Help

Getting started

1. Sign in with Google or an email link. New accounts get a 1.00 starter credit once the email is verified.
2. Save a search: one make, up to 5 models and an area. The form shows what each run costs before you save.
3. Open Cars when the first run lands. Sort by leverage, open a car and run its lease numbers.

Take the tour A short walk through Searches, Cars and Deals. It never saves or spends anything.

How credits work

• 1 credit = $1.00. Credits are spent only when a saved search runs, daily or with Run now.
• A run costs 0.01 credits per 100 cars. Each model, each model year and each inventory type (new, used, CPO) is counted on its own and rounded up to the next 100.
• Before you save, the search form counts the matching cars where it can and shows the cost; otherwise it shows a range. Each run is then charged for the cars it actually fetched, never beyond your balance.
• A search pauses when there are not enough credits for the next run. No overdraft, no auto-recharge, no subscription. After you add credits, press Resume or Run now on the search.
• We email you when your balance runs low and when a search pauses.
• Every charge is listed in History on the Credits page. Credits never expire.

Searching

• An account can have up to 5 saved searches. Each one covers one make, up to 5 models, the model years you tick (none = any year) and the inventory types: New, Used (includes loaners) and Certified pre-owned.
• Near a ZIP: a radius from 25 to 500 miles. States: any set of states. Nationwide: every franchise dealer in the US. In States and Nationwide, the ZIP only sets distances.
• More models, a wider area or adding Used means more cars, so each run costs more. Start narrow and widen once you see what comes back.
• Each search runs once a day at its own time. Run now runs it right away for the usual cost, at most once an hour per search. Pause stops the daily runs and keeps everything.
• Only franchise dealers are included.

Loaner and demo cars

• A loaner or demo is a car the dealer has driven as a service loaner or demo and now sells. Loaners are listed as used, so tick Used to see them.
• A car counts as a likely loaner when it is listed used or CPO at a franchise store of its make with 10,000 miles or fewer, or listed new with 250 miles or more.
• Loaner ✓ means the listing says so. Likely loaner is inferred from the listing type, miles and store. Ask the dealer before you count on loaner terms.

Res hit

Lenders lower the residual on a loaner for its miles. The Res hit column shows that cut in residual points, from the make’s loaner rule: 0 means no cut, and ⊘ means the car is past the incentive cutoff, so no lease credit applies. BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz have a rule today; for other makes loaners are flagged but not repriced. These rules are estimates, not lender quotes. Ask the lender for the actual loaner residual.

Lease numbers

• Est. $/mo in the table is the payment at the listed price with $0 drive-off, at the term and miles shown with it. Open a car to change any input.
• Residual: the car’s value at lease end, as a percent of MSRP. A higher residual means a lower payment.
• Money factor (MF): the lease’s rate. Multiply it by 2,400 for the APR equivalent.
• Check these numbers in Leasehackr’s calculator opens the same numbers on that separate website (not affiliated with lease-findr) so you can check them.
• Every payment is an estimate, not an offer. Get a written quote from the dealer before you sign.

“assumed” and ≈

lease-findr doesn’t have this month’s lender programs. Until you enter them, the residual, money factor and some fees are generic placeholders. Any payment built on a placeholder shows ≈ and an amber assumed tag. Set your real numbers with Program in the Cars toolbar (for a make or a model), or in a car’s calculator, and the marks go away.

MSDs

Multiple security deposits lower the money factor. The calculator shows the MSD box only for makes whose lender has a program, and it won’t take more than that make allows. For BMW: up to 7, each costing the monthly payment rounded up to the next $50.

Offers

• Save a deal on a car first (Save deal in its calculator). Then open Deals, Offers, tick the cars and select Write the offer. One written offer per dealer, built from your saved numbers.
• Copy it, or open it in your own mail app or Gmail. lease-findr never sends anything to a dealer.
• After you send it, Mark sent records it on the deal, can move the car to Contacted and sets a follow-up date 3 days out. Change the date before you confirm if you like.
• If your deal still uses placeholder numbers, the offer says so and asks the dealer to confirm them.
• Offers are free. They use no credits.

Contract check

• Before you sign, compare the lease contract or the dealer’s worksheet with your saved deal: Deals, Contract, then pick the car.
• Drop the PDF, paste its text, or type the numbers from the federal disclosure box. A scanned PDF has no text to read, so type the numbers.
• The contract is read in your browser and never uploaded. Only the numbers from the disclosure box are sent. Untick Keep this check with the car to keep nothing.
• The money factor is never printed on a contract; lease-findr works it out from the rent charge.

What the verdicts mean

Critical

Costs you $10 a month or more, or $300 or more over the lease.

High

Costs you $3 a month or more, or $100 or more over the lease.

Medium

A smaller difference, or one in your favor. Worth a look.

Match

Same as your worksheet within rounding.

Not found

The number wasn’t on what you gave it. Type it in.

Placeholder

Your worksheet used the generic residual or money factor. Use the contract’s number if it matches the lender’s program.

Critical and High lines are worth a conversation before you sign.

Deals and dealer messages

• Deals keeps each car you are working on in one place: the rep, the messages, the quotes they sent and the next follow-up.
• Log a message, note or call by hand, or drop a saved .eml file on the Connect tab. Each one is filed with its car; ones we can’t match wait in Inbox.
• Before a message is stored, numbers that look like Social Security, card, bank account or ID numbers are stripped. This matches patterns and can miss some, so don’t forward credit applications.
• Messages are deleted 180 days after they arrive. Saved quotes keep their numbers until you delete them.
• Delete all your messages, reps and quotes any time on the Connect tab. The text of your messages and your reps are shown only to you.

Privacy and your data

• No ads and no advertising cookies. Your name and email never go to dealers; you contact them if and when you choose.
• To fetch listings, a search’s settings (make, model, year, area and inventory type) go to our listings provider. Your name and email don’t.
• To delete your account: Account, Credits, Delete account, then type your email. Searches, cars, tags, notes and dealer data go right away. Credit and payment history is kept for tax records, with your name and email removed.
• The full details are in the Privacy policy.

Payments and refunds

• Credit packs are $5, $10 and $25, paid through Stripe Checkout. lease-findr never sees or stores your card number.
• Beta: packs are not on sale yet. Until they open, the operator adds credits to accounts directly.
• All sales are final. If lease-findr shuts down, we email you first and refund your unused purchased credits. Starter and granted credits are not refundable.
• Charged by mistake? Email [email protected] with your account email and the date of the charge, and we’ll fix it.
• The full rules are in the Refund policy.

Contact

Email [email protected]. Include your account email and the name of the search or car. Never send a card number or a sign-in link.