As a consumer I agree with you, the fee is ridiculous.
But from dealer’s perspective I understand why they do it - and it’s not just to get $$ out of you.
When you do buyout through dealer, it’s technically 2 transactions. They buy car from BMWFS, and then they immediately resell it to you.
In many states there is a mandatory used car warranty or safety requirement for cars under certain age/mileage or over certain $$ sale price. In other words dealer has to guarantee any used car they sell is roadworthy.
Why does this matter? Let’s say you know your car has bald tires and brakes are down to the metal. If you wanted to be an a$$, you could technically hold them accountable for repairing the car since they sold it to you in that condition. Or worse yet, what if you’re clueless and don’t even realize their car has bald tires and no brakes left - and then you crash and kill someone? Eventually an attorney for the person you kill finds out dealer “sold” you the car and sues them. Dealer has no record of inspecting your car, attorney convinces jury the big bad dealership is negligent, and they have to pay a few million $$ settlement.
The odds of either of those scenarios happening is really really small, but I can’t blame them for covering their a$$.
hmm, makes sense, although 1) perhaps it should be free to be competitive and not sound silly and 2) doesn’t BMW financial, when selling me the car, have to abide by the same rules?
Ok - asked for a quote from Carvana and got " Your Carvana Offer - $32,404"
" Leases can be tricky
We love buying cars from our customers but BMW Financial Services policies prevent Carvana from paying off your current lease, which stops us from purchasing your car. This bums us out too."
Breaking down your offer details
Offer amount
$32,404
Lease payoff amount
$27,162
Payment to you
$5,242"
My lease buy-out is * $27,162 - so are there taxes/fees I will have to pay on top before selling to Carvana? (California)
Not sure if this is worth it as I’m unsure exactly what I would walk away with after completing the buy-out and then selling to Carana (would it really be $5,242)?
Apparently in California if you sell it to a third party (Carmax, etc) - you get the sales tax cost / retitling fees back after 10-days of receiving the new title and selling the car?
Basically you need proof that you sold it before the 11th day
The Biggest Gotcha is you have to pay the car tax directly. Buying from Dealer might mean the ‘refund’ goes to the dealer, and trying to get a refund from a dealer is a job in itself.
Correct, there’s a case here where they did a Nissan Dealer Buyout (Because Nissan used to force that) and sold the car, and went back to get the tax and it was refunded…to that dealer.
