Hi guys please review and let me know if this is a good deal. I have never leased before so I’m not 100% sure.
Sell price: $95,530
Adjusted price: $78,877
Residual: $50,631
Money Factor: .0005
Three year lease
12,000 miles/year
Down: $7000, Total due at signing.
Monthly payment with $7k down: $729
Yes, it’s a lot to put down I know but that gives me the monthly payment I want.
Am I forgetting anything?
Thank you!
Bill H.
That is entirely the wrong way to think about the down payment. Do not anchor yourself to a certain monthly payment. You are really paying 950 a month for this.
Thank you for the reply. I’m new at leasing, how do you figure $950?
Is this 7k down or 7k total due at signing?
Thank you for the reply. Total due at signing. Post updated to reflect this.
Because the down payment has value. You could have nothing down or only taxes and fees and use the difference to pay the payments
Basically everyone who goes with the mindset of putting x amount down to achieve Y payment is likely making a bad move or misunderstanding the situation.
1000 in down payment is roughly equal to 30/mo so 7k upfront is roughly 210/mo of value for most leases
Ahh, I see how you got there. Thank you.
That is not something I considered, I’m new at this and you bring up a very good point.
Payment numbers make it easy to get distracted from the total lease cost, which is really the financial decision you’re making.
When I start shopping, I know in advance that I’m willing to spend $X over the entire term (including upfronts).
Finding the right car, deal and lease structure are separate exercises.
It could be 99/mo if you wanted to put enough down, simply put, which obviously isn’t advisable.
That is true. All else being equal, how does the deal look? Thank you .
Post your best attempt at the LH calculator.
Thank you, this is the best I can do.
I’ll help you out, math isn’t too far off, I can do a little better of a deal from a neighboring state if you’re interested
Im not to far from the WA border to the north about an hour I would say.
Thank you for the help with the calculator!
@Serialnerd Trust Scott @IAC_Scott to beat anyone in PNW. He is also very reputable on bimmerpost (one of the best forum on BMW). You are in safe hands.
Why is putting money down to achieve a desired payment a bad move? Some of the MFs today are in the 7-8% range. Since most people can’t get that in interest from their bank, putting money down to lower the interest charge may not be a bad idea. It could also be used for multiple Security deposits to lower MF. One has to do the math to see what makes sense.
Sure the rates of today make it more attractive to put money down but it’s important to also look at what happens to that money if the car is totaled, etc which can vary by manufacturer. You also could just put that money into various interest bearing accounts which are yielding around 5% at present.
The main point is that the money has value and solely thinking of things in terms of a desired payment generally results in people undervaluing the present and future value of that money as well as liquidity benefits to having that sum in your account and not in the banks.
I could not agree more! Scott has been a big help and I really appreciate the time he took to assist me.
Someone will be along soon to tell you that in the event of a total loss, you’ll lose all of that upfront money and your dog will be disemboweled.
Unfortunately this is never actually 100% true (about the money or the pet).
But the money part fits in a soundbite, so you’ll read that here a lot.
It’s often a sign of mental gymnastics aka convincing yourself or your significant other that the payment is actually lower than it is 
Big financial decisions should not require mental gymnastics.