If you've been eyeing a 2027 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport X, leasing is not looking like a smart move. CarsDirect is reporting some recently announced lease deals that, frankly, sound like attempts to discourage anyone from leasing the new midrange 'Vette. Citing dealer bulletins, would-be Corvette owners hoping to score a better monthly payment through leasing are facing what amounts to a second mortgage. Based on a starting price of $112,195 including destination, a prospective Grand Sport X lessee will pay upwards of $2,000 per month on the main deal. Suffice it to say, that's not chump change, even for someone with the means to buy a low six-figure supercar. Let's take a closer look. $1,799 Per Month Regardless Of Term, 24-Month Lease Requires Big Money Upfront Chevrolet We won't pull any punches here. The new Corvette Grand Sport X costs $1,799 per month on a 39-month lease, with $3,839 due at signing. When you figure in the amount due, the effective monthly payment equals $1,897 per month, and that still doesn't include taxes or other fees. Some quick math tells us that comes out to $22,764 per year, and culminates in a 39-month total of $73,983. At that point, you've purchased most of the car. For a 24-month lease, the monthly rate is the same, but it requires $14,869 at signing. That comes out to $58,045 before taxes and fees to drive a new Grand Sport X for two years. The residuals are excellent for those wanting to buy the car after the lease – the residual being the predicted value of the car after the lease period. The 39-month Corvette Grand Sport lease benefits from a high residual value of 63% should a customer want to buy the car at the end of the lease. The residual on a 24-month lease is 72%, which is unusually high, to say the least. However, the underlying lease rate for the 39-month lease period is equivalent to 10.44% APR, and the 24-month lease equivalent APR jumps even higher, going to 13.8%. And the residual value offered is only relevant for someone choosing to buy the car after the lease is up. There's No Bargain Corvette When It Comes To A Lease Deal Chevrolet The entry trim for the Corvette is the 1LT, and that's listed at $999 for 39 months with $6,159 at signing. It's certainly cheaper than Grand Sport X, but that's still a hefty payment and the residuals aren't as good after the lease is up. The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 1LT might be entry-level, but it's still one hell of a bargain at $72,495 to just buy – it's a mid-engined sports car with a 6.2-liter V8 making 490 horsepower. The Grand Sport is the more desirable model than the Stingray with the new 6.7-liter LS6 V8 engine making 535 hp and 520 lb-ft of torque, the highest amount of torque for any naturally-aspirated factory V8. The Grand Sport X adds an electric front axle with a 186-hp permanent magnetic motor and a 1.9 kWh lithium-ion battery pulled from the Corvette ZR1X, making for a combined output of 721 hp. CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters: Chevrolet The Grand Sport models usually turn up towards the end of a Corvette's generational lifespan. The C8 generation is now six years old, so that fits. The Grand Sport is a big addition to the lineup, bridging the gap between the Stingray and the Z06 versions in performance. It's hard to tell what GM is thinking with these high lease rates, other than it thinks it can squeeze them out of people right now. What's interesting here is that the high residuals on the Corvette's leases don't make a lot of sense if a new generation is due in just a couple of years. It's hard to believe a C8 generation Corvette will depreciate in value so little if the C9 generation is to arrive in the 2028 calendar year, as some rumors have it. This makes it look like the 2029/2030 window is more accurate.
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