Newbie to LeaseHackr - BMW X3 xDrive30i Lease takeover in MD

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1

Hi I’m a newbie to the leasehackr forum (joined yesterday) and have spent a lot of time reading through the wealth of information her - very impressed with the knowledge and contributions of all to this online community. I am considering a lease takeover as below:

2019 BMW X3.xDrive30i, Navigation, Panoramic Sunroof, Test drove it today. Car is practically brand new and spotless.
Originally leased in July 2019. Lease ends July 2022. Only driven 5500 miles.
24.5K miles remaining / 20 mos remaining on the lease (ends July 2022).
Original MSRP (sticker) is $48,785
Monthly lease payment $552.34
Owner will provide $1000 incentive + pay the BMW FS transfer fees.

I live in MD and the car is 20 miles away from me titled in MD also. I don’t know what the MVA tax hit will be since I assume the original owner already paid the MD excise taxes - don’t know if I will have to pay it again (6%) on the current book value - it seems egregious for the state to charge an excise tax twice on the same vehicle but I’m told that’s what they do…

Does this sound like a good deal or should I pass up and look for a better deal in the marketplace?

2

Hey! I’m from right next door in NoVa. Firstly, I’m not sure on whether you would be taxed again.

As for the deal, let me provide you my perspective as someone who was in the same boat and ended up leasing an ex-loaner GLC instead.

Thoughts on your deal:

  • I’m assuming the ideal scenario where you arent taxed again, get the car transferred in 4 weeks (one month),and previous lessee only puts 500 miles on it in that month, it comes to 19 months with ~24k miles.
  • With the 1000 incentive thrown in, its roughly $500 per month for about 1263 miles avg per month. This monthly mileage is what you’d be alloted had this been an original 45k miles, 36 month lease and not by virtue of underuse by the owner
    *So from that perspective, its weird, but you are essentially assuming what is in your pov roughly equivalent to a 36 month, 45k mile lease based on average miles left.

Factors to consider as a cost:

  • Tire replacement. Im not familiar with the X3 and whether it will need all 4 tires replaced before lease end. I would suspect atleast 2 would need replacement.
    *Turn in fee at the end if you dont go with another BMW lease.
    *Front brakes. Again, depends on driving style, and not sure how aggressively X3 eats em, or if its included in the basic bmw maintenance

What I picked up just this past May:
2019 Mercedes Benz GLC 300 Loaner with 3k miles on the ODO, ~55k MSRP, 36month/12k miles for 470 per month all in including tax, prepaid maintenance and dent/wheel protection. It was a true sign and drive, and I literally just spent 20 bucks on a box of chocolate for the salesman.

I considered many GLC/X3/Q5 private transfers, however, you get slightly more car (higher msrp) for your money imo if you pickup a loaner or executive demo. I was adamant on a near fully loaded car whichever I went for, and this GLC fit the bill (Burmester Sound System, AMG Brakes, Active Dampening Suspension, AMG wheels, etc.), The payment of 470 is also well below the oh so famous 1% rule here.

The bad with my decision:

  • I drive this GLC like my other car ('16 C63). So front tires are at 5/32 at just 9k miles total so far. GLC is known to eat front tires and the OEM pirellis are garbage with no wear warranty
    *Very likely along the same route I may have to replace the front brakes before turn in due to my driving style. They’re kinda pricey (1300) due to being the amg perforated kind. RIP.
    Total potential cost extra for one set of tires and front brake/rotors = 1300 + 1300 =2600!

But… I will more than likely offload it to some poor soul via a lease transfer with 12-18 months left by giving a 1k incentive lol. Did the same with my previous car as well.

Final Conclusion:
500 bucks flat is roughly 1% rule, and especially considering mileage left, and the fact that this (I assume) was a brand new car originally and not a demo/loaner, this is a decent deal. Highly doubt you could land 500 per month, true zero down for equivalent 1263 avg monthly miles. That being said, pure monthly bang for buck, you are not necessarily getting the most for your money, but dont let that discourage you from getting this, its still an excellent option for the mileage.

