Lease questions

[24GTBadlands]

I did lease my 24 Badlands SAS for like 550 a month, BUT it was made in June of 2024, and it was still for sale in September of 2025, (luckily they put a lift kit on it and it looks like it had been in the showroom for a giant portion of that time).

Main point I'm making hereabout leasing, is it was basically on clearance. Ford was discounting the 24s like 15-20K(ish) and I had an email retention offer from Ford for like 3-4K.

The salesman did try the 700 dollar payment on me but I did my homework, and saw lease examples for the car in the 500's with like 5 down. I told the younger man, that I did not drive for 2 hours to lease a car for the same price as I could get one near my House. I then whipped out the Mac and showed him his own website, and like Magic the payment dropped to like 550 even though he told me 580.

Also I never "return" a lease. When it comes to buyout time, dealers get a "Little better deal" than you do if you buy it out. I believe this is mainly because there is no extra labor involved transporting the car to auction and prep etc. So I usually trade them in, and have been lucky enough in the past to even get a little equity out of them. However, by trading in a lease, you are not upside down ever.

I might keep mine but I'll think about it in 2 years.

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[WXman]

Some vehicles don't lease well. The Bronco is one of those vehicles.

The residual is over 70%. That's better than any vehicle I've ever seen. This means the Bronco should be the best lease on the market. So again, they must be jacking the interest rate sky high on purpose to try and discourage people.

 

[24GTBadlands]

The residual is over 70%. That's better than any vehicle I've ever seen. This means the Bronco should be the best lease on the market. So again, they must be jacking the interest rate sky high on purpose to try and discourage people.

They are popular, and the banks know that,of course they're going to put a little extra percentage in there to boos a bit of profit. I was almost considering paying it up front in full, but NAH. just needed something to fit my budget, but waiting for clearance was kind of worth it.

I did not get the cool LCD dash, but I figured 200 bux a month for a digital dash wasnt worth it.

However it's not like leasing a Hyundai. Broncos just did some record sales so rates on them arent going to be down bargain basement 2003 rate style. Also, if you go to a dealer ask them to run a few different companies, or even check your local bank for lease rates. Popularity and demand does come at a cost.

In comparison when I leased my Edge Sport in 2018, (had to buy it out during the Rona, and my finance rate was 3.1 at the buyout party) there were tons of them and low demand.. easily a decent deal at the time to move them along, Bronco seems different.

I used AutoTempest to search around for random cars the other day, and I found 1 Bronco under 30K, It was 29.995K but it had 120K miles on it and I think it was a 2020. so when something holds it's value, they jack the rates.. Pay to Play I guess example: compare a brand new Ecoboost 4 cylinder mustang lease rates to like a DarkHorse or a GTD.. similar car same name 3 different markets.

 

[T800]

They didn't seem interested at all in leasing my OBX SAS.

I did see some of the Jeep 4th of July lease deals. Looks like they would lease anything from Sport to Rubi for pretty good deals. I guess lucky for me that my wife was adamant about not getting another Jeep. So I was more than happy to end up buying the Bronco.

I had been watching about a dozen Broncos I was considering. They have been selling pretty fast. Whereas there seems to be plenty of selection with the Jeep JLU's. So possible that Ford has decided that they can make more money selling, so they don't make leases a good deal.

Also because Jeeps seem to depreciate faster. I was also watching used prices. Used Jeeps were pretty well prices. Broncos, not so much.

 

[WXman]

They are popular, and the banks know that,of course they're going to put a little extra percentage in there to boos a bit of profit. I was almost considering paying it up front in full, but NAH. just needed something to fit my budget, but waiting for clearance was kind of worth it.

I did not get the cool LCD dash, but I figured 200 bux a month for a digital dash wasnt worth it.

However it's not like leasing a Hyundai. Broncos just did some record sales so rates on them arent going to be down bargain basement 2003 rate style. Also, if you go to a dealer ask them to run a few different companies, or even check your local bank for lease rates. Popularity and demand does come at a cost.

In comparison when I leased my Edge Sport in 2018, (had to buy it out during the Rona, and my finance rate was 3.1 at the buyout party) there were tons of them and low demand.. easily a decent deal at the time to move them along, Bronco seems different.

I used AutoTempest to search around for random cars the other day, and I found 1 Bronco under 30K, It was 29.995K but it had 120K miles on it and I think it was a 2020. so when something holds it's value, they jack the rates.. Pay to Play I guess example: compare a brand new Ecoboost 4 cylinder mustang lease rates to like a DarkHorse or a GTD.. similar car same name 3 different markets.

