Be sure to specify your location when asking for input on a deal!
Philadelphia area. Went to BMW dealership to begin lease negotiation on custom order 2021 6-speed 230i. On arrival I walked over to check out a parked 2019 6-speed 230i just as salesman with screwdriver came over and explained car was being traded as we spoke, dealership originally sold car and did all maintenance, orig owner still in dealership signing paperwork, he was out to change tags, offered test drive. Car has 17K, flawless Mediterranean blue, moonroof, heated wheel but few other options. Drove it, v clean and tight, feels great. Bottom line CPO price 27500. Can purchase less than leasing new, $5K down, 72 mos, @ 389.00 per mo. Car is missing a few packages I would order, but immaculate with clear history. Mistake to go ahead vs lease? Thanks for your thoughts.
I suspect you might regret locking in for 72 months to a relative stripper after the initial high of getting a new car. Over that period you will have further depreciation and certainly maintenance that will cause your monthly outlay to be more (potentially significantly) than just the note payment. You can build a more or less loaded one of these for 45-46 and using a broker should get a healthy discount. Not sure what your incentives might be but you could probably walk off with minimal DAS for one for $100 or so a month more that would be a new car, covered maintenance, and you could easily upgrade in 36 months when you get bored of the old generation (since the new 2 is pending).
I could do a shorter loan term easily enough. Since manuals are so rare, the ew car would have to be ordered. Would the discount be less since the deal will not be on a stock or dealer trade vehicle? It will be first time I have special ordered a vehicle.
Talk to @BimmerCarDeals @IAC or @HersheySweet or others on this forum but they should be able to get you at least 10% off a new build.
I can get you 10% off and base MF on a build slot with an estimated time of arrival in February. My discounts are the same whether they’re on the lot or ordered, so you’re not forgoing any money by ordering. Let me know!
On that loan with $5k down you’re paying almost 33,000 for that car. That’s $6,000 of what they are asking, that is a horrible deal.
The initial loan loan term offered may not be good but the sales price appears to be a good bit lower than within $6K of a new one?
#1 do your financing homework if you go that route
IF (big IF) you had been leasing this exact car for the last year, wrecked it, and went to order replacement and fell into this, MAYBE. Maybe
This is the part where you tell me the owner is upgrading to an M8 and couldn’t possibly have gotten bored a year after getting it. And you would be stuck in it for 6 years (or when it’s positive equity, and you’re buying used at the peak).
Pass 
Do not drive BMW’s after their included maintenance and warranty expires in the interest of saving money.
I purchased a ~$50k MSRP (when new) 2008 BMW 335i Convertible in 2011 with the extended 6 year warranty and less than 30k miles on it for $24k. Thought I was getting a killer deal. Sold it 4 years later with about 70k miles on it and realized that including everything (maintenance, gas, insurance, depreciation, etc) the car had cost me about $1.25 per mile.
For comparison, the brand new $47k 2016 328i we leased right after cost us $0.71 per mile, and our current $63k 2020 M340i will cost us about $0.90 a mile.
This right here, my golden rule about all european cars, no warranty, no dice
Great advice here has led me to keep my powder dry and rethink the 2019 CPO 230i. Tempting since I like color, know history having seen car as fresh trade at orig selling dealer, unprepped, still with owner plates and unvacuumed Weathertech mats, etc. Rare CPO manuals mostly M240s or M2s that exceed budget. Don’t really know why owner trading, salesman says trading up but can’t be sure. CPO warranty would last about the 4 years I would keep it. I kept an A4 until 60K mi w/o major issues/expenses, but don’t want to press my luck. Think I’ll do a little more looking/thinking. Was considering 6-speed GLI Autobahn or Mazda3 turbo. Thanks all!
IMO, I think you should consider the 2019 CPO…but maybe not at the offered price or offered financing.
First, understand you’re asking members of a lease hacking site. There’s already a bias towards leasing. Second, there are a lot of “general principles” being promoted and not specific to your situation.
If you had to decide between leasing new vs buying the CPO for $1, everyone would likely agree to buy. If you had to decide between leasing new vs buying the CPO for $100, everyone would still likely agree to buy. Same for $1000 etc. The challenge is figuring out the price at which is makes more sense to buy CPO vs lease new.
Without knowing more about the specific CPO you’re looking at (Sport, MSport, Lux, etc), it’s hard to know its wholesale value. And if the $5k down and $389/mth doesn’t include taxes and tags rolled in, then that implies a 7.5% interest rate which is extremely high. If you’re able to buy the car for close to wholesale and you have the CPO warranty, you may be better off buying the CPO because 1) it may cost you less over time, 2) the value of the car will likely always be ahead of your payoff if you ever want to sell and 3) the CPO will provide the warranty protection (which I agree is important for a BMW)
BMW currently has 1.49% for 60 mths on 2018 CPO…not sure if it applies to 2019. But you can definitely get less than 7.5% from BMWFS or another financial institution. Just for fun, if you assume a $25k sales price and 1.49% for 60 mths with 5k down (plus ttl), you’d have a payment of $346. In 2 years, the balance would be $12,178 which should be way lower than the market value (ex. current wholesale on a 2017 230 with 37k miles is $21100).
Good luck with your decision.