Lease Buyout price at end of lease is: 28k
Carvana offer is: 29k
Carmax offer: 28.5k for above avg, 31k for excellent
Vroom 8.5k LOL
Is this car worth buying at the price? it’s a BMW i3 Rex.
I think if I purchase the car, I will have to pay taxes on the 28k which will make the price around 31k for me. Buying and selling this car won’t make sense if no one is giving a better price if I sell them. I lose because i will be paying taxes on the car when I purchase from BMW at end of lease. Is that correct?
Thanks, don’t know what that is. I can ask various BMW dealers to give me an offer? In this case will I still have to buy my car and then sell to the dealer, or is it more direct (and easy) because I am dealing with BMW?
I thought BMW had banned 3rd party buyouts? So either he is buying it out himself, paying the full sales tax on buyout, and hoping the offers do not go down. This is probably a losing proposition.
Only option that makes sense would be showing it to a bunch of BMW dealers around as they can buy it out directly and avoid him paying the sales tax?
This makes sense. Will try this in next few days and see if their offer is any better. If I have to buy this car myself ,pay taxes on it, then sell to some other dealer, i am going to lose money for no reason.
Thanks for your replies.
Experts please help. These are the options I have.
OPTION-1: Buyout this i3 lease.
Lease buyout is 30k (Will have to pay 3k+ in sales tax).
I see only 14 i3 for sale in 250 miles radius. The minimum is 32k which has 16.5k miles. I am not sure how popular these cars are but we have loved ours for sure. Also, if there an affordable option to buy extended BMW factory warranty on this car, say 7 year warranty, out of state or any dealer that sells warranty for better pricing?
OPTION-2: Buy a used gas car roughly 25k+2.5k in sales tax.
I saw a mini cooper gas, 2 years old for $25k. I can go for any used car actually for that range.
I would like to keep the car for roughly 3 years. I am debating if i3 will drop faster in value in 2-3 years because it doesn’t have full range, although it has a backup gas tank which is actually very useful. Also, the maintenance might be very high on i3, again I am not sure on that either. Would love to get some expert advise and opinions on what might be the best next step here.
Option 1. Honestly I don’t like - That’s a lot of money for a small range PHEV.
A 2018 i3 is $33k on Carvana, that means they buy the 2018 for about 27k, if your buyout is 30+3 that means you have no equity in buying it out. There’s a post here about extended warranties for BMW if you do buy it out
Option 2- Don’t buy a used Mini, you will regret it. Look at something reliable in a used car , not ‘cute’
The used car market now is heading downwards. If you can hang on to the end of the year you can probably find a better deal, and extend your i3 lease a bit.
Used BMW i3 will qualify for the $4,000 tax credit next year (selling price under $25,000). I would not be surprised if most of the 2017-2018 will get priced right at $25k. (because who would pay more??)
IMO I would sell the i3 (if positive cash flow) or turn it in otherwise. (& look to pick up another one mid 2023)
I have really enjoyed all of my i3’s. I was getting over 120miles per charge with my 2018. Add in another 70-80 miles gas & I was pushing 200 miles in 1 go.
That’s what I fear. If I sell say in 2 years I might lose over 10k plus any repairs (probably won’t even sell for 23k after 24 months from now).
I have already extended this 5 months, so I have one extra month left.
I get 140 to sometimes close to 200 EV miles on this car, plus the gas backup of roughly 50 miles is very convenient. I understand that most new cars are now in 250+ mile range, this will seem primitive 2-3 years from now.
In city stop and go traffic I do get close to 180+ miles on this 2019 model. It’s a fast and light car, great for city.
I also feel the best option is to return this car after 1 month.
I will research a bit here today. I see few bolts for 1k markup near me, but have close to $5900 customer cash. I remember seeing some additional bonus for uber or something, which I can sign up. bolt looks aren’t much appealing at all but makes more sense at this time.
We are figuring out what to do with our 2019 BEV it has only 16k miles on it and buyout is 28k
Seems like there is nothing comparable at that price point to buy
The lease payment is stupid cheap, we’ve been spoiled (170/mo) so looking at 330e which are now running ~600 with tax to lease seems insane.
Fellow i3 lessee here! Just turned in my 2019 REX last month- a well optioned car that I will likely have a very difficult time replicating in the future. I went through a fairly similar series events, except that all of my 3rd party offers were at least $3K under water vs. buyout.
I ultimately decided to turn in the car and not look back. BMW requires you to turn the car directly in rather than having a third party handle it, so this adds some friction and ultimately may not be worth the $1500 you’d make going through the buyout process w/ Carvana/Vroom/etc.
I agree with others- in the short term, the i3 was a fantastic car to own and in many ways is well ahead of its time. That said, when supply chain improves in the next couple years and the EV market begins to simultaneously correct and move forward, the i3 will become a very outdated vehicle and will likely lose a lot of value (maybe I’ll get another then…)
I admittedly also have a few other cars at my disposal- all classics that are not nearly as ideal as the i3 on a daily basis, but still cars that can get me from A to B. I will likely buy a cheap ICE car to hold me over until the market becomes a bit more navigable again, but I already miss the i3 a lot.
Comparable meaning the things we like most:
not having to buy gas, quick, unique styling, being able to fit a bunch of stuff in the car by folding the seats down, pretty good tech (car has ACC and HK sound packages)
At the end of my 2018 i3 lease I was in a similar situation. I actually wound up turning in my 2018 & buying a 2019. (Bigger battery = more range)
I needed something to drive while I waited F.O.R.E.V.E.R. for my Mustang Mach-e to be built. Now trying to decide which to keep (but that’s a different story.)
It is a tough decision. I am having a hard time finding something too.
With 330e, I see these qualify for 7500 credit, even then it doesn’t get you something under $500?
It will be a hassle to sell to a third party, I am not even considering. Pay the car off, then sell within 10 days, is too risky on this car.
Must have been expensive?
2019 version feels almost like a full range car. Many times I get close to 200+ miles in the city. Great car to keep, wish the buyout was lower something in 25k-26k range. Can we cannot negotiate with BMW financial at all?
