Quote:
Originally Posted by Powaup
yea and i don't know how I feel about that  |
You're not alone. That is why most of us like to finance our cars instead. However, if you are not planning to keep the M235 long-term then there may be an advantage to leasing. When the lease is up you can turn it in, or you can also buy it out by paying an agreed percentage of the residual value. An advantage to the buy-out is that it gives you ownership of the car and you know its history. It's sort of like buying an used car except that you know how it was maintained/driven and you rented it in the meantime. Of course this will cost you more money overall. However if you are not planning on keeping the M235i long-term then by leasing it you effectively get to drive your car of choice for a much much lower price. You just won't be building any equity in it; it isn't "your" car.
Assume you picked up two identical cars at the same time, leasing one and buying the other outright. The leased car will only cost you $25k over 3 years but at the end of that 3 years it still belongs to BMW. The one which you bought/financed will cost you $50k over those 3 years, but at the end of it you have a car in your driveway. You'll have to work out if it is cheaper to lease the M235i and then start anew in financing the M4, or if you'd be better spent in starting your financing with the M235i and trading/selling it towards the M4 in a few years. A lot of that depends on your individual budget.
FYI, financing or buying is always cheaper than leasing in the long run.