[littlehuman]

Hi,

My lease is ending in 4 months, and I'm thinking about purchasing it.

I understand that purchasing a leased car isn't ideal, but it seems like it's the best choice for me for various reasons.

When looking at old posts on the Bimmerpost forum, it appears that you could negotiate the buyout price with a dealer. However, some people have mentioned that it may not be possible anymore due to a policy change from BMWFS.

Has anyone recently tried to purchase a leased BMW? Were you able to negotiate the buyout price?

[whtbst]

I bought my 2019 X5 at lease-end several months ago, through BMWFS. Super easy and painless. Avoid the BMW dealer at all costs, they'll attempt to charge you at least $2-3K on top of the buyout (which is not negotiable AFAIK).

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by littlehuman

Hi,

My lease is ending in 4 months, and I'm thinking about purchasing it.

I understand that purchasing a leased car isn't ideal, but it seems like it's the best choice for me for various reasons.

When looking at old posts on the Bimmerpost forum, it appears that you could negotiate the buyout price with a dealer. However, some people have mentioned that it may not be possible anymore due to a policy change from BMWFS.

Has anyone recently tried to purchase a leased BMW? Were you able to negotiate the buyout price?

I think when you buy a lease it’s a mistake you tend to get the end of the barrel so to speak you’re getting a car that you paid on for three years with mileage and a warranty soon to run out and you still owe 3 to 5 years if not paying cashwith that said the difference in the next 3 to 5 years you must just get a new lease and a new car with a warranty. That way you assure yourself problem free

[littlehuman]

Originally Posted by whtbst

which is not negotiable AFAIK

Thanks! That's what I thought. It sounds like policy has been changed.

[littlehuman]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

I think when you buy a lease it’s a mistake you tend to get the end of the barrel so to speak you’re getting a car that you paid on for three years with mileage and a warranty soon to run out and you still owe 3 to 5 years if not paying cashwith that said the difference in the next 3 to 5 years you must just get a new lease and a new car with a warranty. That way you assure yourself problem free

It's a hard decision TBH. Cars are so expensive now and BMW dealers don't give you good discounts that they used to give. RV and MF are also bad. I'm paying cash, so I'm not worried about high APR. Still though...I'm looking to see my options even now..

Lease price of a similarly configured X5 costs $1158 ish these days. $1158*36 = 41688. That's more than the purchase price of my current X5, which has only 20k miles. I mean...if it doesn't get any serious issues at around 50k miles, I think I should just buy it. At least I'll have a driveable car after 3 years. That's my logic so far.

[rmorin1249]

I bought out my lease after about 27 months. At the time I could have sold it to Carmax and made about $4K but we couldn't find anything we liked any more so we kept it and so far it's been great and trouble free. I'm ready to buy something else but can't seem to find anything of great interest.

Taxation can be an issue in some states but in MD I owed nothing so I guess I paid all the taxes upfront.

[littlehuman]

Originally Posted by rmorin1249

I bought out my lease after about 27 months. At the time I could have sold it to Carmax and made about $4K but we couldn't find anything we liked any more so we kept it and so far it's been great and trouble free. I'm ready to buy something else but can't seem to find anything of great interest.

Taxation can be an issue in some states but in MD I owed nothing so I guess I paid all the taxes upfront.

Thanks! Yeah, I can't find anything interesting either.

I guess I'm going to buy mine if I don't find anything else within a few months.

[BDO]

Originally Posted by littlehuman

It's a hard decision TBH. Cars are so expensive now and BMW dealers don't give you good discounts that they used to give. RV and MF are also bad. I'm paying cash, so I'm not worried about high APR. Still though...I'm looking to see my options even now..

Lease price of a similarly configured X5 costs $1158 ish these days. $1158*36 = 41688. That's more than the purchase price of my current X5, which has only 20k miles. I mean...if it doesn't get any serious issues at around 50k miles, I think I should just buy it. At least I'll have a driveable car after 3 years. That's my logic so far.

I agree with your logic. I can’t relate much to the numbers as it’s completely different in my market, but on a low mileage car there’s something to be said about having owned it from new, knowing the history, and contrasting that against the new lease which will have you in a same (worse?) financial position 3 years from now.
Situation becomes even easier if there are viable aftermarket warranties in the US.
I know OEMs would like us to believe this, but cars don’t simply implode at the expiry of the lease period.

