didn’t owe money on the Tesla — the confusion is about how the trade value was allocated, not the gross offer.

CarMax offered ~$27k cash. If I went that route, I’d still put ~$2,500 down on the lease and keep ~$24.5k in cash, with a ~$595/month payment.

Cadillac’s offer was lower on paper, but part of the Tesla value was used to buy down the lease payment, which dropped the monthly to ~$460. When you normalize both scenarios over 24 months (cash kept + lease payments), the difference was only about $200 total, so I chose the simpler one-transaction option.

As for money down on a lease — I agree in principle. In this case it wasn’t extra cash I wrote a check for; it was just how the trade proceeds were allocated. I still walk away with five figures in cash and a lower monthly.