Let it go… don’t persist in that is affecting your ability to obtain credit. It is, but not quite what you think it is.
Your credit score is just a reflection of your credit worthiness now, at this point in time. Underwriting loans/leases takes a lot more factors into consideration.
As a newcomer, your credit file is most likely thin, which means, you don’t have extensive borrowing or credit history in the US. any creditor can already make those assumptions based on your application file and the length of your credit history.
Secondly, you haven’t had an auto loan or lease before, correct? (Apologies if I missed this).
The first lease/loan is always the hardest. The lack of a prior loan/lease and coupled with a thin file, with the credit application information… it’s like a shining beacon for dealers. So yes, all that info alone is enough for a dealer to see you as an easy mark and charge up the wazoo while throwing half-truths at you.
Take it as a lesson learnt and hopefully your next one goes a lot better. Good luck
I don’t see many people really helping on this thread, OP, you probably have the worst lease I’ve seen in my life, there is no nice way to say it but you got screwed hard by that dealer, you will have to increase your incentive to get this moving, $1130 is near S class money.
Now what can you do to mitigate this …
1- ASAP, read your contract and try to cancel those add-ons items, I’d call the sales manager at the selling dealer, or call BMW financials and ask for guidance but do not sit on this, if successful, it should lower your cost significantly letting you either afford your car or at least be able to get someone to take over lease.
2- Try to get online quotes and see where you land
3- Explore trading this car for something cheaper, for example, a Hyundai Elantra or a Mercedes EQB, Audi A3, Q3, Hyundai Ioniq5 or Kona to lower your payments, in your situation, the last thing you need is an expensive car!
Most people like to joke but life is hard and sometimes people make bad decisions in life, no one should pay $1130 for a 430i period!! but I hope a lesson learned to do more homework in the future.
I hope I was able to offer some help.
All the best luck.
I appreciate your advice and everyone else’s as well.
The dealer flat out refused to remove the add on extra warranty and “vehicle protection” (I think this one meant gap insurance or something), 1 week after I signed the lease. Unfortunately, all I can do is ask here. They said that this was non negotiable for “international professional program”, which I now know is basically leasing program when you don’t have sufficient US credit (I find that absurd since I have a short, but pretty decent US credit). If you know any other way to compel a dealer, I’m all ears. BMW Financial doesn’t seem to care to get involved in what add ons are there.
I have explored selling and lease swap options. The situation is a bit transient, so I have to sit on the lame buy out offers. No lease swap offers yet.
I’ve been looking into cheaper leases. Like I said, I’m working on a solution that somehow doesn’t involve me paying negative equity for a car I don’t get to use. A bad lease, might turn into a slightly better one if I can refinance this once I’m back to stable financial ground, soon.
Contact the warranty company and/or the vehicle protection company directly and demand a refund. According to this article, they are required by law in TX to give you a prorated refund. It will not reduce your payment but it should put cash back in your pocket.
"If you get an extended warranty and then change your mind, the law requires that you be allowed to cancel the contract within 30 days of buying for a full refund, or after 30 days for a pro-rated refund, minus any claims you filed. The law specifically prohibits cancellation fees in the first 30 days, and limits them to $50 thereafter.
Companies violating Texas extended warranty laws can be fined up to $2,500 for each violation, with a cap of $50,000 total. They also risk license suspension or revocation."
@Sarthak_Joshi you don’t cancel thru the dealership, you cancel thru the warranty companies (usually).
Sounds like you’re not a citizen and they’re just taking advantage of you by telling you nonsense about the IEP program.
IEP does not require you to buy appearance packages lol, sure the rate could be different and it could have other stipulations, but BMWFS is never going to say “we’ll only approve this guy on an H1B if he buys wheel and tire from you”.
Call the warranty companies directly, ask for the cancellation procedure, and do that. Short of that, light up the dealership for lying to you, it’s not like you need them to be your friend.
No luck needed. We only need to wait until dealers soak in their inventory and manufacturers start lowering prices. The level of greed in the industry is unprecedented.
Tried that just now. Called up the company that runs the dealership and sells the add-ons like extra warranty and GAP (those 2 alone add $7k to this).
Told them about the state laws and everything. Got a call back this morning where the dealership guy states that while I can cancel the add-ons, I wouldn’t see the benefit of that in my monthlies since the leasing company that owns the car, will still insist on the same monthly as the signed contract, and the credit from cancellation will simply go into the residual value.
The dealership isn’t exactly nearby, so I have to speak with them over the phone a lot, but they aren’t exactly making it easy to reduce the cost here. The leasing company (BMW FS), simply sends me a pdf describing early termination options.
From experience I received a check in the mail for the refund. While it won’t lower the payment for the new owner, you can issue the refund as an incentive to lower the effective monthly payment.
@Sarthak_Joshi For the love of god, please write a google and dealerrater review stating the absolute nightmare and misinfo they’ve been throwing at you during the cancellation process. Don’t blast them for including add ons in the first place, since that’s more on you for not reading the contract/just being happy with the payment.
Since you are having a hard time getting this resolved, why don’t you give all your info to @IAC_Scott and let him help you. Maybe (not sure if he will) he can contact whoever on your behalf and get you back $5-$7k in the BS add-ons you were forced to buy and in return you give him a broker fee. May just be beneficial for you to give $500 to get back $6k.
Then the $5-6k you get back in the form of a check or whatever, use that as an incentive to whoever takes over your lease (that makes the effective go down by another $150-200).
