Dodge Hornet Leases Are Getting As Cheap As $79 A Month If You Meet Certain Requirements

Woe is the tale of the Dodge Hornet. Originally intended to be a volume model to save Alfa Romeo, it got a quick-and-dirty rebadge job in a desperate attempt to shift units in the states. That plan simply didn’t work. Now, we’re seeing some ultra-cheap leases out there as dealers pull every lever to get these things moving.

I myself have derided the Hornet in the past, when I reviewed the Alfa Romeo original. My criticism was based on the fact that it was being sold as a luxury vehicle at a relatively high price. The Tonale lacked any real flair or spark to justify such expenditure, and I passed a stern judgment on that basis. However, the Hornet is now really cheap—below $30,000, in fact. Under those conditions, it’s much more appealing—it becomes a cheap and comfortable SUV that gets where you’re going.

Indeed, the Hornet is becoming tantalizingly cheap—in some parts of the country, at least. Let’s explore the deals on offer and see whether they make Dodge’s troubled compact SUV any more appealing.

Two-Figure Deals

The hottest deal that caught my eye comes to us from AutoNation Dodge RAM Broadway, down in Littleton, Colorado. Down that way, you can score yourself a Dodge Hornet R/T for just $79 a month. The lease is for a 24-month term, with a $1,000 down payment and $995 “acquisition fee” due at signing.

Add it all up, and you’re in for about $162 a month with all that taken into account—or about $3,888 in total over two years. That’s not a whole lot to pay for the privilege of driving a brand-new vehicle for two years. The Hornet may not be the fastest or fanciest fare out there, but it becomes a lot more attractive at those prices.

You’re also getting the desirable R/T model—it’s the plug-in hybrid with 288 horsepower and 32 miles of all-electric range. This is a vehicle with an MSRP starting at $42,530. The reason it’s so cheap is because of government subsidies—you’re getting a $6,500 Federal Tax Rebate and a further $4,100 tipped in from the state of Colorado. However, there’s also a further thing to watch out for—mileage. You’re limited to just 5,000 miles a year. You really don’t want to go over that limit, either. Exceeding the limit is charged at 30 cents a mile. If you did 6,000 miles a year by accident, you’re up for an extra $1,800—which would quickly spoil your cheap lease.

Alternatively, you could head over to Larry H Miller’s place down in Denver, Colorado. It became famous for its $0 Fiat 500e leases—which we later found out were 100% legit. Now, they’re offering the 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T for $99 a month, which is a lot more expensive, but still really good. I’d love to be more specific on the deal, but at the time of writing, the dealership was yet to confirm the size of the down payment required to secure the lease.

Maybe you don’t live in Colorado, but you still want a cheap Dodge Hornet. Sounds unlikely, but I’m willing to humor you. In that case, I’d say your best bet is to get a job at Stellantis while it’s still a going concern. Then, you’ll be eligible for employee pricing over at Galeana’s Van Dyke Dodge Ram in Michigan! Oh, but you’ll have wanted to already been there for some time, so you can also score the lease loyalty bonus, too. So, basically, to lease a Dodge Hornet on the cheap… you should have moved near a Detroit auto plant about two years ago.

What’s cool is that Galeana’s has a really fun deal. You can get two Dodge Hornets for just $222 a month! It helps you, because you get a car for yourself and a car for a friend. It also helps them, because it gets rid of the Hornets twice as quickly. If you and your spouse want matchy-matchy Dodge Hornets—no judgement!—this could be a great way to go.

The deal lasts for 27 months, and you get a more generous allowance of 7,500 miles a year. However, you also have to stump up a $3,995 down payment per vehicle. Run the numbers, and you’re paying $6,659 to drive a brand-new Hornet for just over two years, and the same amount for the second one, too. [Ed note: I read this as “two-for-one” and that feels like a better deal. It also requires qualifying for the Stellantis employee discount. – MH] That’s not as amazing as the Colorado deal, since there’s a lot less government subsidy involved. Still, it’s pretty good. You’re getting to drive a plug-in hybrid worth over $40,000 for the same price you might pay to lease a $24,000 Nissan Kicks.

The simple fact is that these 2024 Dodge Hornets aren’t getting any easier to sell now they’re a whole model year out of date. A parked Hornet is just taking up a spot that could be filled with another more popular model. Beyond that, dealers often take on debt for stock with “floorplan” finance, which costs them money every month. The longer these Hornets sit, the more dealers want to get them gone.

You do need to jump through some hoops to get these deals. It seems Dodge is happy to offload its unwanted vehicles to people in very specific circumstances. You either have to live in Colorado or work for Stellantis to score here. That’s not great if you hate living at altitude or resent the idea of tying your career to the business equivalent of a small drunk bear piloting a 737. But if you do slot in to one of these neat categories, you could get motoring on the cheap. Just watch those mileage limits and mind how you go!

Image credits: Dodge
Top graphic: Dodge; stock.adobe.com