Hi all - seems like a lot of recent posts on lease BMW lease returns lately… apologies if this one is superfluous but just wanted to confirm my understanding of a few details.
I am not yet certain whether I want to buy my current car or lease / buy a new one (though I am happy with mine). I also do not exactly know whether I have any “equity” in my current lease but seems worthwhile to explore. When looking at my lease purchase documents am I correct that if I were to sell my car to a BMW dealership that I would not need to pay the sales tax? And if I buy it for myself or to sell privately to a third part that I would?
Am I also correct that the best approach here is to separate the two transactions e.g. approach various BMW dealers to see what they would offer for my car and then to separately go about finding the best deal on a new lease or purchase?
Finally, assuming I do have equity in my current vehicle is there ever ANY reason to put more money down on the lease (ie cap cost reduction) or is this strictly frowned upon in every scenario? One reason I could possibly think of is to save some interest now that lease rates are around 4.5%?
Otherwise, I had been leaning toward purchasing my current car but given it’s around 3k better to sell to a dealership (taxes, if I am correct above) that is probably the better approach especially since now there is lease cash + loyalty + discounts on a new lease which then if I mentally include any equity in my current vehicle could make things relatively similar to my current situation. Aside - can you get loyalty on an outright purchase of a new car or only lease?
Thank you!