Total, of course. Don’t spoil them or they will expect it every time 
Ok cool, that’s in line with what I was thinking, good to have a second corroborating opinion! I definitely over tipped the doormen in my building this year and it’s been a bit awkward lately. Do you normally split that up and give say $10 to each guy in an individual envelope with maybe double to the manager or just hand whoever is there one envelope with the total amount and tell them to split it up? Guess the former is safer.
I’m no expert, but I’d give it in one envelope to the forman/manager. In theory, they collect everything in one pool and then split it up.
Ok, good advice, thanks much! For doorman and maintenance worker tips we’ve done them individually as we have some favorites that we give more to, etc, but in the garage we just started and most likely will see the same evening and weekend people most of the time.
If they gave you one card, I would say just one envelope and give it to the manager.
I give each concierge in my building a separate envelope, but I also interact with them all on a different left and more personally than I do/would a garage attendant.
I used to threw them a few bucks every time I took the car in addition to a holiday gift… felt like they always were willing to help me out especially during busy times and my car was always dent free.
Agreed, I gave individual cards to each of our doormen / maintenance etc. We had left over cards that I already began to address / write out before I posted here so I wound up giving individual cards to the garage attendants today … 6 out of 9 done, if I don’t see the remaining guys in the next day or two I’ll just leave them in the office for them. So awkward as I don’t know their names, lol, literally standing there asking each guy his name and finding the card addressed to him!
The whole valet concept is a little awkward to me … I would prefer to retrieve and park the car myself though I obviously understand that in the crowded confines of the garage they want to ensure no fender benders etc. Still, my car is literally keep right in front of the door to the garage so we’re just standing there for a minute while they bring it up front. Is what it is!
Hiya all --!
Well, it’s been an eventful 3 years, huh? Lease is nearing its end and starting to explore my options. The X5 is an awesome car and I think I want another - just trying to decide whether to buy out my current car or do a new lease / purchase and have a few questions.
Based on a search of the forum and broker deals it seems like 6% off an x5 40i and 2-3% off the 45e is about the going rate of current discounts, does that seem reasonable? I don’t remember how to find the details on other BMW incentives (loyalty etc) that may be available, are there any currently? I’ll be sure to find the base money factor on another website.
Is my understanding on the hybrid tax credit correct - as long as I took delivery of a 45e before the end of the year I would be eligible for the $7500 tax credit (e.g. under the old incentive plan) rather than the new one? If that’s the case then I would assume the tax credit essentially goes away for the 45e after the start of the year since it is likely above the price limit and most purchasers are likely above the income limit too (not to mention the percentage of American parts requirement which I don’t know whether it meets the criteria for).
Finally, with respect to my current car, what is the best approach for going about figuring the current value / where and how I could sell it? Carvana and Vroom both gave me offers below my buyout price (low 40k) but a quick search for 2020 x5s with low miles (17k currently) shows prices more like 50-55k, so maybe a bit hard to say.
Thank you again for the input!
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!
IMO, 4.5% is very attractive considering the 10yr treasury is 4% and many other MFs/APRs are much higher.
With that said, there has been a HUGE uptake in the amount customers have been putting down.
You don’t need to pay sales tax if selling back to BMW, usually the best option.
That’s a totally fair point. Thank you for the perspective.
Ok, so here’s where I’m at on a potential new lease (I’ve included broker + deliver fees in the dealer fee line):
The buyout on my current lease is around $41k ($44k including taxes), though will be closer to 40k by the time I actually sell my car (extended lease reducing residual buyout). Without much effort I have offers to buy my car for $42-$43k so that implies around $2000’ish equity give or take, which seems low considering I see most offers for a 3 year old low miles X5 online to be around 50k, but oh well.
The alternative is to buy my car and keep it for myself. If I do that then I’m looking at $43-$44k to buy the car inc. taxes, plus ~$4200 on extended BMW warranty + maintenance plan, + $1500’ish on tires at some point in the next year or two (and let’s assume I won’t need new brakes for a while) puts me close to $50k to buy the car.
Now, please check my logic on this but the way I am thinking about it is lets say I finance it for 5 years and plan to keep it for another 3, then in 3 years I’ll owe approx $16k on the car (now a 6 year old X5 with probably 35-40k miles) and will have spent probably close to $40k over those 3 years. So that implies to break even vs leasing (total cost $36k over 3 years less 2k current equity in current vehicle = $34k) I would need to sell the 6 year old X5 for $22k. Anything above that and I do better (again assuming no maintenance issues) buying my current car and less I do worse. Does that make sense?
Given the above then, what do you think the odds are the car would be worth more than $22k 3 years down the road from now? Also, given the low residual of the new lease ($37k), does it stand to reason that there’s a chance I again have a couple thousand in equity at the end of the term, thus making the breakeven on buying my current car even higher?