[kchan]

I am in the same boat.

My lease will be up early January.

Thinking if I should just deal directly with BMWFS.

I did that once, during COVID times, and just a bit of hassle to go to local DMV once I get my title.

Anyone has experience dealing directly with dealer? Right now the buyout they quote is roughly $1K more. If it's only like $400-$500 I think I am ok to let the dealer make the money, but feel like anything more, I will make a trip to DMV =)

[cobramite]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

I think when you buy a lease it’s a mistake you tend to get the end of the barrel so to speak you’re getting a car that you paid on for three years with mileage and a warranty soon to run out and you still owe 3 to 5 years if not paying cashwith that said the difference in the next 3 to 5 years you must just get a new lease and a new car with a warranty. That way you assure yourself problem free

Spot on!

[LOFT]

I take the simple approach to lease buyouts.

You have already paid for 50% of the depreciation of the car, and in that window you have experienced the car and know it well enough if you want to make a longer term commitment to that particular vehicle.

Similar vehicles would be sold as CPO’s at BMW dealers for more than your buyout price.

With that spread you could buy an extended warranty, or just “trust your car” not to fail. It depends on the mileage you put on it, but there are many happy owners on this forum with 6-8 year old BMW’s.

If BMW’s all failed soon after the warranty expired, we’d be fools to buying spending this much money on them.

The other issue is “cost of money”…all things being equal you can keep leasing and keep paying for the car and never own it…but it sounds like that option got significantly more expensive.

[cobramite]

Originally Posted by LOFT

I take the simple approach to lease buyouts.

You have already paid for 50% of the depreciation of the car, and in that window you have experienced the car and know it well enough if you want to make a longer term commitment to that particular vehicle.

Similar vehicles would be sold as CPO’s at BMW dealers for more than your buyout price.

With that spread you could buy an extended warranty, or just “trust your car” not to fail. It depends on the mileage you put on it, but there are many happy owners on this forum with 6-8 year old BMW’s.

If BMW’s all failed soon after the warranty expired, we’d be fools to buying spending this much money on them.

The other issue is “cost of money”…all things being equal you can keep leasing and keep paying for the car and never own it…but it sounds like that option got significantly more expensive.

Most people who don't lease elect to finance for 60-72 months, never pay it off and never see the title. They don't "own" the car either, they lease it from the bank for a longer term.
No free lunch in this business.

[Line Drive]

Originally Posted by littlehuman

It's a hard decision TBH. Cars are so expensive now and BMW dealers don't give you good discounts that they used to give. RV and MF are also bad. I'm paying cash, so I'm not worried about high APR. Still though...I'm looking to see my options even now..

Lease price of a similarly configured X5 costs $1158 ish these days. $1158*36 = 41688. That's more than the purchase price of my current X5, which has only 20k miles. I mean...if it doesn't get any serious issues at around 50k miles, I think I should just buy it. At least I'll have a driveable car after 3 years. That's my logic so far.

One other consideration is the time value of your purchase price. Instead of writing a one-time check today, that total could be invested and generate more, or it could be used in another way to acquire something else you want. Another consideration is cash flow -- writing smaller checks each month rather than one big one all at once.

There's no right or wrong answer. Everyone's financial situation is different and that can lead to different choices. It sounds like you're considering all the angles -- do whatever works for you!

Personally, I like having a new car every three years, though this year that means having an gargantuan lease payment (unhelpfully, my lease cycle earlier this year coincided with rising interest rates, general supply chain issues and limited price reductions on the new 50e I wanted ).

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by BDO

I agree with your logic. I can’t relate much to the numbers as it’s completely different in my market, but on a low mileage car there’s something to be said about having owned it from new, knowing the history, and contrasting that against the new lease which will have you in a same (worse?) financial position 3 years from now.
Situation becomes even easier if there are viable aftermarket warranties in the US.
I know OEMs would like us to believe this, but cars don’t simply implode at the expiry of the lease period.

