Timing my next lease and test drive guilt

Greetings Hackrs,

Wanted to start off saying that I’ve leased two cars before and didn’t manage to do too badly even without this forum, but since joining I’ve learned even more and the calculator is wonderful! My biggest takeaway has been that if the stars align for you, there are some amazing lease deals to be had! Which brings me to my issue…

My current lease (BMW 330e) will be up in 12 months. My next lease can be $750 - $800/month max (preferably only first payment due at signing). I’m only constrained by price and I love all the cars! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: I’ve started looking now but I feel a bit guilty/silly asking to test drive such different vehicles from the same dealer (example: RAM 1500, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Charger and Pacifica PHEV). Comments? Suggestions?

Second, it seems that one month car X will be a great lease deal and the next month car Y is the good deal. This is one part of leasing I’ve found frustrating, trying to find a vehicle I like and get a decent deal but everything keeps changing! Add in trying to time it with the end of a current lease… it makes my head spin.

Anyone else feel overwhelmed?

You should probably start looking as you get closer unless you can do pull ahead with BMW

I agree, looking too early will cause car lease envy, anxiety and likely making a mistake on overprice on your next car (he he he). Of course use the forum like a gym and build your lease negations skills/wisdom until its time to get int a new one (pump you up!). I use this site to gauge the lease flavor of the month (do a bit of my own research). If I have a friend ready to lease/buy then I suggest the flavor of the month.

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You’re starting to look way too far in advance unless you decide that you want to transfer your BMW. If not, I’d slow down and wait at least 10 months

I know people that test drive cars a few times per month, even if they aren’t in the market. However they also time their test drives on weekdays when there’s little to no foot traffic so they aren’t taking the sales person away from a legitimate buyer and are fully transparent they are only looking to take a test drive.

Personally I think 12 months is too far in advance, I generally don’t start test driving anything until 2-3 months before the lease matures.

Ha ha! You hit the nail on the head with the anxiety it causes. I have pretty good self control and wouldn’t lease something that’s not a “good deal” but that can be highly subjective. I do enjoy reading about other’s deals and seeing what is the flavor of the month. Excited for my month to get here! :slight_smile:

I will say, being in a smaller market with lower volume luxury dealers, they don’t tend to have very exotically optioned cars on the lot, so if you want to try out a particular feature, see a certain interior color etc. you need to watch for the unicorn they order or when your in a larger city hit up one of the dealers there. It took nearly 8 months of test driving 2, 3, 4 series and X5’s to sample all of the options I was considering “must have” for my current BMW. The really only stocked 328i xdrives with cold weather and navigation. My current car was the random unicorn that was optioned up that they had advertised for under invoice before incentives. Since I’d driven so many already, I was ready to pounce when the good deal was there.

Are you near any major auto shows? At least here in Los Angeles there are a ton of test drive opportunities tied to the show. Granted they are not long drives but might help you focus in on a few candidates. Plus you can at least sit in everything at a show and figure out which seats your butt doesn’t care for.

I only go on cold, rainy Saturdays, weekdays I’m off work or late in the evening on weekdays. I try my best to not take away their time with legit buyers and always say I’m just researching for my next lease.

I go on lighter traffic days as well and only once did I have a sales person show complete disinterest when they knew they weren’t getting a sale out of me. The rest were very accommodating.

I will say you may want to narrow down on fewer types of car. Honestly, I really don’t think people realistically cross shop between a Charger and Pacifica PHEV. Imagine you are a car sale person, and someone come in and testdriver from 2 seater convertible to a minivan, that can’t sound serious, right?

I use Carmax to test out seating comfort. I have specific requirements so that trumps driveability for me.

It’s an addiction, some of us look for flip opportunities just so we can continue hacking… :yum:

If you are trying to plan in advance I think it is worth testing out models to narrow down what you will really want. I try to go when foot traffic is light and I am upfront about my intentions, most sales ppl are not bothered to take a drive, some even toss me the keys.

For instance, my wife likes Volvo and Lexus but has driven neither. I had her test both and while she went in preferring Lexus, she finished absolutely in love with Volvo. We have about a year left on her current car, but that gave me the time to get my VCOA membership set up for A plan down the road so when it is time to lease I don’t have to hope other promotions are in market aka Costco or Sam’s Club etc.

I know it doesn’t look serious, but I can appreciate just about any car. We’re a two car household, one leased and one purchased outright. One is usually more sporty and one more utility. Currently we have my 3 series and an old Volvo XC70. If I liked the Pacifica we could see leasing that and buying a used Miata or BRZ and selling the Volvo. Or we could keep the Volvo and lease a Charger Hellcat or Audi TT… See this is why it’s so hard :wink:

Ah! This is good advice. I test drove the RR Velar and XC60 back to back (same dealership). The Velar was meh but I liked the XC60. I want to try out the S90 and V90CC.

Haha! Yes it is! I always end up wanting to change cars 6 - 12 months early… I think a 24 month term might be a better idea next time.