Very detailed, but at times confusing as I regularly have to google what some codes mean. Also, some seem like they would be standard instead of optional…
By the way, that car is loaded, no wonder the difference to base MSRP.
CarPhan, I rarely see BMWs being sold for base MSRP. This is very obvious when you see their lease ads on the web, which in their fine print mention the (low) MSRP used to reach that monthly payment. Once you click the “inventory” button, you see that rarely you will have a car at that price, as most have lots of options on them, substantially increasing their MSRP.
I would also highlight the fact that those prices don’t have MSD’s. On a 60k car it can represent $50 or $60 less per month… The 5 series GT on the list looks like it should lease VERY nicely with MSDs… Off the top of my head it should be around $420~$430 per month on a 68k car…
I am trying to understand the appeal of leasing a slightly used BMW…
If the car shows up at auction with 5,000 or so miles, why?
Are these program cars?
Off lease?
Maybe the owner did not like their car and traded it in for something else?
Also, a good lease deal comes in between .5% and .8% of MSRP. Worst-case scenario (and without multiple security deposits), a $60,000 brand new BMW can be leased at $480 monthly - which looks like the same price as leasing a used BMW.
I am asking not to be a jerk. I just want to understand this as I am interested in getting my son into a Mini at the best price.
Bottom line: if the monthly price of a new car is the same as a slightly used car, what is the advantage of this?
No worries, it’s a perfectly valid question and we’re here to help each other.
The appeal is potentially a MUCH better price than you normally get. I just got a $65k car for $399 a month, no down payments, no incentives.
These cars are not off-lease or used cars, otherwise BMW wouldn’t lease them as new. They are untagged cars, that have been used for demos or as executive loaners. I believe they have to have less than 15k miles for BMW to lease them in the same conditions as new ones.
Notes:
BMW penalizes the residual value of the car at $.25 per mile over 500 miles. This means one of these cars with e.g. 4500 miles, is considered to have a Residual Value of $1000 less than a car with no miles. Loberant’s list already considers this penalty into the calculations
BMW factory warranty is 4 years, 50k miles. If you get a car already with 10k miles and want to lease it for 36m/15k, then at the end you’ll be out of the warranty, as you would turn in your car with 55k miles… Not sure how BMW handles those types of situations…
I’m very interested. I just contacted BMW of West Houston directly about a few of these cars, but I’m not sure if that’s the right way to go about this. Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!
A good friend of my family is a long-time car mechanic.
He used to work at VW, but moved to BMW.
I asked him why. He said, and I quote… “BWMs break down - a lot.”
He also said the same about Mercedes.
And yes, his commission makes up the bulk of his pay.
I currently drive Toyota RAV4s. They are tough as nails. Tires and brake pads is all we need. Our RAVs are reliable - yesterday both of mine started up without a hitch in 9 degree/30 m.p.h. freezing cold.
About the BMW appeal… I just do not understand it. If BMWs notoriously break down… why in the world would I get into a used one? Sure, BMW does the free fix, but time is money!
This is my 6th BMW , 5th one leasing… In the 4 previous ones, other than scheduled maintenance, I had to go once to the garage (because the breaks were squeaking). So, your idea that they break a lot is in my opinion wrong.
Still there should be public stats comparing different manufacturers, which are much more valid that my opinion and your mechanic’s (who obviously only gets cars that have something wrong with them. What percentage is the key here)…
My opinion is that they are extremely reliable (at least in the first 4 years which is the length of the leases I’ve had), the best to drive, but once they are out of warranty, it becomes very expensive to fix anything… Still, if you’re leasing, you don’t have to worry about that.
Things only start to break once they are out of warranty. For the most part, there aren’t any cars that break down while in warranty unless they are total lemons. Even if the car does have some issues, I don’t care at all because it’s all covered by warranty and I get a loaner. An executive demo lease is at the top of my list for next year, provided I can get an X3 for less than $350 a month
MINI ranks highest in satisfaction with dealer service among mass market brands, with a score of 858. Rounding out the top five mass market brands in the ranking are Buick (849), GMC (830), Chevrolet (818) and Hyundai (814).
The only issue I have with MINI is their f*cking run-flat tires… run flat tires should be made illegal - they are hard to repair, noisy, super expensive and wear out twice as fast.
I have regular tires on my RAV4. Just passed 42,000 miles and still have 5/32" tread depth. These are miracle tires as I usually have to look to replace them by now.
We drive 40,000 miles a year on this RAV4.
I am tight with a few guys in different dealership service departments. We swap intelligence about things…
One of my buddies VEHEMENTLY warned me about run flats. He said they are a service department nightmare. He said his customers have smoke coming out of their head when they get the bad news that their new tires have to be replaced after 17,000 miles of use… or that a simple nail cannot be removed and patched. (Technically, I understand a nail can be removed, but everything thinks they cannot.)
But wait - it gets worse… WAY worse:
My buddy at MINI told me his customers have to replace all 4 tires for “warrantee purposes”! Yep, get a nail in one tire, replace 'em all. Imagine getting the phone call that a nail caused $1,000.00+ in replacement tires. That is CRAZY.
This post has 126 (mostly) nasty comments about run flat tires:
To each his own – the appeal of a car is not solely based on reliability. Some people like cars and some people use it to get from point a to point b.
I drove Porsche’s for the last 20 years. I paid $8k for a new transmission & clutch. Probably about $4-5k in repairs every year not counting the time I spend to deal with it. It had a supercharger (+108 HP) that had to be disassembled every time I take it to shop which is $150 x 5 hours minimum. Yet, I am still looking for one to buy right now because I love cars.
