My 330i lease is up in July. I don’t want another BMW but don’t think I’ll be able to afford the Genesis SUV that I want (in this market). So I figure I’ll just buy it until things get better. My original salesman already contacted me, I told him my plans, he commented that I’d need a “safety check” before I buy it. I asked why, he responded “Safety/emission check. Anytime BMW Financial sells a leased vehicle back to a client, it’s required.” I just checked my BMW Financial account page and it says nothing about it. Basically it says send the payoff amount to a certain address in Chicago and they’ll send me the title.
Does anyone know anything about this? I don’t want to go anywhere near a dealer if I’m buying out the lease. Also, now I’m seeing that dealers are adding on “fees” when leases are bought out. But there’s nothing in writing about this. (I’m in Florida.)
If you buy directly from BMWFS they don’t require anything - just send them the $$ and you’re good to go.
If you buy through a dealer- technically they are buying the car from BMW and then re-selling it to you, so if the law in your state requires a dealer to make sure any car they sell meets safety standards they might require the inspection. It’s no different than if you came in and bought any other used car off their lot in that case - you could hold them accountable for problems with the car for a certain period of time. Not every state has that though.
Not what he said though. He said “anytime BMWFS sells a leased vehicle back to a client, it’s required.” His original statement, in fact, was “You’ll need a safety check if you do decide to purchase out.” Nothing about “through the dealer”. Is this just a scam to get me in there? And why would I need a dealer involved if I can just send a check to BMWFS?
I will call and ask them to verify the process. (I will NOT ask, do I need to take it to the dealer for a safety check, lol.) I’m very disappointed in my salesman, who up to this point has been very honest with me. (It was the Finance guy who was sleazy, but that’s a different story.)
If you can get BMW to let you pay them directly, you do not need an inspection and don’t need to involve dealer at all. I just did this a few weeks ago. But I’m not in FL and it sounds like the law there was written to favor dealers (who likely have strong lobbyists) - so unfortunately your options might be limited. Florida drivers struggle to exercise car lease buyouts
I don’t know how they could tell me I can’t pay it off directly when the instructions are very clear on my account page and doesn’t say it varies by state. Now, the fact that the salesman is saying this safety check is required is making me wonder though. I’ll definitely let you know!
BMW Select Financing may be available to those who want to secure a lower monthly payment moving forward. A lease-end buyout is not a good idea if you don’t want to be saddled with the responsibility of ownership...
