[jzcrna]

has anyone done this? I'm getting a high mileage lease, but was thinking of buying when lease is up if I want to keep the car. A lease gives me the freedom to turn back the car for a new one or purchase it. I know it costs more in the end, but I like having options open.

[matt_435xi]

many people do this, especially if they do not have the cash up front to make the payments comfortable and they are not certain if they want to own the car before driving it for a couple of years. so yes, people do this; does that answer your question?

[svache]

I was actually going to do this with my current car, a leased X5.

At the time when we got the X5, we were able to make a super deal on the lease but we were unable to actually go and buy a new car because I had not much credit history myself (I was not that long in the US yet) and my wife had a serious damaged credit history because of her ex. The lease was doable, thankfully. We always said to each other we would simply restore our credit (which we did) and buy the X5 once the time was up but then the F30 popped up and it was love in first sight lol. So instead of buying our X5 we now bought the F30 and will give the X5 back once the ordered F30 comes in

[jzcrna]

thanks for the replies! the lease deal is also great with the F30 at this point to it makes sense.

[Boondoggler]

In many ways leasing to buy is a solid strategy. If after the lease you want to replace it, that's easily done through a new lease. BMW traditionally is very aggressive with the residual values they set, so at the end of the lease, if you want to keep your car, you can negotiate a buy out below the residual value listed on your lease, and take advantage of any current certified pre-owned offers at that time. For example, I leased my 2006 330i for 36 months. At the end of the lease, I was able to negotiate a buyout that was $2500 less than the residual, and I was able to negotiate my dealer including pre-owned certification. This extended the warranty out to 6 years / 100,000 miles and allowed me to take advantage of 0.9% certified pre-owned financing rates. I financed the car for 4 years and all told I'm on schedule to pay only about $2500 over sticker in total payments. Not bad for floating money on the purchase for 7 years. I'm now looking to upgrade to a new 3 series and I still have $7500 in equity in my car that I can use toward inception costs and reduction of interest rate through the multiple security deposit program. Moral to the story, don't be afraid to lease with the potential to buy down the road, just don't make the mistake of putting your hard earned dollars into cap cost reduction on a lease, because if the car gets totaled, you will be out that investment. Use multiple security deposits instead, or simply carry a higher monthly payment.

[matt_435xi]

Originally Posted by Boondoggler

In many ways leasing to buy is a solid strategy. If after the lease you want to replace it, that's easily done through a new lease. BMW traditionally is very aggressive with the residual values they set, so at the end of the lease, if you want to keep your car, you can negotiate a buy out below the residual value listed on your lease, and take advantage of any current certified pre-owned offers at that time. For example, I leased my 2006 330i for 36 months. At the end of the lease, I was able to negotiate a buyout that was $2500 less than the residual, and I was able to negotiate my dealer including pre-owned certification. This extended the warranty out to 6 years / 100,000 miles and allowed me to take advantage of 0.9% certified pre-owned financing rates. I financed the car for 4 years and all told I'm on schedule to pay only about $2500 over sticker in total payments. Not bad for floating money on the purchase for 7 years. I'm now looking to upgrade to a new 3 series and I still have $7500 in equity in my car that I can use toward inception costs and reduction of interest rate through the multiple security deposit program. Moral to the story, don't be afraid to lease with the potential to buy down the road, just don't make the mistake of putting your hard earned dollars into cap cost reduction on a lease, because if the car gets totaled, you will be out that investment. Use multiple security deposits instead, or simply carry a higher monthly payment.

+1 well stated!

[jzcrna]

sounds great!! I didn't realize that you could negotiate for less than residual let alone get it CPO'd.

Did you do this through your dealer or call BMWNA?

thanks for the info!

[CE750Jockey]

Originally Posted by jzcrna

sounds great!! I didn't realize that you could negotiate for less than residual let alone get it CPO'd.

Did you do this through your dealer or call BMWNA?

thanks for the info!

You beat me to it. I too would like to hear more about this. Thanks.

[Boondoggler]

Originally Posted by jzcrna

sounds great!! I didn't realize that you could negotiate for less than residual let alone get it CPO'd.

Did you do this through your dealer or call BMWNA?

thanks for the info!

You definitely need to negotiate with a dealer to get a discount off of the residual and/or CPO thrown into the deal. It does not have to be the originally dealer you leased the car through. If you contact BMWUSA and try to negotiate a lease end deal, they simply will refer you to a local dealer.

[khaye1]

What you guys are talking about is called dynamic pricing...it's a BMWNA program and you can contact your dealer 90 days out from lease end to figure out what the final cost is.