[PBureno]

My friend is looking into leasing a BMW in the very near future and I told him to head to the dealership to see but he wants to see what he can expect before he heads down there.

Hes planning on leasing a 2010 E90(E92 preferred though) 335i, AT with Sports Package. Definitely not a fully loaded car. Hes fine with a demo since it's just a lease(or should he STILL stay away from a demo?) and hes planning on only leasing it for a year(3yr term) or so since he wants the new 3er when it comes out but hes itching for a new car to drive now. What do you guys think and is it financially wise for him to do that or will he lose a crap load of money? And how hard is it to get someone to take over your lease? Approximately how much would his payments be, since I told him not to put anything down on a lease(is that true?) since he doesn't get it back and rather use that money on multiple security deposits.

What discounts can he expect off a 2010 model in December - February?

Thanks E90Post!

[jasonintoronto]

if he commits to a 3 year lease, how does he expect to only be leasing it for a year?

he's going to have a very hard time dumping his lease.

[t7n7]

not to mention, he might be ok with a "demo" car... but will the next buyer agree with that? i don't know if its on the records or not...

also.. ppl who lease usually pick up the latest and greatest since they are basically renting the car... why would someone rent an older model with less options?


just my 2 cents.

[CHCCubs]

If he only plans on keeping it for a year, I'd say he's better off waiting instead of getting something now, especially if he already has a car at the moment.

That said, depending on the monthly payment and mileage it can be pretty easy to transfer a lease using leasebusters.com or something similar. I managed to get rid of a previous lease within a week of posting the ad, but that car had really low mileage and a low monthly payment.

[Astroboy]

If he only wants it for a year, he may want to consider taking over someone's lease. Leasing for 24 months or less is $$$$.

[PBureno]

Well that's the thing, I can get him a really good deal(although I don't know how good) since one of my really good friends family member has part-ownership of a dealership. So hes thinking he can get a really good deal(+low payments on a new one) instead of taking over a lease or would that be false?

He expects to lease it for 3years but after the first year, he'll put it on leasebusters or craigslist for someone else to take it over.

[dpwr]

how much is a lease transfer fee ?

[PBureno]

I believe it's $1000? Please correct me if I'm wrong

[kgb1637]

The only problem is if the deal isn't good enough to other people he'll have to throw in a lot more money to get rid of the lease. I would never get into a lease planning on not having it for the full 3 years but thats just me. Since he wants a 2010 it'll basically be whats left and he won't have the best choices to pick his own car, but then again, it'll be cheaper.

[Astroboy]

Lease Transfer free is $1500 (at least mine is).

I wouldn't get a 3 year lease with the intention of attempting to transfer it 1 year later unless you payment is smoking hot. If it is just what an average person can get with really good bargaining, then there is no guarantee he will find someone to takeover the lease. And if you friends family owns a dealership, go find out pricing and post it up. No point guessing on the forum.

[335BBS]

Originally Posted by Astroboy

Lease Transfer free is $1500 (at least mine is).

I wouldn't get a 3 year lease with the intention of attempting to transfer it 1 year later unless you payment is smoking hot. If it is just what an average person can get with really good bargaining, then there is no guarantee he will find someone to takeover the lease. And if you friends family owns a dealership, go find out pricing and post it up. No point guessing on the forum.

I got mine last Jan and every dealer was taking $5-$9000 off on 335.

[BenTrovato]

Leases are only good if you have a business to write it off against, otherwise your payments are completely lost. The next best bet is to buy 2-3 year old used vehicle with low mileage, when you sell it a year later, the money you've spent on the vehicle subtracted by what you sell it for is a significant savings over the sum of your leasing payments.

[aspiring335]

Originally Posted by BenTrovato

Leases are only good if you have a business to write it off against, otherwise your payments are completely lost. The next best bet is to buy 2-3 year old used vehicle with low mileage, when you sell it a year later, the money you've spent on the vehicle subtracted by what you sell it for is a significant savings over the sum of your leasing payments.

I still think it's better to pay yourself a mileage allowance rather than write off the lease payment. You can pay yourself $0.55 / km for the first 5,000 km of business use and $0.45 km thereafter for legitimate business use. That money is 100% tax free and 100% deductible for the business. You can in fact pay yourself any amount per km, but the business can only deduct up to these amounts.

It's nice because even if you have a beater that you own outright you can still pay yourself the mileage allowance.

[PBureno]

All valid points!

I was thinking if the payments were really good then he'd have no trouble letting the lease go but if its just average-good or just good then he might have some trouble with getting someone to take it over.

I would tell my friend to ask his parents to see what deal he can get him first but they're quite busy and they'd have to sit down and work out some numbers cause they don't have it memorized lol, so just wanted to see what E90Post's $0.02 were.

I guess it'd be 10-15% off MSRP or I'd guess AT LEAST 10%~ Should he just take over a lease(but it's hard to find one with low-payments and under 15 months and the car that he wants) or should he try his luck with a brand new lease?

[BavFan_08]

Originally Posted by BenTrovato

Leases are only good if you have a business to write it off against, otherwise your payments are completely lost. The next best bet is to buy 2-3 year old used vehicle with low mileage, when you sell it a year later, the money you've spent on the vehicle subtracted by what you sell it for is a significant savings over the sum of your leasing payments.

I agree with you - however it also depends on your financial situation and what you really want.

Just my 2 cents:

Some people say leasing is a waste of time...well if you want a 335i and you dont want to worry about re-selling it later (when the warranty is expired) leasing may be the right thing to do....you'll save a lot of time - you just have to make sure your car is up to par when returning.

Sure you're paying the depreciation (when you lease), but you probably paid some depreciation anyways when you re-sell your purchased car...

remember your car will not sell quickly if it has a history of true or potential issues. Especially if the warranty has run out! A smart person would go CPO...instead of private sale.

[2kaccordocoupe]

Originally Posted by aspiring335

I still think it's better to pay yourself a mileage allowance rather than write off the lease payment. You can pay yourself $0.55 / km for the first 5,000 km of business use and $0.45 km thereafter for legitimate business use. That money is 100% tax free and 100% deductible for the business. You can in fact pay yourself any amount per km, but the business can only deduct up to these amounts.

It's nice because even if you have a beater that you own outright you can still pay yourself the mileage allowance.

+1
Knowing a good accountant also helps here

[PBureno]

Very interesting points! hmm...

[MaximusJ]

Originally Posted by BavFan_08

A smart person would go CPO...instead of private sale.

The same car was 22k at the used car lot and 32k CPO'ed at BMW. I did not think about it more then a minute.

[335BBS]

Originally Posted by BavFan_08

I agree with you - however it also depends on your financial situation and what you really want.

Just my 2 cents:

Some people say leasing is a waste of time...well if you want a 335i and you dont want to worry about re-selling it later (when the warranty is expired) leasing may be the right thing to do....you'll save a lot of time - you just have to make sure your car is up to par when returning.

Sure you're paying the depreciation (when you lease), but you probably paid some depreciation anyways when you re-sell your purchased car...

remember your car will not sell quickly if it has a history of true or potential issues. Especially if the warranty has run out! A smart person would go CPO...instead of private sale.

With leasing your costs are all fixed for the term of your lease. Easy way to get in and out of cars regularly if thats your thing.