[28173]

Hello,

40K miles X5—xdrivex40, fully loaded, 2021: $800/month lease. A $1000 downpayment was made. The buyout is 39K, and the lease terminates next month.


Is it worth buying out?
What maintenance/repairs will I encounter for the next 15 to 30K miles? Estimating the budget.

The same car (2024 model) costs $1000-1200/month to lease. We are trying to evaluate the situation.

TIA!

[TurtleBoy]

Maintenance, and any repairs, should be much less than getting a new one. (A few oil changes, maybe some filters and a brake fluid change -count on $1k but probably less) The question you should be asking yourself is, do you want a new vehicle or will you be happy to continue driving the one you have. That should lead you to your decision.

[LuckyBrand]

Yeah I echo what TurtleBoy said.

Leases definitely aren't very good right now and a fully loaded car that you know the history of for 39 grand sounds pretty good in my opinion. A new one's gonna cost a lot more! Just depends on if you want new or are content with what you have.

[TREKER]

40k miles - Brakes, tires, in addition to all the other normal maintenance items also factor in. I am in same position. I opted for new 50e (still waiting - extended my lease 2 months).

If you are going to buy extended warranty that will add to cost of keeping.

I lease through my business so I cannot be wondering if I will be dealing with a vehicle in shop for any extended period of time also. Maybe I should rethink the 50e.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by TREKER

40k miles - Brakes, tires, in addition to all the other normal maintenance items also factor in. I am in same position. I opted for new 50e (still waiting - extended my lease 2 months).

Unless he is very hard on brakes or in constant city traffic, brakes should last much longer than 40k miles. Most folks seem to be expecting/getting 75k - 100k miles on them.

[BlkGS]

Leasing almost always only makes sense as a business write off. Some people want to always have a newer car, and that's fine, and leasing might work for them. But they also never reach the promised land of "no payment".

My take, of your happy with the car and like it, and there's nothing that you would change if you got a new one (options, colors, etc), then keep it.

[TREKER]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

Unless he is very hard on brakes or in constant city traffic, brakes should last much longer than 40k miles. Most folks seem to be expecting/getting 75k - 100k miles on them.

I was actually surprised about the brakes. I am at 36k on mine and they said I had a little less than half the wear remaining. I found that to be an odd thing since my Audi needed brakes after 12k miles.

Love the sport brakes on the X5. I am definitely needing tires though. I am hoping I can keep going on mine until next month at turn in. Keep plugging them until I get to dealer.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by TREKER

I am definitely needing tires though. I am hoping I can keep going on mine until next month at turn in. Keep plugging them until I get to dealer.

What is your depth? They need to be at least 4/32".

[TREKER]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

What is your depth? They need to be at least 4/32".

Tires are shot. Brakes still good. Not sure of depth.

[jayfeinst]

Even if you don't keep it long term, you should consider buying that out or trade it before the end of the lease as I'd imagine you have, at least, a few grand of equity in it!

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by jayfeinst

Even if you don't keep it long term, you should consider buying that out or trade it before the end of the lease as I'd imagine you have, at least, a few grand of equity in it!

You have to be real careful with that and know your state's tax laws, especially in your state, since you you often have to pay sales tax which will eat up a lot of any equity you may have.

[masab321]

If you don’t have an itch of a new vehicle, it makes much more sense to buy out the vehicle that you like and know the history. Financially speaking, it’s also a much better deal to buy out for 39k.

[SteVTEC]

Bought out the leases on both our E70 X5 and the E93 335i that I still have. No regrets on either. It's been nice to be car payment free for the most part, and still love driving my E93 at 13 years old. Ride out the CPO warranty and then find a solid independent BMW shop for upkeep, repairs, and maintenance after that. G05's seem pretty solid. Planning to drive ours for quite a long time also.

Leasing made way more sense back in the time when they were heavily incentivized by BMW to keep new metal flowing out the door. I read at the time that BMW actually made more money on CPO sales after leases were turned in, than they did on the leases. Not sure if that was really true or not, but times have changed either way, the cheap money is gone, and I guess they want their money up front now.

