Michigan Pricing - HELP PLEASE!

[KimmersBimmer]

I have been dreaming of a 330ci for a long time and I am almost ready to lease a 2004. I spoke with a sales person here in Michigan and he claimed a 330ci with a premium package and Xenon headlights would cost me $699 a month and around $26,000 to pay the lease in full up front. The quote was for 36 months and 12,000 miles a year on an automatic (traffic is too bad for a manual). Does this make any sense? What is a typical lease for this car? Of course, he claimed he could have it for me tomorrow (it was "over" the water, as he put it).

Does anyone in Michigan know a good salesperson or dealership? I would prefer to not order, but I want the best deal.

Thanks for the help!

 

[landshark]

Before leasing, I suggest you learn about the process, the components, and the computation of the lease. It really helps when negotiating because there are many variables in the lease payment.

Edmunds.com has a section on leasing. You can also try sites like www.leasecompare.com or www.leaseguide.com.

I've leased my last 5 vehicles, and even with some familiarity, I still find myself having to sharpen my pencil each time I negotiate a lease in a dealership.

I advise you not negotiate from the price of the monthly payment. Always start with a negotiated price of the car. Then evaluate the other components of the lease--money factor, residual, term, etc.

Good luck!

 

[MrElussive]

Welcome to the forum, KimmersBimmers.
That salesman sounds awful. $699 a month for 36 months is not such a good price the way the car is configured. Try to get the lease price closer to $600 and having to pay the lease in full up front just makes no sense. Do you not have good credit or something? Because the whole point of a lease to "rent" the car for 36 months and to just pay monthly payments. Give us some more details about the lease and we can better help you out.

 

[Fielding Yost]

I leased my bimmer from a Michigan dealership in June of this year. Listen to landshark on this one. It is imperative that you negotiate the lease based upon the sales price of the car, not the monthly payment. You negotiate the sales price, just as though you were buying the car for cash. That sales price is popped into a formula, along with residual and money factor, to produce your monthly payment. Since the residual and money factor are often non-negotiable, you basically have to negotiate the sales price to get any kind of movement.

This is what I did, and I thought it was pretty helpful:

(1) I went to edmunds.com and checked out their pricing information for the car I was looking to buy (in my case 2003 525). You can select the exact configuration (options and packages) as the car that you are looking to buy. The edmunds site provides you with the MSRP, the dealer's invoice price (dealer's cost), and will also give you an approximation of the typical sales prices in your area.

(2) shop that sales price around, then shop it around some more.

If you are in the Detroit area, then you are a bit hamstrung b/c the 4 dealerships are really owned by 2 people. Don't let that deter you. I had a salesman at Erhard Farmington bidding against the salesman at Erhard Bloomfield. Then I took their best offers and bid them against the dealerships in Grand Blanc, Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Toledo. You just have to be patient and keep chipping away. I knew I was at rock bottom, when finally no other dealership would beat or match my latest offer. When you reach that point, you just have to put your deposit down and drive away with your fantastic bimmer.

It takes time and patience. You're looking for a 2004, so I'm guessing that there isn't going to be much movement, if any, b/c it's the beginning of the model year. When I was shopping for my 2003, the salespeople were falling over themselves b/c they were trying to clear out the remaining 2003 models. Whatever you do, make sure that you take your offer to another dealership to give them a chance to beat it. When you show them that you are ready to buy (ie, "I have my checkbook, and I'm ready to fill out the financing application"), it's amazing how interested salespeople become in your business. Also, conventional wisdom is that end of the month is the best time to buy, b/c the sales staff is trying to hit their quotas.

Sorry for being so long winded. As you can tell, I get into this stuff. I guess it's just the competitiveness in me, b/c I always think that dealerships are trying to rip me off.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes. Remember, once you get your bimmer, show us some pics!

 

[MyHarley]

I dont know if mine is a good deal.......but I took it........my lease is $750.00 month, $3000.00 down, they paid off $17,000.00 car loan.......residual $24515.00, sales/usetax 1900.00, 3 1/2 years, 15,000 miles per year

2003 330 CI Convertible Jet Black/Black Leather
Premium Package
Sport Package
Automatic Transmission 5-Speed Steptronic
Bi-Xenon Headlights
18" Alloy Wheels

List Price: $48,070.00

Its just crossed my mind that you all are now going to tell me I got taken..........[???1]

 

[Average Jae]

welcome to the forums.. which dealership did you goto?

pm me, or post back if you live in the metro detroit area. i know 2 SAs that are pretty good, depending on which dealer you might want to goto..

as for manual vs auto, if yer gonna get bimmer, esp a 330, how can you pass up on the 6 speed? yea you suffer through the traffic, but having your baby do as you wish when you wish is worth all price of admission imo.

did you consider the perf package? mine was about a grand more than a similarly configured ci, and that was totally worth every penny, and then some. actually if you can the septronic option, there's grand, and some change

 

[Kin]

I leased my 2003 ZHP, 42 months lease, $424.00 a month with $8000 down, residual around $24,000.00. The listed price was $42,000.00.

