Wanted to share my deal, thought process and experience.
I had been looking for the Supra but with the Mf and lack of incentives, along with ridiculous markups I decided to look at a few other coupes. Test drove the rs5 but it felt a tad heavy and expensive with old interior, s5 just wasn’t doing it for me, c43 was great but I was looking for a new interior and exterior. I was hoping the cla45 would be out but I only saw 250s which just didn’t call to me though it was very premium. Coming from a rc350 f sport I wanted something with a greater driver feel, a current infotainment and nothing that would fleece me. I looked at the m2 and while it’s nearly perfect the lower residual for the 2020s really hurt. That led me to the cousin of the Supra the z4 m40i. After a test drive and the newest I drive along with the other extras such as driving feel and exhaust note I was really sold.
I saw that BMW had incentives and a higher residual on the car so I started looking but was getting quotes for 1100 but continued to negotiate with dealers. After finally getting a deal for 850 with nothing down on a 900 mile car with a stop sale. I ended up taking that offer and getting a better price on a new one but not by much (840). With the marked up Mf and no tax credit I was thinking a dealer with tax credit and buy rate would shoot me down to 690s so that was my aim. I ended up reaching out to a broker but was not able to get anything lower than what I had achieved myself so my last ditch effort was to reach out to smaller dealers in Texas. One reached back and they were able to do what I wanted and when the weekend came I took off for a 3 hour drive in a rental to get the car I wanted.
A few caveats for traveling to get your car
-always confirm the price in writing and not in an email or text even with dealer documents. After I got to the dealer I was told the deal had changed and that fleet could not be combined with other rebates which was false as I was able to find it on then corporate website (only not combined with loyalty). The deal went up by 15 but I stood my ground and let them know I drove more than 3 hours and to have the deal changed without my consent was not a good business practice. With the sales manager there being a different one I had spoken to earlier I showed her my deal and they gave me an extra 500 off but the price was still off by 1 dollar and change and while she told me that wasn’t a big deal I told her it was as it was a matter of principle. Finally they agreed to honor the price. With that small snafu it was annoying along with the drive but I’m absolutely loving the car so I think it was worth the hassle.
Secondly
Not all car rental places are open late and take delivery drop offs unless they have a drop box. I barely made one that closed at 2pm.
3rd. Don’t drop off the rental before signing. Dealers may think you have no choice but while I did drop off the rental first I was going to raise hell until the deal was the exact one I was sent.
4th. I was really pressured to put a deposit after filling out the credit application. I held off but the night before I gave them what I felt comfortable giving. A portion of my monthly so I’d just pay the difference the next day. Not sure if I should have caved or is this proper protocol.
Lastly
Didn’t realize there were no rear quarter window on the cloth top so the long drive back was a tad more uncomfortable but in getting used to it.
Here are the numbers
2020 z4 M40i
MSRP: $70,980
Monthly Payment: $672
Drive-Off Amount: $672
Months:36
Annual Mileage:10,000
MF:.00128
Residual:59
Incentives:3000 (new grad 1000, 1500 lease, 500 fleet)
Region: south. Texas
Leasehackr Score on mobile will post later
Leasehackr Calculator Link:same
Hope to post pics soon as well.
Black on black
Premium, executive, driver assistance and black wheels.
Now I’m debating a m340i now that I get loyalty for this month for some practicality.
Sorry for the long write up. Waiting for a meeting.