I guess the reason I'm so surprised is that this is the exact opposite of what I'm used to. Take Wrangler for example... before Bronco it was the highest resale value in America and the best residuals. And because of that, the banks put amazing rates on them. Right before COVID I was seeing $199/month leases on new Wrangler Sports. Not a typo. And like I mentioned above, my $64k sticker Rubicon leased at $369 with a little money down. The residuals are high on Jeeps still, and rates are low, and they're selling them like hotcakes (still slightly ahead of Bronco).

I think Ford is just playing games.

We're seeing the same thing on that new Rivian R2. The entire purpose of that vehicle was to come in less expensive than the R1. But...when they launched them last month they intentionally put big interest rates and high lease payments on them. Rivian enthusiasts say they did it on purpose so they wouldn't flood the market with 2 and 3 year old R2s a couple years down the road. It's all a game.

 

[24GTBadlands]

I guess the reason I'm so surprised is that this is the exact opposite of what I'm used to. Take Wrangler for example... before Bronco it was the highest resale value in America and the best residuals. And because of that, the banks put amazing rates on them. Right before COVID I was seeing $199/month leases on new Wrangler Sports. Not a typo. And like I mentioned above, my $64k sticker Rubicon leased at $369 with a little money down. The residuals are high on Jeeps still, and rates are low, and they're selling them like hotcakes (still slightly ahead of Bronco).

I think Ford is just playing games.

We're seeing the same thing on that new Rivian R2. The entire purpose of that vehicle was to come in less expensive than the R1. But...when they launched them last month they intentionally put big interest rates and high lease payments on them. Rivian enthusiasts say they did it on purpose so they wouldn't flood the market with 2 and 3 year old R2s a couple years down the road. It's all a game.

Since I am trying to help, I did a bit or Grok on this for you and here is what I asked and here is what I got as a reply.. I had asked Grok to look at residuals and money factors etc, but it never gave me a clear model by model for Bronco, he echoed some of what you were saying, and I had him check "Central KY" for some lease on bronco info and he came back with some solid points that might help.

My Prompt:
His location is listed as Central Kentucky can you do a browse to check central KY to see if there are any decent deal out there I can reference for him?
Thought for 1m 32s

ANSWER:
Yes — good news for Central Kentucky (Lexington/Louisville area). There are currently much better advertised lease deals available than the $650–$750 quotes your friend received for basic Base/Big Bend models. National and regional offers show Big Bend leases starting in the $426–$499/mo range (with typical due at signing), which aligns far better with the strong ~72% residual he was quoted. Current Relevant Offers (as of mid-July 2026)

• National Ford Offer (applies in KY):
  2026 Bronco Big Bend — $499/mo for 36 months with $998 due at signing (taxes, title, fees extra; security deposit waived). This is widely advertised on Ford.com and should be available at local dealers.
• Lexington area (Edmunds dealer quotes):
  Cheapest 2026 Big Bend leases around $426/mo (with ~$1,000 down). This is for well-equipped examples in the local market.
• Louisville / nearby KY dealers:
  • Examples in the $450–$482/mo range for Big Bend (some with $4k–$5k due at signing, depending on exact build and incentives).
  • Carrollton, KY (reasonable drive): Big Bend listed at $482/mo for 36 mos with ~$4,851 due.

These are significantly lower than the $650–$750 he was quoted — often by $150–$300+/month. The gap is likely due to:

• Not using the current national subvented lease program.
• Dealers quoting without stacking conquest/loyalty incentives (he's coming from a Jeep Wrangler — Ford often has $1k+ conquest cash for non-Ford lessees).
• Higher money factor or minimal discounting on the selling price.

How This Compares to His QuoteHis $51,500 Big Bend with $37,500 residual (~72.8%) is solid on the depreciation side. With the advertised $499 program + a little negotiation (aim for 8–10% off MSRP + conquest cash), his payment should land much closer to $450–$550/mo with low due at signing — way more reasonable than $750.

AND, the conquest cash addition was a bit interesting as well.

 

[24GTBadlands]

the links did not come through, but he did reference Edmunds, and this is the link he gave me for KY, I perused the first page, and the money down numbers are varied, mostly 5K down BUT there are others that I would favor that are less being advertised here.. take a look

https://www.edmunds.com/ford-bronco-lease-deals-lexington-ky/

@WXman

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