Performance Package
Bi-Xenon Headlights
18" Alloy Wheels
Leather Interior
Metallic Paint (Silver)

When I leased mine, I was also looking at the 330i premium package. The listed price were about the same as mine. But I am not sure if the coupe are that much more expensive.

 

[RatBastard]

Here is what I did on my last 2 cars... Purchased though, but it still applies somewhat...


I called Erhard (Bloomfield), AutoStrausse(Ann Arbor - spelled wrong Im sure) and Grand Blanc BMW/Mercedes.

Every time, Grand Blanc was the lowest. So I used their price against the other places and it turned in to a small scale bidding war. In the end, I got the price I wanted and they even threw in the Garage Door Opener Thingy(technical term( )...

Since it is closer to me, I picked up the newest car(330i PP) from Erhard Bloomfield... Ron was the salesman... Great guy and not to 'salesman-like'...

Good luck!

 

[landshark]

Another piece of advice. Once you've purchased your car, don't compare prices anymore. Just enjoy your new car. If you hear of someone getting a significantly better deal, you may just feel uneasy about the whole thing.

I know this from experience from my first lease. That certainly taught me a lesson about being more informed and judicious when leasing.

By doing your homework and understanding leasing, you'll be much better off when you negotiate your deal.

 

[KimmersBimmer]

Thank you everyone! It's time for me to study up on all the new info.

Average Jae: The salesperson was at the new Bavarian BMW in Shelby Township, which is kinda close to where I work. I don't even live near there. I've been in contact with a salesperson at Williams Autoworld in East Lansing (I'm an MSU alum.). I'm not worried about traveling, I just don't want to get taken. If you could let me know who you dealt with I would appreciate it.

 

[Average Jae]

at the bmw dealer across the street from the audi dealer, off m-59 and dequinder, there's a guy named aaron, a young guy and he walks w/ a limp, due to a screw on his right ankle i believe. it's a long story, but i found him after i bought my car, and had a run in with my previous sales person over a erhard. to figure out a way to resolve that situation..

yadi yada, to make a long story short, aaron seems really cool, and i think the next bimmer i get i'll get it from him.. altho i have no clue when that'll be.. that x3 looks pretty good, i just might have to take it for a spin when it comes to the show rooms at the end of the month.. just tell him jason w/ the imola red 330i told you about him, and mention the x5 and he should know.

i think it's good to call different places to shop around, but it's hard to get much discounts on 04s, esp on the 330 models, mainly due to lower supply compared to the 325 counter part. and if the dealer has the car on lot, they are more willing to nego with you, otherwise they'll you and tell you that they'll have to pay for transport fee and such, and they are giving you that break.. at which point you can promptly tell them you are picking up a freakin 40+k ride from them so shove it, or you'll take your business else where.

it didn't help me much since i wanted a imola red w/ certain option packages transported from somewhere in il, so i had to pay sticker.. oh well, what matters is i'm happy and i'll work extra hard to pay off whatever i could've negotiated in the next 60months.. hell if i pay even extra 50 a month, i'll be making all that back in interests.. i think...

 

[Fielding Yost]

FWIW, I did not have a good experience with any of the salesmen at Erhard Bloomfield. I dealt with at least 3 different salesmen there, thinking that maybe the next person would be better. I felt that all of them were a bit snooty. Same with the Bavarian people at the Gratiot location. I ended up dealing with Brian G at Erhard Farmington. He's a young guy. Down to earth. He always called me back and kept me informed on his search for my bimmer (no dealership in the area had the configuation I was looking for). Didn't play hide the ball on negotiating either. We went back-and-forth with offers and counters a number of times, but it was never strained. Maybe this sounds like how all salespeople should be, but I was surprised at how unresponsive or untimely the other salesmen were. Basically, Brian won my business, even though his dealership isn't close to my home or work. He could stand to be a little more knowledgeable on the models, but he paid attention to what I was saying and to what I needed.

Good luck. Now get that bimmer!