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Urm… did you lease with MBFS? They’ve permanently stopped all lease transfers… except for special cases

OP - your deal isn’t bad, considering you’re not paying for anything. It’s basically a zero DAS. You just need to figure out the taxes and if you’re happy with this. There’s plenty of mileage left and you can use this to get BMW loyalty and swap out of it into a new car. Good luck!

4

You won’t have to pay any further taxes for an intrastate transfer with BMW

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If that’s the case, this looks good.

You are likely to chew through the garbage runflats that come from the factory in any case, so that’s not a big concern IMO. Swap them to summer or A/S go-flats and put the runflats back on for lease return.

6

Definitely confirm your tax situation. And by that I mean from either the state or BMWFS, not just comments on Internet forums.

Paying 6% of the selling price to lease a car for 20 months would make this a terrible deal

7

Thank you very much for such a helpful response - your analysis of the deal is very well laid out and now giving me some pause…

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I spoke to BMW FS this morning and they cannot advise on the tax situation which would be a deal breaker if i have to pay 6% on the full book value… of course getting an answer from the MVA over the phone (or maybe even in person) is near impossible…so not sure wht the next course of action is…

9

This isn’t that great of a deal anyway so punt

NTM it takes ages for BMWFS to process transfers these days

10

I have transferred BMW within MD- Paid just minimal fees @ the MVA

In MD you are taxed 6% of the selling price
In MD when you lease a vehicle the bank owns the vehicle and holds title. When you takeover the lease within MD the vehicle title is not transferred anywhere…The MVA just modify the registration If I recall I kept the same plates
I am not sure but I imagine that because the bank remains the title holder there is no sales tax assessed…

11

DO THIS. I was curious myself as I am considering a transfer in VA with similar tax laws and VA does not double tax for in-state transfers. A logical person might assume that MD would work the same way but you should 10000% check the MD laws for tax on transfers.

On the deal itself, it isn’t terrible, mostly considering the mileage you’d be allowed. This person drove significantly below his/her mileage cap and if you are looking for a lot of miles, this would be a very easy, convenient transfer (notwithstanding the BMWFS transfer timeline).

For perspective, you could probably grab a brand new '21 X3 from a broker for ~525/mo with taxes DAS (assuming you only qualify for lease cash). You’d be paying a bit more, but would also be getting your own car, with specifications more to your liking (assuming you want a different color combo, options, etc) and avoid the potentially lengthy BMWFS transfer process.

Another point is that there are probably some better transfers out there if you wanted to keep shopping. I have a 58K X3 myself, leased at the same time in July 2019, that I could transfer to you for a 500/mo 12k/yr with a DAS similar to the calc I posted above (assuming MD wouldn’t tax you again, but it might)

Bottom line: If you want a decent deal and really never have to worry about the mileage cap, and you’re ok with waiting through the possibly lengthy transfer process, you can go ahead with this lease assumption. Otherwise, keep shopping and see what else you might find.

12

Thank you - I have an appointment at the MVA in Gaithersburg on Monday afternoon to confirm directly. I am hoping they will confirm what you said and then the mystery and fear will be out.

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And of course, leave it to folks like you to make random statements criticizing deals by comparing them to the top percentile of deals. First payment DAS, 500 bucks per month for the equivalent of 15k annual miles is a decent deal any day, considering there is no need to squeeze out incentives, negotiate the heck out of discounts, etc. Please show me examples of a few X3 deals that are 15k annual miles and under 500, first payment DAS. Even for loaners, its not an easy target, especially in places like VA and MD. Do you expect him to just sit tight without getting an X3 until he reaches your ideal target deal???

14

Oh really? That’s interesting haha. Meh, not too bothered. I’m sure I can get the dealer to do a pull-ahead like I did with my previous MBFS lease (5-months by MBFS due to offer and 3-months of payments by dealer). And yes, I had to be extra careful that the finance folks werent being sneaky and rolling into the new lease’s payments. They tried ‘rolling in’ the ‘first month’s payment on us’ amount across all payments, but I insisted I’d walk if I had to pay anything for the first payment and spent an hour rediscussing the same lines over and over.

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The entire purpose of this website is to help people get those top percentile of deals… That’s literally why one comes here.