I know this wont be lease related but is still very relevant to BMW Loaner/Demo Pricing.
My aunt wants to upgrade from their 2017 BMW X3, which they bought as a previous service loaner (5K miles, now at 15K), I think they got it for about 16/17% off MSRP (listed price, zero negotiation), they had no loyalty or anything, not sure if there was any rebate cash applied at all.
She wants to get into another X3, but after I’ve been looking around 2020 service loaners only have about 11/12% off and 2021 models are pretty much priced the same or even better.
Is it realist to get the 2020 models down closer to 17% ish, or maybe even closer to 20%?
Is there even still lease programs for 2020’s in the Northeast? Shouldn’t that be more of a bargaining chip?
Also completely separate question, but their current vehicle was a service loaner but titled as a “commercial vehicle.” Do they usually do that? Or did the dealer just lie that it was a service loaner vehicle even though it wasn’t? They were still able to take the remaining maintenance services
The “loaner” I’m lookin at now have empty CARFAX reports that have never been titled, I was wondering when the in-service date of these vehicles are, have they not started yet?
In order to properly evaluate your potential deals you need to separate out the pre-incentive discount. Saying that your aunt was at 16% discount before doesn’t mean much if you don’t know how much was dealer discount and how much was incentives.
Also, using her deal from 3 years ago as a goalpost is not fruitful, programs and incentives change, discounts change, etc. The deal she got 3 years ago is irrelevant to what you may get now.
Especially as you’re in the NY/NJ area, there are tons of BMW brokers on here representing that area, spend some time searching the Marketplace, many have loaners listed. This will give you an idea of your best case scenario deal going forward.
2017 X3 was the outgoing model before the 2018 redesign, so that might explain the higher discount back then. The 2021 has a mid cycle refresh but not a full redesign. Inventory levels are probably also lower now than in 2017.
Re your question about how it was titled: I’ve seen dealerships title their cars differently and probably varies by state as well. Both Lexus dealerships I frequent in Northern VA title their loaner cars as “Rental” but I’ve seen NJ/NY/CT dealerships title their cars as commercial or fleet. The loaner you’re looking at could also be a demo that they threw into the “Loaner” section – just a car they use for test drives for that model car.
Something to keep in mind when deciding on the loaner:
Loaner: Given the new rule on BMW FS minimum service length. Loaners will potentially get more wear and tear after 4-6 months of usage. Also these cars are titled already so you’ll be renewing registration off cycled so it’s something to consider in states with high registration fees.
Demo: New to DMV’s point of view and other than warranty clock started early. Hopefully it’s an ex-employee lease and not a press-car driven by a youtuber with a hot shoe.
I know for a fact there’s no more support for 2020 BMW i3’s and last time I checked there were no lease offers for any 2020 models on the BMW website. I also saw some higher than average discounts on some 228i GC’s and X2’s at the time, so I didn’t think I needed to bother the people on the Edmund forum.
So once the dealer uses it as a demo/loaner, even if it has not been titled, the warranty clock started // an in-service date has been set? Interesting, I’ll definitely ask the dealers and see how long they’ve had them.
