Yeah, I am thinking the same thing. I appreciate both of your advice.
The numbers where I want them would be $610/mo $0 down without the trade-in. That is reasonable for both parties, I assume?
Of course $610/month and $0 down sounds good to you, but I think itās very unrealistic. That pretty much is asking the dealer for 20% off MSRP to reach that monthly. BMWs are terrible leases nowadays.
@nctoon for someone at your experience level you might want to consider using one of the brokers on this forum such as @Benedetto or @nyclife for example but there are others. You are too far from realistic numbers and it appears that you would save a ton even with the broker fee. Iām not affiliated with any of them, but both mentioned above are well respected on this forum. In your case, pay a few hundred broker fee to save thousands and the headache of dealing with it. Just a thoughtā¦
Heresy. 1% is not arbitrary it is our religion 
What is the trade in? Make, year, mileage?
If they are offering you $7K, itās prolly worth $9K selling it privately. At least.
With some exceptions, itās a horrible idea to trade in cars. The only upside is you donāt pay sales tax on the portion you trade in. So if you trade in a $40K car, at 9% sales tax, thatās really $43,600. But the lower you go price wise, the less the sales tax incentive comes into play.
I had an old Tahoe that I sold for $5500 on Craigslist. Dealers were offering me $2500-3500. Yeah it saves you some time and hassle, but Iāll spend a few hours replying to texts/emails and a couple of test drives for $2K.
Yeah, and itās divided to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc because no one can agree on what this 1% rule should be.