Can factory rebates or dealer incentives be applied to a lease?

Answer 1

That depends.

The manufacturer has two sets of incentives, Retail and Lease incentives.

If you lease through the Manufacturers Captive Lender (Ford Credit, GMAC, Honda, etc..), then you get the lease incentive instead of the retail rebates, and the lease incentives are usually less than the Retail Rebates.

If you lease through an outside bank (Chase, 5/3, etc), then the dealer can apply the retail rebates since you are not leasing through the captive (the dealer reports it as a retail sale).

Dealer incentives vary as to wheter a Lease or Retail Purchase, and most consumers never know of dealer incentives, for they are generally not advertised.

Answer 2

Sometimes -- best to ask the dealer to be sure. A factory rebate may or may not be passed on to the leasing company. If the dealership handles their own leases the factory rebates are more likely to be applied. Also there are different types of leases which may affect the rebate.