I tired to lease loaner x5 but got denied from BMW FS. Now I’m thinking maybe I was overconfident considering my short credit history as I just moved in U.S. in July, score I see is 704. I have good job, 0 debt, assets, and I’m using my credit cards responsibly, less than 10% utilization, azeo, and anything else I can do; but it looks like only time can help here. Dealer sales guy told me he will try to call and talk with BMW FS on Monday, but I’m not sure something will work out there no matter how they want to sell that vehicle, or I will get an offer with crazy APR/MF or 50% down.
I need an advice, if I should try lease/finance with any other vehicle brand directly, maybe there is more loyal for the guys with the profile similar to mine? Or the only option for me is paying cash in full or finance with crazy apr? I would appreciate your advices.
Update/Outcome: I got approval under the BMW Executive Program, for lease MF went up 0.0001/0.0002, for finance, they offered 2.9%, reminder BWM now has 0.9% promo on X5, but it is still much better than APR on used vehicles. I decided to proceed with the lease and already got the car.
I honestly think those programs are a great thing for folks like me, as the current lease will help to build my credit history.
Documents they requested for BMW Executive Program (mandatory):
Employer information: Employment Verification Letter with your salary, position, contacts; ideally, expected term in the U.S. but I didn’t had those, also mine was saying I work for this company almost 5 years, as I started abroad.
Copy of Visa and I-94
Copy of SSN
Copy of Passport
Optional: bank statements for latest 3 months (I shared those); letter of sponsorship from Emplyer for Work Visa if visa expires prior to the end of the lease end (this is actually my case, but I haven’t provided anything here).
I would like to thank everyone who responded to the topic, and especially to those who recommended the BMW Executive Program. I will also update the original post.
I will let the smarter folks chime in here but as you have mentioned, its your lack of auto credit history and your overall credit history is in its infancy. I believe getting a co-signer can help here, but not sure how that works with BMW (I have done it in the past when I had just graduated and starting my job and my parent was my co-signer), Otherwise, your okay with bumping your utilization up–believe its <30%, and just pay it off 1-2 days before its due
Look into opening up other ones too but not too quickly. If you want to get into the cc points game–I have 0 guidance there, sorry!
I’m on work visa until may 2028, but likely will get a green card somewhere next year, however it doesn’t help as I need a car relatively soon. So I guess the question is if there any other car producer tolerate the folks like me or the used/cash is the only option if I don’t want to pay crazy apr.
BMW has an International Executive Program specifically for expats, but not many people are familiar with it. Your bmw CA may have to call BMWFS for more details, or you can try finding a broker on LH who’s more familiar with it.
What score model are you looking at? Most auto decisions are made by some flavor of FICO score, and many/most FICO models won’t even produce a score without at least one account that’s 6 months old.
On a purchase loan, you don’t have to limit yourself to manufacturer’s captive finance companies. Auto loans are offered by virtually every bank and credit union in the US.
On the occasions I’ve used a captive finance company to do a car loan, it’s been to capture a low rate that’s subsidized by the manufacturer (something way below market, like 0.9% for 36 months).
Only Chase is showing the score for me, I think it’s VantageScore@ 3.0; Experian, or BofA (I guess shows FICO) says “Score Unavailable”.
On a purchase loan, you don’t have to limit yourself to manufacturer’s captive finance companies. Auto loans are offered by virtually every bank and credit union in the US.
I initially planned to lease, and that’s what we applied for with BMW FS.
On the occasions I’ve used a captive finance company to do a car loan, it’s been to capture a low rate that’s subsidized by the manufacturer (something way below market, like 0.9% for 36 months).
Yes, that is why I also wanted to check what APR I could get for financing, as the 0.9% advertised by BMW in November looks like free money to me compared to the lease MF.
The dealership sales advisor, anyway planned to call BMW FS on Monday, I will text him to talk to them about International Executive Program suggested above, maybe this can help.
If you have good income and will be here for at least the lease term, there is a program for H1B and other visa types that @Kctham18 already mentioned.
If the dealer didn’t ask you for a ton of docs, your i-94, stuff from your employer, they didn’t try it.
Ask your dealer to try it, or reach out to one of us who has done this before.
If you have good income and will be here for at least the lease term, there is a program for H1B and other visa types that @Kctham18 already mentioned.
If the dealer didn’t ask you for a ton of docs, your i-94, stuff from your employer, they didn’t try it.
Ask your dealer to try it, or reach out to one of us who has done this before.
I’m on L1A, and the dealer hasn’t asked for I-94 or my visa, I think they just did a default quote, so I will definitely talk to them on Monday about the specific program for expats.
Thank you, I really appreciate the advice from all the folks who commented here
Take the minimum amount for a credit union loan. Some are as low as $5,000-7,500… even if you pay 10% APR instead of a prime 7% for a used car loan your total interest payments will be very low but you’ll build your credit history. If you can qualify for 0.9% or even 1.9% on a BMW loan that’s another avenue to consider.
X5 leases are mediocre to put it gently so you may have dodged a bullet there. I know in many other countries both the cost of cars such as X5s and interest rates are much higher so it may have seemed like a good deal relatively speaking. But look at Signed Deals & Tips and you’ll see savvy US based customers are not really leasing X5s.
Make sense, probably will take that route to build a credit car loan history in case nothing workout with BMW FS.
But look at Signed Deals & Tipsand you’ll see savvy US based customers are not really leasing X5s.
I appreciate your advice, really, but I negotiated a very good conditions, and do really want x5. At first I was actually started looking at used x5s, but the price you pay condition you get and risks you take on used one… Was thinking also about Mercedes GLE, but it looks like with Mercedes FS it won’t change much.
I was/am in the same boat, moved here September. First question before looking at any car is do they offer the expat program, most dealers do but not all are equal - VW was fine but local dealer wasn’t great and Toyota didn’t even bother asking their FS after I wasted hours looking at different cars.
I ended up taking one the of pre-agreed Mazda offers from LH and they accepted me no problem. They will most likely ask for proof of income (offer letter or pay slip, I-94 and proof of address). It took a little longer than normal to approve but was straight forward in the end.
I moved from Canada, and BMW FS offered the lease through their executive program which was similar / lower rate. Depends where you mvoed from, check if this applies
