What would you do? Help on next lease

Technically, there is not a tremendous amount of money lost due to his unused mileage, rather just depreciation of the vehicle solely based on age which would happen to a new car that was purchased or leased. Actual mileage (outside of the extremes) has a minor impact on the overall resell value and think we put too much emphasis on leftover miles especially since most cars are underwater when they are turned in anyway. KBB estimates about $1,800 difference for his car with 15K vs. 36K miles so $50/month.

Leasing vs. buying is always a personal preference and no right or wrong answer. The example you provided is a 5 year old car with 35K so like comparing apples to oranges. It’s two years older than the car he has today that is about to be turned in. Also, maybe he just enjoys having a new car with the latest bells and whistles.

The right comparison would be buying the same car outright vs. leasing and don’t think he would be in a significantly better position after 3 years owning the car vs leasing even if he only had 15K on it and signed a 30K lease. He would have paid the entire tax bill and still have to resell it and the hassle that comes with that. If he planned on running it into the ground, that’s a different story.

@jy1022 - Some manufacturers do 7,500 miles/year leases like Acura & Audi (BMW does not), but it’s not going to save you a ton as it’s typically just a 1% increase to residual ($500-$600 total over 3 years) vs. a 10K lease. If you like your BMW, I suggest you stick with them and focus on best possible deal you can get, potential a loaner as suggested or lower end model. If you follow this board and/or hire a broker, you can probably get a better deal than you would have done on your own which can easily offset the “wasted” mileage. If you are patient and have flexibility on colors/options maybe you can run into a unicorn deal like this and then the mileage is irrelevant:

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I don’t know what your deal is with strawman arguments and semantics - nowhere did I suggest that he should have bought this new instead of leasing. I suggested that he should look at pre owned models because he will get much more vehicle for less money since he is not paying for nearly as much time depreciation as you brought up. And driving so little, he really doesn’t have to worry about huge repair or maintenance bills that make leasing so attractive. There is precisely no real difference between a 2015 and a 2018 4GC. The ladies also don’t care what year it is.

OP seemed very concerned with monthly payment and saving money so I suggested a way to save a lot of money. OP can make up his own mind and do whatever he fancies with the information and suggestion provided.

Sorry… 416 miles vs. a guesstimate of 200-300 had a monumental impact in the discussion so good you chimed in there.

Of course, buying a used car will make better financial sense 99.9% of the time. Think you may be too practical for this forum where a majority posts are about $65k+ luxury cars.

Outside of questioning your comparison, my point was not using up a large portion of your mileage does not have huge financial ramification as one would think.

Just his BMW loyalty discount can almost can offset that “cost” so shouldn’t rule out leasing but maybe look at lower MSRP cars with good residuals/incentives if he wants to be more practical and it’s ok to turn in a car under mileage.

For people who don’t drive much, I think the most reasonable thing to do is buy new and own it for the length of the longest OEM extended warranty rangjng from eight (Honda, Toyota, etc) to ten years (Hyundai, Kia, etc).

A one-owner car with, say, 45K miles and a year remaining on the OEM warranty can be worth many thousands of dollars on the private market.

Purchase price + TTL plus maybe one set of tires + essentially zero repair costs less resale value = say 27k over nine years is only $250/month

Thanks everyone for the quick input. I wasn’t aware that BMW did not do 7.5K mile lease deals on some of their lower-end cars. Yeah unfortunately when I first leased the car, I was living somewhere else where my daily commute was significantly higher. I’ve moved much closer so obviously that cut miles down significantly but nonetheless coming near to the end of my lease.

I’ll be the first to admit, I do enjoy the bells and whistles of a new car so I’ll probably pass on purchasing a CPO (despite it being the most practical option here). @Britten440 i like the idea of staying posted on this board or even hiring a broker to help me do the leg work. Was not even aware there was a broker for lease deals - do you know how you source a good one? I’m crossing my fingers to find that unicorn deal. To me, sticking with BMW is probably the “simplest” (i.e., least time consuming) route.

Just pick up a 2019 C300 Sedan for $369 or an Audi A4 for $359 from here:

in your situation I would definitely use a reliable broker that can be found all over the forums. I see @autopia and @legendsauto and @LeaseHero posting all sorts of BMW deals for socal. Granted most of them are loaners or demos so if you want a non-loaner/demo I would contact them directly to see what sort of non-loaner/demo deals you can get. Use the forums as a tool to gauge their reliability and get a general sense of which car you want (e.g. price range). I personally have used Paul @legendsauto for my wife’s x2 and have been a happy camper.

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Spend some time on the forum… tons of BMW deals discussed and brokers available (at a fee of course). @BMW_Dave is a great person to follow as he’s at a dealership by you and always posting deals.

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Hi,

I can get some aggressive numbers together on a BMW. Text me at (818)-434-8063.

Thanks,

Paul.

Keep in mind that the aggressive deals you see on 3 series and C class are most likely to be very lightly equipped cars.

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Feel free to email me directly if you decide to stay with BMW (I don’t check PM’s very often at all) although the budget you working with ($300-350 with $0 DAS) will probably limit you specifically to a 320 or X2 loaner.

Keep in mind that I work for BMW so there wouldn’t be a broker fee (Sorry guys. Just a simple fact). I’d beat any new car quote on a comparable new car but the loaners are case by case. If I don’t have the right loaner car than the broker angle may work out better.

I have more reviews than any BMW Client Advisor in CA so you can clearly see what my past customers have experienced and what you can expect. My Reviews

Dave Townsend
dave.townsend@bmwofmurrieta.com

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When you’re talking about German luxury cars, buying and then continuing to own out of warranty is ALWAYS the wrong answer.

But otherwise I agree w/ your post. :slight_smile:

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I am also happy to help with loaners/demos and new vehicles alike! As you can see with my previous post history, my prices are some of the lowest and are hard to beat! BMW does not do 7.5k mile leases on cars other than the 7 series and a few M vehicles, but I do think sticking to BMW for your next lease is a good move as you save the disposition fee and can take advantage of BMW’s aggressive loyalty programs.

Feel free to contact me at 714-881-2719.

Best,
Kesha

I didn’t see it mentioned here but with the combo of a short commute, living in Cali, and already owning a BMW then an electric/hybrid vehicle would be a very good choice if you can charge at home or at work. Most gas vehicles do not tend to do well longer term with very short journeys, it’ll be easier on the vehicle with the Socal weather but your situation seems to be perfect for an i3, 330e, etc. You get a lot of fringe benefits as well going that route in Cali.

@LeaseHero and @legendsauto, are you guys considered brokers or w/ BMW? Reason I ask is I have a few more months before my lease ends so want to know if there are any options to turn in my lease early. Loaners would probably be good for my situation so I want to start the hunt early so I can find the right loaner.

@BMW_Dave thanks! I do have some flexibility with my monthly payment and DAS. I’ll email you directly with all my specific details.

@ajgraham that’s a good idea. I don’t think 330e’s qualify for anything in California anymore though. I think it’ll have to be a 530e in order to get HOV and federal credit.

You can’t turn the car in early without rolling in the payments.

Unless BMW FS is offering pull ahead for a specific model, correct?

Correct, but they are not offering pull ahead on any models as of now.

@legendsauto Is there a particular reason they aren’t? I thought this was a regular promo of theirs but seeing it is not, may have to table all this for when my lease is actually due.

No there’s no exact reason why they aren’t offering pull ahead, it’s just not being offered at the moment.