My i3 lease is ending in 2 months and I’m considering buying it but as you all know the RV is inflated.
I reached out to BMWFS and they do not discount from RV now so I’m wondering if I can find a dealer to return the car and buy it at a lower than RV price?
Any experience or input to share? Thanks.
Well, what’s your RV, dealer buyout price and current market value on the car?
I thought some posters yrs ago said that BMW tracks who buys the car next (presumably, in part, to avoid the situation you’ve described).
So, no, you likely cannot.
Buy out about 29k. Retail I see around 25k. KBB trade in is about 21k
The good news is that you don’t have to eat that loss in value - it’s all on BMWFS.
The not so good news… you can try calling your friendly neighborhood bmw dealers, but it’s unlikely they’ll play along. BMWFS discourages such activities and dealers can be dinged for it. Still, no harm in asking around.
Correct, BMW dealers can be heavily penalized if BMWFS/NA finds out they bought a car and sold it back to the original lessee for less than RV. If you want to buy an i3 at “market” price, best bet is to pick up a used one.
If you qualify, buy a used one under $25k and get a $4000 tax credit, but the income limit is quite low.
Income requirements: max adjusted gross income (AGI) of $75,000 for single filer, $150,000 for joint filers, $112,500 for head of household.
Hmm…so even if I return the car and the dealer lists it for sale, I technically cannot buy it if the price is less than RV?
BMWFS itself did discount i3 back in 2020 and I have a hard time understanding why they cannot do something similar in 2023 as they gonna take big loss anyway on any i3 return.
We middle income got penalized again in this case
Doubt that a dealer would refuse to sell it back to you at the publicly advertised price.
I was in the same boat with a very loaded 2019 530e, decided to roll the dice with Calabasas store that’s known to be pricing used cars high and not negotiating (one price BS). They CPOd the car, changed tires, fixed minor dings/curb rash, etc. Priced just below RV… and sold the sucker even before posting pix, lol! To rub some salt into a fresh would, I saw this car on the road shortly thereafter.
No clue but I wonder if there’s some time limit attached to when you sell the car to the dealer and potentially would be allowed to buy it back.
Obviously if you sell and buy it same day or even same week it would likely raise alarms with BMW, but I don’t see how BMW would mind if you bought it say a few weeks later if it sat on the lot in the meantime. It would be odd if you were permabanned from buying it lol.
The universe is telling you to dodge a falling knife
Why would any BMW store buy out the car if the retail value is less than the wholesale value?
You cant compare 2020 to 2023 in the automotive world.
What about buying back under spouse’s name or a close family member.
The store you turn it into may not even buy it… they may just turn around and send it directly to auction. With so many EV options these days, does an i3 fit into a store’s inventory? Just thinking out loud…
Anyway, just call a few stores and ask if they’ll facilitate your deal. Then you’ll know for sire
You can buy it, and they can sell it to you, but the point here is that this is not some kind of easy loophole, it is something BMW looks for and a dealer can be penalized for it.
Yes. Perhaps this is the message I need to get 