[rmorin1249]

I leased our 2019 but the capitalized cost was $13k less than MSRP and then a $1000 rebate from BMWCCA. No way I'd lease now. Discounts are low and interest rates are higher. We bought ours 12 months early at 21k miles and have never looked back. Put on a set of Pirelli AS+ go flat tires. Very happy.

[28173]

I thank all of you for responding—great answers to keep my sanity in check.

It is a fully loaded X5 AWD M Sport. I love it. But I have always leased German cars. I am apprehensive about the maintenance/repairs, and reselling after a few years may cost me more than $1200/month on the new car.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by 28173

I thank all of you for responding—great answers to keep my sanity in check.

It is a fully loaded X5 AWD M Sport. I love it. But I have always leased German cars. I am apprehensive about the maintenance/repairs, and reselling after a few years may cost me more than $1200/month on the new car.

No way, it will not even be close to costing you $1,200 a month in maintenance and any repairs unless you are the unluckiest owner we have ever seen.

If you aren't comfortable then don't do it but keeping it will certainly be the least expensive option.

[28173]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

No way, it will not even be close to costing you $1,200 a month in maintenance and any repairs unless you are the unluckiest owner we have ever seen.

If you aren't comfortable then don't do it but keeping it will certainly be the least expensive option.

Thank you. Let me clarify what I meant:
It would be about $800/month for an auto loan.
It would be $1200/month if I lease a new one.

So, my expenses should be far less than $400/month to even out between both scenarios. Otherwise, leasing a new one is better. That's what I was trying to say....

Thank you again!

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by 28173

Thank you. Let me clarify what I meant:
It would be about $800/month for an auto loan.
It would be $1200/month if I lease a new one.

So, my expenses should be far less than $400/month to even out between both scenarios. Otherwise, leasing a new one is better. That's what I was trying to say....

Thank you again!

Okay but that is not really the complete way to look at it. You are forgetting that you will have value in the vehicle when you trade/sell it in the future. For example, if you lease, in three years you will have nothing. If you keep it and pay it off in those three years you may have $20k or so to use for your next vehicle. So in theory you could have spent that much in maintenance and repairs (which is many times higher than what you will spend) and still break even.

Like I said, you have to be comfortable with what you are doing. Sometimes the bets thing to do is not the least expensive way to go.

I I had to take a guess, I would say your maintenance and repair costs will be about $50 a month or so. Maybe a little higher depending on your tire situation.

[28173]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

Okay but that is not really the complete way to look at it. You are forgetting that you will have value in the vehicle when you trade/sell it in the future. For example, if you lease, in three years you will have nothing. If you keep it and pay it off in those three years you may have $20k or so to use for your next vehicle. So in theory you could have spent that much in maintenance and repairs (which is many times higher than what you will spend) and still break even.

Like I said, you have to be comfortable with what you are doing. Sometimes the bets thing to do is not the least expensive way to go.

I I had to take a guess, I would say your maintenance and repair costs will be about $50 a month or so. Maybe a little higher depending on your tire situation.

Thank you. Thank you. Excellent response, and thanks for helping out in making a decision.

I will go ahead and buy it.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by 28173

Thank you. Thank you. Excellent response, and thanks for helping out in making a decision.

I will go ahead and buy it.

Good luck and hope all works out.

[GerryC]

I recently read an article that discussed maintenance/repair costs over 10 years for most brands. They estimate BMWs would cost about $3k/year for maintenance and repairs out to 10 years (post warranty/free service.)

Based on my experience over the last 22 years with BMWs, that's a little high. The only BMW I had that got close to that was a 2006 525i. I had it 11 years and put 175k miles on it. And most of the bigger expenses didn't start showing up until well past 100k miles, and they weren't huge--water pump, oil pan gasket, rear pinion seal were the biggest. They totaled about $3500 and that was over 4 years.

[Rondi]

not an x5, but my son is driving my 11 year old x3, and he loves it. No issues whatsoever, and maintenance is oil changes and tires