CINCINNATI -

Along with offering five recommendations aimed at helping individuals who might be heading to your franchised store showroom, recent analysis by Swapalease.com showed consumers can often get a better lease deal if they opt for a model from the incoming model year, even in December when end-of-year negotiating intensifies.

For example, site officials found that consumers can lease a 2015 Toyota Camry for $293.71 per month, compared to a new 2014 model priced at $319.22.

Swapalease also indicated a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu lease is priced at $246.21 per month, while a new 2014 model is priced at $319.74.

“The reason the 2015 model is cheaper in a lease environment has everything to do with the residual, which in most cases will be higher than that of the 2014,” site officials said. “A higher residual value equates to a lower monthly payment for the consumer.”

With that thinking in mind, Swapalease.com shared five end-of-year lease negotiation strategies franchised store personnel might see consumers leverage as the year closes:

1. The price of the vehicle (known as the “cap cost”) is the primary point of negotiation on a lease. In much the same way consumers negotiate the price of the vehicle when financing, the site said shoppers should do so in lease environments as well. Additionally, down payments (“cap cost reduction”) and existing vehicle trade-ins can also play into sales price negotiation.

2. Site officials indicated the residual of the vehicle can be adjusted depending on the amount of miles a person needs each year. Lower mileage requirements amount to a higher residual/lower payments, and higher mileage requirements mean the opposite.

3. Swapalease.com noted the interest rate, or “money factor” may also be negotiated in many circumstances. However, credit is extremely important in a lease environment, so the better your credit, the stronger your chance for negotiating a better money factor on the lease.

4. Site officials emphasized that consumers should ask plenty of questions during the negotiation stage and be sure to have dealers explain in detail how they arrived at a certain monthly payment.

5. If shopping for a lease in December, Swapalease emphasized that consumers should be sure to have the dealer do a side-by-side comparison of a new 2014 model lease versus a 2015 model lease, especially for the same vehicle make and model. In most cases the 2015 model should come with a lower payment, but this is not always the case, according to site officials.