Okay so I’m weighing my options and see what others think. I have a 2019 Jeep GC High Altitude 4x4 with 18k miles that will be due in 3 months. If I sell now I will have $14k in equity. This is much more than Summer 2021 when it was only $7k. I couldn’t find a car to replace it with last year (good lease #s) and it seems it might be the same problem now. I actually like the Jeep and my 2nd option is to buy it out at end of lease.
Sell the car for the $14k equity and roll the dice on another lease?
Buy the car at end of lease (and keep it for another 2-3 years)?
Since my original topic here is closed due to inactivity, I will share my strategy that turned out to be quite profitable in my situation.
I believe BMW’s plug-in models are the best deal one can get in this market if:
You are ok with financing as opposed to leasing
You pay at least $7.5k in federal income tax
You have state tax credits for PHEVs
You can wait for a custom order to arrive
Have a BMW dealer willing to work with you on price and allocation
My hypothesis is that the PHEVs do not depreciate any different than mainstream models and BMW has been relatively aggressive keeping their incentives in place. Below is my experience in 2021:
Transaction 1: Traded in 2021 X5 45e for the same net price that I bought it for a year ago and I got to claim $11.5k in tax credits on top. This 21 45e was replaced by 22 45e that became available when a customer changed their mind.
Transaction 2: Traded in the 22 45e above for another 45e that I had custom ordered. Similar to the first transaction, my trade-in was valued at the same net price I bought it for. I will claim $10k in my tax return this year for the trade-in, plus due to a fender bender I was able to collect $3k in diminished value claim. The second MY22 45e is also eligible for $10k tax credit
Transaction 3: Bought a 330e benefiting from OL Code, loyalty and APR credits plus a decent dealer discount. I will claim about $8.3k in my tax return this year. Based on a recent appraisal, car breaks even before the tax credits
All three transactions benefited from a combination of OL codes, APR credits, loyalty, BMW CCA, and type J through Penfed membership (made my wife a member as well so we double dipped on the $3250 for the two X5s. This incentive unfortunately got cancelled for 2022). I would admit that the dealer discounts I have received would be hard to replicate for most people but the tax credits would more than cover for any lack of dealer discount. So even at MSRP these BMW PHEVs are at least free to drive if not making money through tax credits.
First post and thank you all. My wifes Mini 2019 Countryman S lease is due on March. Car has 37k miles, lease buyout with taxes and fees and everything is $23k. I know the car has equity, carmax and offlease only have quoted the car at over $26k. We have contacted Mini Financial and they want a certified check and obviously they dont allow us to sell it to a third party. So what do you guys suggest? Should i go through a broker or but it myself and then sell it? In my situation what do you guys think i should do? First timer doing all of this. Thanks
Assuming your vehicle is leased through Mini FS, you can sell the vehicle to a BMW or Mini dealer without having to pay sales tax. When I sold my Nissan lease (also didn’t allow third-party buyouts) I went to all my local Nissan and Infiniti dealers and got buyout quotes. I also went online to various “local” brand dealers’ websites to see if they had KBB Instant Offer or CarFax Value Your Car links that would give me an estimated price for my car. I brought those offers to the local dealers near me and said this is how much I want, after some negotiation I got a great offer and sold my lease.
I’m not sure if BMW/Mini restricts buyouts close to the end of the lease, if so you may be forced to buy it out with tax then free to sell it after.
Thanks. Can you explain how the mini dealer buying the car works? I know i can turn it in, i didnt know i could sell it to them, technically Mini still owns the car lease or at lease Mini Financial does.
Also any brokers you can recommend? Thanks for your time.
Yeah im gonna call them and see what they say about selling it to them. I know on the buyout paperwork it says they won’t accept third party checks only certified checks from my wife. Thanks
Many loan companies issue checks to you and you write a check to them, but remember you can lose up to $2k in taxes and fees. A dealer doesn’t have to pay those.
Depends on the dealer / situation. If they know the title is easy to get then they do, if they know it takes a few weeks, they take a few weeks. They need to confirm the car is legit as well you know.
