December 21, 2015 UPDATE: Current Cruze deal on the leaderboard: $29.40 per month, including PA sales tax, $0 drive-off, and Costco cash card of $700 in the mail. Net cost of the lease over two years is -$23.80. (Source: GM-Volt and Slickdeals)

December 5, 2015 UPDATE: The same incentives and lease program apply for the month of December. Many of our readers reported leasing a Cruze in November; the best deal reported was $175 for the entire cost of a 24-month lease (net $7.29/month). (Source: GM-Volt)

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Welcome to the second of a monthlong series in which we explore deals on automotive lame ducks—i.e., outgoing car models that will soon be replaced with all-new designs. Today, we'll shine a light on the Chevrolet Cruze Limited, which is on its way out but LOVELY nonetheless.

Check out Part 1 to learn why you should lease a leftover Prius.

2016 Chevrolet Cruze Limited. Source: chevrolet.com

We'll try to keep this one short and sweet. It's Thanksgiving after all.

First things first: to qualify for this deal, you must be a current lessee of a non-GM vehicle and a Costco member. If not, then the total cost of the lease will rise by $1,500 and $700 respectively.

The car in question, the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze Limited 1LT Automatic, has an MSRP of $21,080. Aim for a selling price of $19,280, or $1,800 off MSRP, before incentives. There are a number of dealers on popular car buying sites promising that discount in Southern California.

This deal is great because you're amortizing huge discounts over a relatively short period of time—24 months. The 36-month lease, which is what most people go far, is actually much more expensive. Here are the incentives from GM:

2016 Cruze Limited Incentives
GM Financial Lease Cash	$1,700
Incremental Bonus Customer Cash (most regions)	$1,075
Chevrolet Bonus Cash (Bonus Tag cars only)	$1,000
GM Competitive Lessee Conquest Cash	$1,500
Total Incentives	$5,275

On top of those incentives, there's also an ongoing promotion from Costco. Purchase or lease an eligible GM vehicle (Cruze included), and you'll receive a $700 Costco Cash Card. You must be a Costco Executive member, so upgrade if you haven't already ($55 annually). You'll also need to register with the Costco Auto Program prior to leasing the car. This deal assumes you will front the $700 as a capitalized cost reduction (aka, "down payment").

After the $5,275 in incentives and $700 capitalized cost reduction, plus the unavoidable $595 acquisition fee, the net capitalized cost drops from $19,280 to $13,900.

GM Financial estimates that a Cruze 1LT will be worth 63% of MSRP ($13,280) after 24 months of use at 10,000 miles per year. Therefore, the total depreciation expense is $620, or about $26 per month.

The money factor for the Cruze is .00040 (0.96% APR), which will result in a monthly finance charge of about $11 per month. The total lease payment? $37 per month.

Here's what you should expect when all is said and done. We've added in Los Angeles County sales tax (9%), license/registration, and fees.

Total Drive-Off
First month's payment (after 9% tax)	$40
DMV license/registration	$226
Dealer document fee ($80 max. in CA)	$80
Capitalized cost reduction	$700*
Sales tax on incentives and capitalized cost reduction	$538
TOTAL DUE AT SIGNING	$1,584

*You get this back in the form of a $700 Costco Cash Card.

Leasehackr Score: 47.9 years

Use our calculator below to customize your lease.

MSRP:

Sales Price:

% off MSRP

Taxed Incentives:

e.g., cash-back offers, loyalty cash, bonus cash.

Untaxed Incentives:

e.g., manufacturer-to-dealer cash rebate or if you live in a state where customer cash rebates are not taxed.

Down Payment:

In CA, you get $1,500 back as a mail-in rebate.

Acquisition Fee:

I want to pay my acquisition fee upfront.

Net Capitalized Cost:

Residual: %

( miles/yr)

Months:

Miles/yr:

Adjusting the miles changes the residual(%).

Money Factor:

APR: %

I want to pay my total lease payment upfront to lower the MF by 0.00073.

Money Factor with One-Pay Lease Discount:

Monthly Payment (Excl. Tax):

Document Fee:

License/Registrat. Fee:

Sales Tax: %

Tax your state, county, and city levy.

Tax is levied on the monthly lease payment (most states).

Tax is levied on the sales price upfront (e.g. VA, TX, GA).

Tax is levied on the total lease payment upfront (e.g. NY, MN, OH).

Monthly Payment (incl. tax):

Drive Off:

First month's Payment incl. tax:
Down payment:
Registration and doc fee:
Total MSD Payment:
Tax on cap cost reduction and fees:

First Month's Payment:
Down payment:
Registration and doc fee:
Total MSD Payment:
Tax on the Sales Price:

First Month's Payment:
Down payment:
Registration and doc fee:
Total MSD Payment:
Tax on the total lease payment:
Tax on cap cost reduction and fees:

Leasehackr Score:

The number of years it would take for the accumulated monthly payments to exceed the MSRP. Higher is better.

Disposition Fee:

Total Lease Cost:

The total cost of leasing over the lease term, including applicable taxes and disposition fee but excluding registration/license fee and the refundable MSD payment.