on most models and styles. Low interest rates apply to nearly all models and styles. There is also factory-to-dealer cash — which translates to lower customer prices — on the Honda Accord, Civic, and CR-V. The cash is in the $500-$1500 range depending on model. And some very nice lease deals (see Honda Lease Deals for July and August) on one selected style within each of the Honda Accord, Civic, and CR-V model lines.

Land Rover has some very attractive incentives, including 0% APR loans, bonus cash rebates, and some very generous factory-to-dealer cash deals, all of which go through July, August, and September 2009. For example, for the Land Rover LR3 model, you get $1500 bonus cash, 0% APR loan interest for 36/48 months, and $3000 factory-to-dealer cash (dealer can give all or most of this cash to customers). For the Land Rover Range Rover Sport HSE, there is $1500 bonus money, low interest loans, $799 a month lease deal, and $5000 factory-to-dealer cash (Wow!!).

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

Infiniti

All these deals are being offered for July, August, and September, until September 30, 2009.

Infiniti likes to be seen as a luxury, non-discount brand, so you won’t see any direct factory-to-customer rebates (except for a “loyalty” rebate for previous Infiniti owners). Therefore, it’s incentives are a little more subtle but nevertheless very significant. If you are in the market for an Infiniti vehicle, this is a great time to buy or lease.

Let’s look at some examples of these Infiniti deals:

2009 Infiniti EX35 Journey AWD – $500 loyalty bonus rebate for current Infiniti owners/lessees, 0% APR loans for 24/36 months (0.9%, 1.9%, 2.9% for 48/60/72 months), $399 a month lease deal, and a whopping $4000 factory-to-dealer cash rebate that dealers can give to customers as price discounts.

2009 Infiniti FX35 AWD SUV – $2000 loyalty rebate for current Infiniti owners/lessees (Wow!), 0% APR and low interest loans as for the EX35 above, $539 a month lease, and a big whopping $5000 factory cash to dealer (Wow!!!), which translates into heavy price discounts for customers.

2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD SUV – $2000 loyalty rebate, 0% APR and low-interest loans, $719 a month special lease deal, and $6000 factory cash to dealer (Wow!!!!!!!).

2009 Infiniti G37 Journey Coupe – 0% and low-interest loans like the EX35 above, $419 a month lease deal, and $2500 factory-to-dealer cash rebate which can be used by dealers to give to customers as a price discount.

2009 Infiniti M45 – $2000 loyalty cash, $1000 bonus cash rebate, 0% APR and low-interest loans, $759 a month lease deal, $6000 factory to dealer cash, and $2250 factory to dealer cash for leasing customers. Similar incentives are available for the Infiniti M35.

2010 Infiniti QX56 SUV – $1000 loyalty cash, 0% APR and low interest loans like the EX35 above, $799 a month lease deal, and $6000 dealer cash, which can be used by dealers to discount customer prices.

Similar deals are available for most other Infiniti models and styles. Make no mistake about it, these are the best deals we’ve seen on Infiniti vehicles ever. If you want an Infiniti, now is a fantastic time to buy or lease.

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