[wtwo3]

Oh dear..... that damn "1% rule" being thrown around again? I thought that had been debunked, but it seems people are still using it.

The "1% rule" is an outdated, defunct guideline. In reality what constitutes a good deal on any particular car is based on so many factors - timing, regional dealer discounts, incentives you may or may not qualify for, and lease support in the form of residual values and money factor.

For example... on a car which is currently offered with numerous incentives, high residuals, low money factors - a "good" deal might be something like 0.7% of MSRP. In this case the "1% rule" is actually a BAD deal. But holding on to this "1% rule" you'd be fooled into thinking you scored a good deal when more savvy shoppers around you are getting it at 0.7% of MSRP.

On the other hand, a car which might typically lease at 1.5% of MSRP, 1% is probably unrealistic and a "good" deal would be something like 1.25%. But because you're stuck on this "1% rule", you're excluding this particular car from consideration.

In addition to that, not everyone qualifies for every incentive. If someone doesn't qualify for loyalty incentive - does that preclude them from certain brands because they're incapable of scoring a "1% deal" due to their lack of incentive qualification?

On some cars 1% could be a good deal or it could be a bad deal - it's entirely dependent upon what a car is currently typically leasing at in your region, during a given period in time. But aiming for that 1% target is a short sighted approach, and it seriously needs to go away.