First of all, thanks to everyone who contributes on this forum. New to the site and love all of the great (and free) knowledge I’ve learned about leasing.
My situation is pretty unique. My current lease (2017 330i) has a defect that BMW can’t identify (loud knocking noise throughout the cabin), but they are offering an $8500 rebate towards the lease or purchase of a new BMW (I’ve been at it for months with BMWNA, this is the best offer I’ve gotten so far; going to make one last push tomorrow). I got the car in October, so naturally, I’m carrying a lot of negative equity (~14k) that’s making this more difficult.
Here are the stats:
State: Texas
MSRP:$51,815
Price: $43,811
Residual: 56% (please correct me if I am wrong)
MF: .00166
BMW Rebate: $8500
Rebate:$2000 (I guess the $3k rebate and $1k loyalty I saw wasn’t accurate / applicable in TX)
Loyalty:$750
Cash Down:$2,166 (Effectively this would be a credit from cancelling my tire and wheel protection with my current car - I don’t want to put anything down)
36months/12k miles (currently has 4,318 miles)
Lease Payment: $650
Snapper blue exterior; Venetian beige interior with all of the bells and whistles (heads-up display, HK sound, etc.)
If there’s a defect in your car, you shouldn’t be taking any hit. Get a lemon law lawyer. I’ve been through the process recently with a Lincoln if you have any questions.
BMWNA refuses to take the car back. I’ve threatened legal action and the whole nine, but to no avail. They say the defect isn’t such, as it’s just a noise. They don’t know what’s causing it and are looking to solution it. But they flat-out refuse to buy it back.
I also talked to one of the top LL attorneys in the state and was told that BMW litigation would take in excess of a year and probably wouldn’t be worth it under the circumstances.
The other firms I’ve reached out to haven’t contacted me yet.
I’ve shopped around at a few BMW dealerships here in Houston, and this was the best offer (unfortunately) I’ve had. The $8500 is only good for Houston BMW dealerships, FYI.
Texas and 25 days. The dealership gave it back to me and flat-out told me they couldn’t fix it, after multiple foremen / technicians looked at the car.
Really unfortunate situation. Rattles drive me crazy as well. I share the view of those that have recommended pushing this further with BMW. It may make sense to send a letter to your local Attorney General with a copy to BMW. They aren’t taking you seriously at this point. You are going to have to take it further.
If they kept the car and admitted no fix that is a no brainer and a really easy case. Don’t take a 6k hit pay a lawyer $250 just to make a phone call and that would be enough in a strong case like this.
I’m not an attorney, however, according to TX lemon law rules…
When can I use the Texas Lemon Law?
If you have purchased or leased a new motor vehicle and it develops a defect or condition that substantially impairs the motor vehicle’s use, market value or safety, you may be eligible for relief under the Texas Lemon Law. You are required to allow the manufacturer a reasonable opportunity to repair the defect(s) before you may file a complaint for lemon law relief. There is a $35 filing fee required with the submission of the Lemon Law complaint form. The number of reasonable attempts to repair the defect(s) may vary based upon the defect’s effect on the normal operation of the motor vehicle.
Although this isn’t safety related (theoretically), you could argue it affects the market value.
It says you have to have them attempt the repair 4 times within 2 years. Not sure if you’ve done that or not.
Thank you. I reviewed TX Lemon Law and it’s been looked at 3 separate times and 25 days…just shy of the 30 DAVIS days…which I’m guessing why they turned it back over to me when they did and told me not to bring it back.
Got a call from my BMW contact this AM and she is working with the area rep and the GM of the dealership. I told them this needed to be done by EOB (increase their offer).
I also left a VM for the attorney to inquiry about him calling BMW.
Also not a lawyer, but I would think you would need to own the car (you don’t, bmw does) to make the lemon law claim using market value is negatively impacted.
