I’m just outside of Atlanta and I have the attached lease deal from my dealer. The background is that my current lease is up in April and they are saying I’ll have negative equity in the current car then. I have to admit that leasing is not my strong suit despite working in finance for a living. Any feedback and advice is greatly appreciated.
Edit: It is an i4.
For the record, my goal is to minimize out of pocket while keeping monthly payments in the $500 range (less, if possible).
Get the tint charged dropped and it looks fine. Almost every dealer that has been playing ball on i4’s is sold out of in stock cars at this point.
Is this with the negative rolled in?
i’m sorry, what? you just return the car, negative equity isn’t your problem.
if anything, you have negative equity now that you’re rolling into the new lease.
It is if they’re trying to trade in or turn in and rolling in remaining payments since their current car (assuming also a BMW) doesn’t turn over until April.
There is no such thing as a pull ahead with BMW in the traditional sense. You’re paying the remaining payments upfront, rolling it in or it’s coming off the discount.
no, I get that, what I’m saying is that the dealer is making it sound like the negative equity in April will be their problem.
Fair,
In that instance then best course may just be to wait until March/April (whenever last payment has been made) or at first instance of lockable programs and reserve an inbound or order at that point assuming programs are still strong.
It’s really a gamble at this point.
How could you tell this deal is for an i4? Based on the incentives and MSRP (do look like i4 numbers)? OP doesn’t mention the type of car he is considering. Or did I miss something?
Rate (albeit with markup), Residual, MSRP, and Incentives. 
Yes, thanks. That’s what I figured.
It is for an i4. My bad for not stating that in the post. I edited it to show that.
I’m not sure the negative equity is my problem at all.
What would be the impact of getting the tint charge dropped. Also, I’m not clear on what the dealer service charge is. Any ideas about that?
If it’s a lease it really isn’t your problem unless maybe your tires are already near minimums and you’d be on the hook for them at turn-in. We don’t have enough knowledge here to give a definite aside from the fact you’re trying to bail early on your current car.
Tint backed out, you save about about $20/mo or $699 less due at signing same payment. Dealer service charge is same as Doc fee, which in GA typically is $899.
Thanks for the info. Looking more and more like waiting for lease termination is the best bet.
Well, the dealer is saying they can’t let me off without paying the last 3 months of the current lease and the window tint is a mandatory charge since they apply it to every new car they take onto the lot.
I am not liking this and will probably call him back and tell him I’ll just wait out till my lease is over even if, as he says, the current specials and discounts won’t be available and it will cost more.
Negative equity is never going to be beneficial to a deal no matter how it’s sliced.
The good thing is you now have 4 months to learn all the ins and outs of leasing, follow the LH marketplace and see where cars are leasing at from dealers and brokers on here. At that point you’ll be prepared to first make an offer to a dealer or you’ll know that it may be better off to get a vehicle from a broker on here and have it shipped in.
