Lucid Finance's Current Money Factor (Air)

[JoshG]

I'm on my second Lucid lease, and for reasons I can't understand, Lucid and Lucid Finance do everything they can to not disclose the lease Money Factor. They seem to give you the runaround when you ask what it is. Money Factor should not be a secret... it would be like a mortgage company not telling you what your interest rate is on the mortgage, instead just telling you to focus on your monthly payment and the value of the house.

Even more surprising, when you get the finalized lease documents, ready to sign, there still is no Money Factor shown, nor the equivalent interest rate, which I've never seen before. You have to calculate it yourself. I'm surprised that they're allowed to leave that off of the disclosure documents.

Anyway, literally hours before my Air delivery and before signing the lease documents, my SA finally got approval to tell me the money factor in my lease.

As of today's date, for an 2025 Air Touring, and on a 18-month lease, Lucid's "base MF" is a whopping 0.00436 which equates to a 10.46% APR, though that is for customers with the lowest acceptable credit rating. Nevertheless, a very high rate.

If your credit rating is high, the rate comes down some. I'm in the highest credit rating category (800+), so my "customer money factor" (as Lucid refers to it) became 0.00332, which is still very high for a high-rating customer (7.97% APR). For comparison, my wife just leased a BMW i4 and they happily disclosed the MF upfront and it was 0.00121 or 2.9%.

That's the interest rate you're paying on the full depreciation amount of the car... the difference between the value of the car if purchased for cash (after all incentives and discounts and "upfront" capital reduction downpayment) and the residual value you can buy it for at the end of the lease. Lower MF = lower monthly payment, though of course residual is the other factor. Higher residuals = lower monthly payment.

Note that Lucid's MF may be different for different lease terms and might be different still for Gravity.

 

[L-Dude]

The MF on my the lease on my new AGT is around 5.27% (or something like that). Residual is around 52%. Not great but an acceptable deal for me. Waaaay cheaper than the deals offered on my comparably priced Audi GT 3-1/2 years ago, when rates were much lower.

 

[JoshG]

The MF on my the lease on my new AGT is around 5.27% (or something like that). Residual is around 52%. Not great but an acceptable deal for me. Waaaay cheaper than the deals offered on my comparably priced Audi GT 3-1/2 years ago, when rates were much lower.

what length of lease? the rates are different for different lengths.

 

[L-Dude]

Whoops: 36 mos

 

[Brystal42]

So that’s why the 18 month option is so much higher…the money factor on the 36 month term is around .0017.

And for what it’s worth, you’re paying interest on the entire cost of the car (or capitalized cost), not just the depreciation. So to your point, a 4ish% interest rate vs an 8ish% rate certainly does make a difference.

 

[californiaboy935]

I'm on my second Lucid lease, and for reasons I can't understand, Lucid and Lucid Finance do everything they can to not disclose the lease Money Factor. They seem to give you the runaround when you ask what it is. Money Factor should not be a secret... it would be like a mortgage company not telling you what your interest rate is on the mortgage, instead just telling you to focus on your monthly payment and the value of the house.

Even more surprising, when you get the finalized lease documents, ready to sign, there still is no Money Factor shown, nor the equivalent interest rate, which I've never seen before. You have to calculate it yourself. I'm surprised that they're allowed to leave that off of the disclosure documents.

Anyway, literally hours before my Air delivery and before signing the lease documents, my SA finally got approval to tell me the money factor in my lease.

As of today's date, for an 2025 Air Touring, and on a 18-month lease, Lucid's "base MF" is a whopping 0.00436 which equates to a 10.46% APR, though that is for customers with the lowest acceptable credit rating. Nevertheless, a very high rate.

If your credit rating is high, the rate comes down some. I'm in the highest credit rating category (800+), so my "customer money factor" (as Lucid refers to it) became 0.00332, which is still very high for a high-rating customer (7.97% APR). For comparison, my wife just leased a BMW i4 and they happily disclosed the MF upfront and it was 0.00121 or 2.9%.

That's the interest rate you're paying on the full depreciation amount of the car... the difference between the value of the car if purchased for cash (after all incentives and discounts and "upfront" capital reduction downpayment) and the residual value you can buy it for at the end of the lease. Lower MF = lower monthly payment, though of course residual is the other factor. Higher residuals = lower monthly payment.

Note that Lucid's MF may be different for different lease terms and might be different still for Gravity.

Interesting…

The attached Tesla lease doc doesn’t disclose anything, just as a comparison. Did you ask the BMW dealer for the MF, or was it on a disclosure. I’m sure a BMW dealer would be more used to someone asking for MF, whereas a Lucid dealer might just be a SA that hasn’t worked in the automotive finance industry whatsoever.

 

[thyname]

The money factor is not in the documents. However, when I leased my Air Touring back in February this year, I asked the SA, and he told me. Or you can also “reverse” calculate it using the numbers in that contract.

BTW, my money factor for a 39 months lease for me was roughly 3% APR equivalent. Top tier credit

 

[californiaboy935]

The money factor is not in the documents. However, when I leased my Air Touring back in February this year, I asked the SA, and he told me. Or you can also “reverse” calculate it using the numbers in that contract

Yep, I was just addressing OP’s concern or feeling that Lucid financing was not being straightforward. Which I think isn’t the case, just standard practice in the leasing space.

 

[californiaboy935]

The money factor is not in the documents. However, when I leased my Air Touring back in February this year, I asked the SA, and he told me. Or you can also “reverse” calculate it using the numbers in that contract.

BTW, my money factor for a 39 months lease for me was roughly 3% APR equivalent. Top tier credit

On the Air or Gravity?

 

[thyname]

On the Air or Gravity?

