Downside of leasing a demo/loaner?

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Apologies if duplicate, didn’t find in search of FAQ forum. What are the downsides of leasing a demo/loaner? If any. How does the existing mileage work in terms of adding relevant related-$ stuff to an LH calculator?

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If you like farts, there is no downside.

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This is leasehackr. We value deals above nasal discomfort, right?

But really, is there a need to be cautious of demo/loaners when leasing as `new’ in the same sense as a used car, i.e. take it to a trusted mechanic right away for inspection for hidden damage, if found is that fairly easy to get the dealer to document as pre-existing for when return time comes, etc?

Any wonkiness with the registration or taxes on a demo/loaner?

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That’s not how leasing works. There’s not such thing as pre-existing conditions for return time.

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There’s a RV drop based on mileage.

You still have to pay for the full years of registration, even if you don’t get charged upfront.

Least for BMWs you may have to pay a small fee for a “maintenance refresh” to transfer the maintenance warranty.

And yes, farts.

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That’s for which manufacturer? OP didn’t list which car is he looking at.

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I thought I saw BMW tagged, but was MA. My bad, will edit for BMW.

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Those numbers aren’t accurate for BMW.

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Hmmm… I’ll recheck my Excel calcs. In the meantime I generalized so as to not provide misinformation. Thanks

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The adjustment due to miles is (miles-500)*.25. In addition, if it has 5000-7499 miles, there’s an additional 7% RV drop. If 7500-9999, it’s a 9% RV drop.

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RV drop percentage is relative to price of car but easiest just to say between $0 and $1,125 which can be between 0 to nearly 3% on a 501-4999 car.

Same applies to more miles but with an additional penalty (-7%) 5,000-7,499 and (-9%) for 7,500-10,000 as well as loss of incentives.

Edit: just saw Jon posted pretty much the same. :grin:

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Recently leased a MB loner with 2700 miles, got a pretty good discount and car was sparkling clean, wouldn’t have been able to tell it was a loaner except for the odometer. For MBFS, there is no drop in residual under 3000 miles. To be safe, I obtained a carfax from the dealer which was clean.

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2 other things not mentioned - More likely to need tires with a demo/loaner and possibility the warranty can expire before the end of your lease depending on when it was put into service.

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RV drops, wear and tear, tires/brakes may need to replace, AC smells like farts, maintenance, etc.

Most importantly… DO check every and make sure they all are in working condition

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This is pretty irrelevant in most states not named CA that let you transfer plates.

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Warranty wouldn’t be as big a worry as pre paid maintenance. That will be the bigger issue, especially on a 3 year. Although if you’re a 15k/yr driver, warranty could pose an issue like you noted.

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Also, isn’t BMW’s warranty 4 year/50K? Probably not common, but if the loaner was put into service over a year ago warranty could end early on a 36 month lease.

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Yeah 4/50. So you could theoretically lose a few months at the end if the loaner had a birthday.

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Paying for new tires from the burnouts the loaners drivers did

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You’ll start to see more general wear and tear the closer you get to 10,000 miles. The E-Class I got for my mom was just under that mileage and had under bumper scrapes, but nothing that would likely be chargeable upon return. Front brakes were warped around 15K and replaced by goodwill under warranty, and now the rears are warped at 21K, but we’re just going to live with it until lease end.

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