What's it like leasing?

I’ve always wanted to know how a lease goes. Is it really like having a rental car for 2-4 years?
I am planning on leasing a new 4 series in a few months and I want to also know:

  1. Do most leases cover maintenance? oil changes, tires(big one), brakes?
  2. most BMW’s are bought and beaten to heck. Will they be able to tell if I beat my BMW?
  3. Would tinting windows on a lease be a bad idea?

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=bmw+free+maintenance

  1. Search this forum for “BMW wear and tear”

  2. Search this forum for “tint lease return”

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yes

Depends on the manufacturer. Some won’t cover any. If it is covered, it will usually only be oil changes and tire rotations. None, that I’m aware of anymore, will cover brakes or tires (at least without purchasing a very expensive policy to do so).

Depends on your definition of “beat.”

Not if you’re willing to remove the tint or pay to have it removed to avoid a potential charge at lease end.

I have personally never had an issue returning a car with tint, however, I also never do super dark limo tint or anything like that

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That’s why I said potential charge. There’s no guarantee they WILL charge you, however, it’s a modification, and not a factory install. Therefore, per the contract of any captive, there’s a risk of a charge for modifications.

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Sure, just pointing out that if one is reasonable in their tinting, it’s not likely to be an issue.

[quote=“mp11477, post:3, topic:267474, full:true”]

yes

Epic

Depends on the manufacturer. Some won’t cover any. If it is covered, it will usually only be oil changes and tire rotations. None, that I’m aware of anymore, will cover brakes or tires (at least without purchasing a very expensive policy to do so).

Is this for new or used leases? If I am not mistaken most leases should cover maintence for at least a year or 18 months.

Depends on your definition of “beat.”

redlining, excessive downshifting, drifting?

I understand…I was also pointing out the devil’s advocate option, so nobody comes back here and revives this thread 2 years from now indicating how they got tint and then got a 500 charge to remove it.

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Unless it’s a Porsche, used leases consist of pretty much just lighting money on fire

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Personally, I wouldn’t go around drifting a car I couldn’t afford to stuff into a wall

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You better do your research on the car you’re choosing. MB provides 0 maintenance. GM used to provide you 3 years…now it’s one oil change. BMW provides 3 years/36k of maintenance, which is basically oil changes. They provide 0 maintenance on a used lease (used leases are almost 99% of the time a bad idea anyways), unless you pay to “refresh” your maintenance contract. So your understanding was somewhat incorrect.

They won’t know when you turn it in, simply because they won’t check…but your friendly service department will when you bring it in with a problem. Break something due to your “beating up the car,” and you could be denied warranty, resulting in your paying out of pocket for your repair, or towing it back home and having a big, expensive paperweight in your driveway. About the only thing they won’t know is the last time you farted in the car.

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75% of people who buy a BMW don’t give two shits about the actual performance capability. They like the badge, payment, or how easy it is to pair their phone.

On the dealer side, all we care about is if you did your maintenance and if there is any excess wear on the car (dent, dings, scratches, broken tail lights, tires, etc). You can drift it for 30000 miles while red lining if you want as long as the tires are above 4/32 of an inch, there isn’t excess wear, and you performed routine maintenance.

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No need to get personal here…

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At first, the bmw’s badge was the biggest selling point.

After 1 year with 2 BMW’s, it’s more about their seamless infotainment and how it drives.

When I signed my first BMW, the dealer told me I wouldn’t want to drive anything else.

He wasn’t kidding. Merc and audis are smooth and all, but they just feels so blend when driving.

Probably Mercedes when I can get myself into S class/AMGs.

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The trick is to make sure you delete the phone from the car’s memory and the car from the phone’s memory. Then you try repairing them and it should work.

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@wam22, is that part of the salesman’s playbook they teach you, cause I’ve heard the same thing myself

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I have a 5-series. I have a love-hate relationship with it. I absolutely hate the heavy steering and massive turning radius. Makes it a total PIA to park the large car. Handling is ok for its size but in no way is a sporty car. Other than that, its super practical. I’ve no idea if my next car would be a beemer.

I don’t know if this is the best analogy: in normal times I spent roughly 50-75% of my time in rental cars, and I’m driving my 7th lease. I’m not particularly abusive (Tokyo drift) on my rental cars, but I will push a little to see how they accelerate, stop, corner, etc.

Plenty of threads here that get to the spirit of your question: how people wash/wax their lease, how much people will spend on after-markets like tint (good stuff in this thread, but entire threads on tinting here), maintenance, etc.

How leasing is like a rental: your responsibility is clearly outlined (beginning, ends, and term) in your lease agreement. If the car is in an accident, diminished value isn’t your problem. If it’s under warranty during the lease term, as long as it’s not caused by failure to perform scheduled maintenance (30k on original oil), or something intentional on your part (e.g. drifting), or wear parts: not your problem. You can shift the risk is on your captive, your car insurance, your GAP insurance (similar to the extra insurance you get with a rental car).

An underrated benefit of leasing :sweat_smile:

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Also search for “ excessive wear and tear” and “pre lease turn in inspection”