330 Lease vs buy

[MrElussive]

If you're really unhappy with the car, you can get out of the lease, too. You just call up the company and find out the buy-back price and then see what the car dealership will offer you to buy the car from you, then just pay the difference. For example, I had a 2003 VW Jetta 2.0 for a year and I absolutely hated it. The Infiniti and BMW dealerships both wanted to give me $14,000 even for it and the buy-back from VW was $17,000. So I gave the Infiniti dealership my VW + $3,000 + initial G35 Coupe fees, and I was out of my Jetta lease and in my new car and it was great. Sure, $3,000 was stupid to pay to get rid of the car, but I don't even regret it for one second...I HATED that Jetta and I LOVE my G35 Coupe, so it was really worth it for me. And let's say you don't want to pay the $3K (or whatever your price difference is) up front, both dealerships were willing to roll up the $3K price difference into the new car lease, without interest! Leasing seems like it locks you in, but you really do have a lot of options with leasing if you do your research and work with the system.

 

[Bryan330i]

Just think MrE...I bet there are a lot of people that have been in a buy situation and have had to part with a lot more than 3000.00 to get out.

So many that buy are sooooo far upside-down because they pay a lot more in finance charges.

 

[kenzopvfl]

The obvious question is does anybody really know what they are paying with a lease. I have a neighbor that is a financing manager for a large dealership group here in the south. His point is simple. Leasing has so many factors involved in determine a monthly cost that 99.9% of the population has no clue. Plus it is not a simple case of dropping the car off when the lease expires. Almost 75% of leasees pay an additional cost for dings, scratches, tires, etc. This does not include excess mileage charges.

Dealerships love to lease because it is the most profitable way to sell a car. The best way to acquire a new car is to negotiate the best "out the door" price and get your own financing. Get the check from the bank and take it to the dealership and then negotiate. You can be guaranteed they will beat the bank rate.

When I bought my 330cic last March I went there with finacing 1.25% lower than the BMW rate and the dealer ended up beating my rate.

I leased once. Never again. I don't worry about mileage. I just drive when I want.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

I heard BMW is running a deal on the 325xi "well equiped" (TV commercial) for $325 a month ...... In a case like that it is worth it to lease..... ($2500 or $2700 down??) not sure.

 

[Bryan330i]

I heard BMW is running a deal on the 325xi "well equiped" (TV commercial) for $325 a month ...... In a case like that it is worth it to lease..... ($2500 or $2700 down??) not sure.

The problem with those TV deals is they are not real good deals in the end.

I think BMW. like the others, create the best possible lease rate to get people in the doors but in the fine print it is 5,000.00 down plus all taxes and fees. Also, the mileage is only 10,000 per year.

 

[Bryan330i]

The obvious question is does anybody really know what they are paying with a lease. I have a neighbor that is a financing manager for a large dealership group here in the south. His point is simple. Leasing has so many factors involved in determine a monthly cost that 99.9% of the population has no clue. Plus it is not a simple case of dropping the car off when the lease expires. Almost 75% of leasees pay an additional cost for dings, scratches, tires, etc. This does not include excess mileage charges.

Dealerships love to lease because it is the most profitable way to sell a car. The best way to acquire a new car is to negotiate the best "out the door" price and get your own financing. Get the check from the bank and take it to the dealership and then negotiate. You can be guaranteed they will beat the bank rate.

When I bought my 330cic last March I went there with finacing 1.25% lower than the BMW rate and the dealer ended up beating my rate.

I leased once. Never again. I don't worry about mileage. I just drive when I want.

I think that most people that lease a BMW know what they are doing. This may not be the case with many other products.

I would guess that my 3 year lease-end residual is much closer to market value than many people that buy. And lease people are in general far less upside-down than those that purchase at the 2-3 year mark.

 

[RuflessPhilly]

The obvious question is does anybody really know what they are paying with a lease. I have a neighbor that is a financing manager for a large dealership group here in the south. His point is simple. Leasing has so many factors involved in determine a monthly cost that 99.9% of the population has no clue. Plus it is not a simple case of dropping the car off when the lease expires. Almost 75% of leasees pay an additional cost for dings, scratches, tires, etc. This does not include excess mileage charges.

Dealerships love to lease because it is the most profitable way to sell a car. The best way to acquire a new car is to negotiate the best "out the door" price and get your own financing. Get the check from the bank and take it to the dealership and then negotiate. You can be guaranteed they will beat the bank rate.

When I bought my 330cic last March I went there with finacing 1.25% lower than the BMW rate and the dealer ended up beating my rate.

I leased once. Never again. I don't worry about mileage. I just drive when I want.