I’ll give you a short story I bought a three-year-old leased vehicle out of warranty X5 38,000 miles . It’s been a few years back the first service to get it straightened out cost me $8000. It was a 35D this is why I say it’s not worth buying cars that are out of warranty or keeping them when they’re out of warranty and to buy an extended warranty on top of paying for at lease buyout you would be better off to get a new one you’re still going to to have a payment so why not drive new . Have you ever wondered why you don’t really see older BMWs say past seven years old it’s because they don’t hold up their unreliable and you can’t afford to take them to a dealership because they charge too much. Secondly, they don’t even know how to fix them because the only thing they’re trained on is how to service new cars and that’s basically oil changes tire rotations fluids. New cars typically don’t break down. If you want the real world scenario talk to an Indy shop that works on BMWs a master mechanic he will give you an inside of what goes bad after the warranty and it’s everything.from a to z Three dollar gaskets that cost hundreds of dollars to repair due to taking multiple parts off to get to it’s unreal they are designed to hold up to the manufacturers warranty after that there’s no warranty and no rhyme or rhythm to what’s going to go first or next it will be a continuous cycle.

[Photographer918]

Originally Posted by cobramite

Most people who don't lease elect to finance for 60-72 months, never pay it off and never see the title. They don't "own" the car either, they lease it from the bank for a longer term.
No free lunch in this business.

How does that square with the average age of new car ownership being 8.4 years or 101 months? The math doesn’t work for me.

Financing a car made more sense in the days of 0-1 percent interest rates, but those are long gone. I can still see it working out, but then again I owned my last three vehicles for 12, 13, and 8.5 years respectively…..

[FCX5]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

I think when you buy a lease it’s a mistake you tend to get the end of the barrel so to speak you’re getting a car that you paid on for three years with mileage and a warranty soon to run out and you still owe 3 to 5 years if not paying cashwith that said the difference in the next 3 to 5 years you must just get a new lease and a new car with a warranty. That way you assure yourself problem free

You can get an extended warranty and protect yourself. But I agree, buying out a lease makes most sense if you are paying cash or intend to pay it off in 2-3 years and keep it for 2-3 years beyond that. My 2 cents worth.

[FCX5]

Originally Posted by cobramite

Most people who don't lease elect to finance for 60-72 months, never pay it off and never see the title. They don't "own" the car either, they lease it from the bank for a longer term.
No free lunch in this business.

This is true. If you don’t intend to keep the car for 2-3 years after paying it off, it doesn’t make sense to finance and not own. But that is what often happens. If you have the cash, clearly just paying for it makes sense…no debt is a benefit all it’s own 😊

[rmorin1249]

Originally Posted by kchan

I am in the same boat.

My lease will be up early January.

Thinking if I should just deal directly with BMWFS.

I did that once, during COVID times, and just a bit of hassle to go to local DMV once I get my title.

Anyone has experience dealing directly with dealer? Right now the buyout they quote is roughly $1K more. If it's only like $400-$500 I think I am ok to let the dealer make the money, but feel like anything more, I will make a trip to DMV =)

Buy directly from BMWFS. I did everything online and then mailed a check. They mailed the title to me and I went to the DMV to register it in my name. Easy peasy.

No dealer was involved.

[ScaldedDog]

Originally Posted by Photographer918

How does that square with the average age of new car ownership being 8.4 years or 101 months? The math doesn’t work for me.

Financing a car made more sense in the days of 0-1 percent interest rates, but those are long gone. I can still see it working out, but then again I owned my last three vehicles for 12, 13, and 8.5 years respectively…..

Cash buyers drive the average length of ownership up. We tend to buy what we like, like what we buy, and drive it a long time. You sound like you might be one of us, too.

Mark

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by rmorin1249

Buy directly from BMWFS. I did everything online and then mailed a check. They mailed the title to me and I went to the DMV to register it in my name. Easy peasy.

No dealer was involved.

Unfortunately due to dealer laws that is no longer possible in many states. You now have to go to a dealer to do a buyout or purchasing at lease end.

[Photographer918]

Originally Posted by FCX5

This is true. If you don’t intend to keep the car for 2-3 years after paying it off, it doesn’t make sense to finance and not own. But that is what often happens. If you have the cash, clearly just paying for it makes sense…no debt is a benefit all it’s own 😊

Depends on interest rate on the loan and rate of return on investments, right? Right now a car loan may not make great sense; my last car loan came in at 0.9% in 2014 - at that rate it would have been foolish to pay cash….

[Photographer918]

Originally Posted by ScaldedDog

Cash buyers drive the average length of ownership up. We tend to buy what we like, like what we buy, and drive it a long time. You sound like you might be one of us, too.

Mark

I am mostly. I bought my first X5 planning to drive it for six months. The plan for number 2 is 7-8 years…. :-)