Today BMW released lease offer for all models for the month of July. I was quite surprised that the lease credit is reduced to $1000 only. A month ago it was $1250. Couple of months ago it was $1750. Evidently, the situation is getting worse day by day. I was looking for X3 at all the nearby dealers and all of them are asking MSRP price.
This is a nightmare situation for buyers.
Is it going to continue? When can we expect the situation to be improved? Any idea when the inventory will get back to normal?
This will likely continue until the end of the year and possibly into next year. Credits are worse on newer models since the average customer is currently paying MSRP, and they know this so there’s not as much incentive for them to offer lease credits with minimal inventory.
If you want a better deal use a broker, or expand your search. Invoice should be doable with minimal effort on most models with the right dealer, or you could still do as much as just over 11% off MSRP (which I’ve had dealers confirm) on a volume mover such as the 3 Series. I would assume this would also apply to the X3 but SUV’s are hot right now.
Look no one has a crystal ball to tell you when things will get back to normal, if ever.
As I type this I can only imagine that every automaker has engagements with the best consulting firms out there to ensure that the trend of consumers paying MSRP can be sustained for the long term.
As long as people are fine with walking into dealerships and paying $10K above MSRP, this trend is going to be here to stay.
April onwards has quite possibly been the worst time ever in recent history to lease a BMW.
My personal suggestion is to get something that’s LH worthy (bolt, Jeep 4xE) and just stick it out the next three years or so, and deal with it then. Both of them are great cars, and I hardly think that a base X3 at MSRP, raised MF, practically no loyalty and lease cash is worth it on an incremental dollar basis.
I understand your frustration, but here is what is missing from your chart:
days of on-hand inventory (which is the vast majority of cases is going down, not up)
average sales price (going up)
sales (going up)
Incentives are there to help move the metal, which currently needs no help.
Nobody knows for certain. Now different model BMWs have different availability challenges, so if you are set on a specific model(s), you can get much closer to what is affecting availability and try to adjust accordingling.
Too true. Stupid buys who feel flush are you real enemy right now.
Think I’ll have more fun in a Bolt than a CUV. It’s like a little hot hatch around town speeds. No grip in the tires but its bringing me fond memories of 90s econoboxes where you can not get arrested driving at 90%.
The electric torque coming out of a turn fighting the FWD torque steer makes me grin.
I think right now thats basically it for LH worthy deals isnt it??? And…the Bolts have probably mostly dried up. The Bolts polar opposite will maybe be the next hot commodity (a repeat of the Christmas 2020 LT1 extravaganza?)
The bang for the buck right now must be at its lowest point in quite some time. Its def at the lowest point since Ive been an avid leaser
People who value bang for the buck and dont want to feel violated every time they get into their car.
I was considering an Ioniq or a Kona if I couldn’t get the car I wanted from BMW. Thankfully I did, but some of us have different priorities which for me are 1) electric 2) brand.
I’d definitely consider a Tesla in a different market, but they’re also going for ~ $3,000 more due to the chip shortage. I wouldn’t mind waiting out the market to get a better deal if I had to.
I would love to hear from a reliable insider who knows about manufacturers’ plans to address inventory shortages. While customer behavior i.e. “willingness to pay msrp” impacts pricing, “availability” will always be number one factor because competition dynamics will kick in once that is resolved .