I really don't think that mileage should be added to the equation. Bottom line is wether you lease the car and pay over milage at the end of the lease or you you get less money because of over mileage when you sell the car. Any miles over 12k a year average your gonna take a hit either way. Lease or buy. Just my .02

 

[MrElussive]

Yup, that's exactly true. US average is 12K miles per year so if you have a 12K/year plan and went over, or you own the car and went over and wanna sell it after 3 years, you will take the hit either way. For example, my roommate at college has a MB C240 4Matic that he purchased, which he is financing and he is trying to stick with the 12K/year schedule as well so that when he sells the car, he doesn't take a hit on his mileage. He really should have leased his car as he doesn't take very good care of it (always dirty inside and out), it is always parked outside, and he only plans to keep it for like 3-4 years. Oh well, it's not my problem.

 

[RuflessPhilly]

Yup, that's exactly true. US average is 12K miles per year so if you have a 12K/year plan and went over, or you own the car and went over and wanna sell it after 3 years, you will take the hit either way. For example, my roommate at college has a MB C240 4Matic that he purchased, which he is financing and he is trying to stick with the 12K/year schedule as well so that when he sells the car, he doesn't take a hit on his mileage. He really should have leased his car as he doesn't take very good care of it (always dirty inside and out), it is always parked outside, and he only plans to keep it for like 3-4 years. Oh well, it's not my problem.

And atleast with the BMW lease program you can purchase extra miles @ .15 per miles up to a year and a half from lease start date.

 

[Xyrium]

Ahh, perpetuating the thread!

Some, if you lease, can you still order the car the way you want it, or do you get stuck with what they have in stock?

Finally, let's say you could purchase the car in cash, no loan. Would you (those in favor of a lease) still favor leasing? I say no way.

 

[gadgets]

One other way..

Well, i have read all the opinions in this thread but couldn't agree..

I lost bunch of money buying new cars in 2001, 2002 then wanted to change again and bought a new car on 2003. I never lease - i think it's a waste of money and it kills me to pay for air (IMO), now, i'm in the market for a 330i and will never buy it new... i'm looking for one mint - and there are many of them out there, fully loaded & will end up pay almost half from a new 04 one for a 02 with 20-35K miles - same exact car.

I intend to buy it cash - but even if you finance it, you'll pay insignificant amount and in 2-3 years the car won't lose much of his value and you can consider your purchase as a carrying interest (negative one ..lol) CD account with the FUN benefit, more than a waste of money.

correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't it worth it ??

 

[rjp325i]

I bought mine as I usually keep my car for a long time. A 3.35% interest rate is acceptable to me so I bought. I like paying off a car and having no payments for a few years.

 

[MrElussive]

It really just comes to whether leasing suits you or not. In my case, I like the easier monthly payments, not having to worry about the car losing its value due to accidents, getting a new car every 3 years, and some other reasons. I think that if you know where you're gonna be in the next 3 years, you like getting a new car every 3 years, and you like the easier monthly payments, then leasing is the way to go.

 

[aNoodle]

Yeah, neither is better for all people.

Theoretically it shouldn't matter if you lease and turn it in after 3-4 years or buy and sell it after 3-4 years. They supposedly peg the lease payments to cover a reasonable interest rate on their money and the devaluation of the car. So Xyrium is right to point out that if you could pay for the car in cash it would be a better deal (unless you could invest that money making a higher rate...maybe).

The leasing arm packs all sorts of fees in there as well as expects a pretty high interest rate. At the same time, they take risk that the car will be what they think it will be at the end of the lease.

Most banks these days give you a little calculator tool on their web sites to let you consider doing a loan instead. But then you take the risk of reselling the car after 3-4 years, whereas under a lease you know for sure that you can get out.

The beauty of a BMW, while it costs a lot, is that they hold up and age well. Who needs a new one every 3-4 years?

 

[Car_54]

Correct

The obvious question is does anybody really know what they are paying with a lease. I have a neighbor that is a financing manager for a large dealership group here in the south. His point is simple. Leasing has so many factors involved in determine a monthly cost that 99.9% of the population has no clue. Plus it is not a simple case of dropping the car off when the lease expires. Almost 75% of leasees pay an additional cost for dings, scratches, tires, etc. This does not include excess mileage charges.

Dealerships love to lease because it is the most profitable way to sell a car. The best way to acquire a new car is to negotiate the best "out the door" price and get your own financing. Get the check from the bank and take it to the dealership and then negotiate. You can be guaranteed they will beat the bank rate.

When I bought my 330cic last March I went there with finacing 1.25% lower than the BMW rate and the dealer ended up beating my rate.

I leased once. Never again. I don't worry about mileage. I just drive when I want.

Your words convey information that is helpful to others. Thanks.

 

[Gibscreen]

Well I'm almost definitely going to get into a lease for the following reason:

I bought a 2001 Mustang GT Bullitt optioned to the hilt for $25k 2 1/2 years ago. The blue book has just barely risen above what I owe on the car. And that's assuming I can even get blue book. I understand that the resale on BMWs is different, but selling cars is a pain. You either take a hit by trading in, or you almost always end up owning 2 cars (and 2 car payments) if you decide to buy a new car before the old one is paid off.

So I guess what I'm really trying to say is I get bored with cars after a few years, and I don't want to be upside down on financing a car.