My Air Touring from February. I am not getting a Gravity anytime soon

 

[cridkid]

If you know the total cost of your lease after fees, credits, discounts and down payments and know what your monthly payment is it should be pretty easy to calculate what your interest rate and money factor is. I’m not sure why they don’t want to disclose it, but once you know the terms of the lease it’s pretty easy to figure it out (or have AI calculate). The money factor on the AGT I leased at the end of April is 0.001588 for an effective APR of 3.8%

 

[californiaboy935]

If you know the total cost of your lease after fees, credits, discounts and down payments and know what your monthly payment is it should be pretty easy to calculate what your interest rate and money factor is. I’m not sure why they don’t want to disclose it, but once you know the terms of the lease it’s pretty easy to figure it out (or have AI calculate). The money factor on the AGT I leased at the end of April is 0.001588 for an effective APR of 3.8%

@HC_79 what is your MF on the Gravity, if you mind disclosing. If not totally understand

 

[JoshG]

Interesting…

The attached Tesla lease doc doesn’t disclose anything, just as a comparison. Did you ask the BMW dealer for the MF, or was it on a disclosure. I’m sure a BMW dealer would be more used to someone asking for MF, whereas a Lucid dealer might just be a SA that hasn’t worked in the automotive finance industry whatsoever.

View attachment 30218

thanks. Yes, the BMW person gave it... both the sales guy and finance guy were happy to provide it. Haven't checked if it's in the BMW lease docs. Interesting Tesla doesn't provide it in the docs either. We had leased a Model 3 and if it wasn't in our docs, they certainly provided it as I always ask.

 

[JoshG]

If you know the total cost of your lease after fees, credits, discounts and down payments and know what your monthly payment is it should be pretty easy to calculate what your interest rate and money factor is. I’m not sure why they don’t want to disclose it, but once you know the terms of the lease it’s pretty easy to figure it out (or have AI calculate). The money factor on the AGT I leased at the end of April is 0.001588 for an effective APR of 3.8%

Wow, all these lower MFs. Either they recently raised them, or the MF on 18-month leases is crazy high.

 

[JoshG]

I asked Chat GPT if it's legal in California to provide lease documents with the financial disclosure items without the money factor or interest rate. Of course Lucid has good lawyers and wouldn't have omitted if it the law required it. It's not a requirement on leases for some reason, only on full auto loans. Federal law on this, not state-by-state.

 

[JoshG]

And for what it’s worth, you’re paying interest on the entire cost of the car (or capitalized cost), not just the depreciation. So to your point, a 4ish% interest rate vs an 8ish% rate certainly does make a difference.

Not correct. You pay interest on the average lease balance, which is the average of the adjusted cap cost and the residual value over the term of the lease... which essentially is what I described. You're paying interest on the part of the car that depreciates over your lease. You definitely don't pay interest on the entire cost of the car. That'd be insane.

Rent charge=(Adjusted Cap Cost+Residual)/2×Money Factor

 

[zoomzoom]

Not correct. You pay interest on the average lease balance, which is the average of the adjusted cap cost and the residual value over the term of the lease... which essentially is what I described. You're paying interest on the part of the car that depreciates over your lease. You definitely don't pay interest on the entire cost of the car. That'd be insane.

Rent charge=(Adjusted Cap Cost+Residual)/2×Money Factor

Hoping somebody can do the math on the Gravity GT terms once they are known for the simpletons of the group assuming average cost of GGT is ~$125k.

 

[Brystal42]

Not correct. You pay interest on the average lease balance, which is the average of the adjusted cap cost and the residual value over the term of the lease... which essentially is what I described. You're paying interest on the part of the car that depreciates over your lease. You definitely don't pay interest on the entire cost of the car. That'd be insane.

Rent charge=(Adjusted Cap Cost+Residual)/2×Money Factor

With respect, it’s not insane. You’re borrowing and getting use of the entire vehicle, right?

That calculation is simply how the money factor translates into the rent charge. And as you know, that money factor can be multiplied by 2400 to calculate the effective interest rate. That interest rate is applied to the total amount borrowed (the cap cost)…and that cap cost is amortized over the term of the lease, with the residual being a guaranteed future value provided by the lender.

 

[JoshG]

We may be getting off track of the initial point I was making about Lucid's money factor, but every source i can find out there disagrees with you when you state that residual doesn't factor in to the interest you pay.

You:

That interest rate is applied to the total amount borrowed (the cap cost)…

And for what it’s worth, you’re paying interest on the entire cost of the car (or capitalized cost), not just the depreciation.

Google:

ChatGPT:

For now, I'm going to go with the explanations those services provide, which matches my long-term beliefs in how leases work. Open to hearing otherwise, however. (not sarcastic... genuinely open to learning that I've been thinking of it wrong and those sources are wrong also).

But the topic at hand is Lucid's current lease money factor of a new 18-month Air lease with good credit. We both agree that higher MF is higher interest you're paying over the lease, and my point is that Lucid's current rates are atypically high for today's luxury car market.

 

[Brystal42]

Fair enough...and you're absolutely right that this particular part of the conversation has become off-topic to your original point. To my point, here is an amortization schedule that I prepared for my current Audi lease. I do these just to keep track of the current amount due under the lease contract, and I think it reflects the concept of how the effective interest accrues (as opposed to how the money factor is applied). I think some of the confusion (and that's by design) is that "money factor" and "rent charge" are lease-specific terms, but when you translate those to an effective interest rate, the math changes. You can see the schedule starts with the final capitalized cost ($61,087) and then applies each monthly payment over the lease term toward principal and interest at the effective rate of 6.60% (money factor of .00275), amortizing down to the stated residual ($50,214). You still "owe" that $50,214, but it's settled by turning the car in at that guaranteed value. That's the beauty of a lease, and in particular, a lease on an EV.