[m@rk]

So it's 2 years tomorrow since my 335D Touring rolled off the back of a flatbed onto my drive with just 2 miles on the clock.

Now here we are 24 months later and with just over 40,000 miles on the clock. I have been to the North of Scotland, the far South West and even deep into South West France. Twice!

It has been stacked to the roof with Ikea flat pack and still left everything dead away from the lights and after all of this, there is only one word to describe this car.

Effortless.

Simply, it just works!

Now previously I have changed my cars every 18 months as I got bored with them but here we are at 24 months and I am not bored.

So the car was on a 24 month lease so I now have 2 options.

1. Hand back the car and walk away
2. Buy the car off the lease company

So what to do.

Well I don't need to think very hard. If I were to buy a new car today, I would buy the same again and seeing that it still has a years warranty on it, and has only had one careful owner there is only one choice.

So it looks like it's a keeper.

It has just had a full service, new pads, disks, hubs etc etc so is in forecourt condition so over the next few days I am going to have to break it to the lease company that they won't be getting it back.

So come on BMW. Launch something that will tempt me to change because right now, I can't see another car on the market that meets my needs so perfectly.

[Biscuit]

And there is the bonus that you know its previous history.

[JLR1969]

And as a special treat you should get it re-mapped, it will be just like having a new car

[hmi1750]

Excellent..

The new 5 series is coming out soon.. i got the mailing from BMW. Looks like I might upgrade from the 3, when I get a job!

[spandeli]

Since you are after a wagon why dont you think about this:

[edowen]

make the lease company a rude offer - or have they already given you a figure?

[davyk31]

Lease company will end up putting it to auction and taking a poor price for it, you might as well capitalise on that as selling to you is a much easier option for them so hit them hard with a poor offer. You can always move up if they say no.

[dxb335d]

Nice write up. Its good to hear owners views on their car. You seem very happy with it!


I too vote you should re-map it!

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by edowen

make the lease company a rude offer - or have they already given you a figure?

Originally Posted by davyk31

Lease company will end up putting it to auction and taking a poor price for it, you might as well capitalise on that as selling to you is a much easier option for them so hit them hard with a poor offer. You can always move up if they say no.

I tried this when the 'vert went earlier this year. The problem lies with the residual values that were set by the lease companies 2 years ago when the cars were leased. They were a tad optimistic putting it bluntly! The cost of leasing cars has defo increased this year as they are having to adjust the residual values.

They wanted 26k for the vert which was silly. My mate at a local BMW dealer had valued it at £21-22k trade and £24k forecourt price. The lease company (LeasePlan) would not budge from their figure. It got collected from me and the driver said he had instructions to take it straight to auction. It was for sale at a local 'prestige & performance' type dealer a month later for £24k so they obviously got less than they bargained for! Plus all the costs of sending a driver, auction fees, etc....

They are just too stubborn to actually sell it to the current 'owner' at the lesser price!?

The best deal (but the most risky!) is to wait until it is collected, ask the driver which auction he is taking it too, find out when the auction is on and then go and buy it back. I am sure another member did that on here and saved a fortune!

At least you will buy it back at trade price then?

[edowen]

There is certainly a value on buying acar you have owned and know. But as above - no point spending over the odds. I guess work out what it would cost to replace like for like and offer the lease company that. I'd show them cheap examples to backup any reduction you are asking them for.

[e91mac]

Mark, Which company are you using for the 24 month lease?

[warriorboy]

we at work found this too, we use several companies and often ask for a settlement price to buy the car outright if a staff member is interested.

Leaseplan are notoriously bad for this - they wanted 17k for an A8 4.2 diesel 3 yr old and 60k miles - £53k brand new, so still a hell of a lot of car for the money.

They werent up for the haggle and pushed it through the auction, our friendly contact at Leaseplan told us they got less than £10k - obviously a bit rich or scary for the punters that day, or maybe there was something good on the telly affecting the turnout.

but anyhow somone got the bargain of the century and leaseplan lost a load of money

[xenon]

Echo the above. We had an old Mondy through leaseplan on our company fleet that was just right for my father-in-law. They simply wouldn't negotiate from their silly price and as if to spite us put it through auction where it fetched exactly what three-year old rep's Mondys usually fetch at auction: f*ck all.

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by e91mac

Mark, Which company are you using for the 24 month lease?

The lease company is Freeway (Bank of Scotland) and here is the problem.

Freeway no longer lease cars. 12 months ago the company was put into run down mode so my options are pretty limited with this company.

They are quite happy to write the cost of the car off at auction as they just need to exit the business as soon as possible.

There is good news though.

I have been looking around at how much it will cost me to get a 2 year old 335D Touring with circa 40k miles on the clock and apart from the fact that there are not many out there to start with either in the dealer network or Autotrader, the cheapest I can find (at a lower spec that what I have) is £5k more than what I need to pay the lease company. Indeed to get the right spec, I need to add another £3k on top. Having just checked again, the very cheapest 335D touring I can find in the UK right now of any age or any spec is still more than my buy price.

So right now even if I were not keeping the car, I would be mad not to buy it at this price. And I would not hesitate in handing it back and walking away if the price was not right.

This is the car I wanted at the spec I wanted and I know the history (obviously).

And yes, I have got my eye on that 5 Tourismo thing. I have yet to see one in the flesh though.

[beemerbird]

Pretty well sums up the 335d imo - nice write up.

Has to be a keeper surely if it ticks all your boxes. Nice feeling.

[CD]

im at exactly the same stage with my 335D, had it for 2 years in a few weeks. Iver been all over europe in mine too, Not too keen on parting with it really.... Oh and for a man who has such a great taste in cars, you have appauling taste in furniture

[red355]

If you could get a common sense buyback price that would be a good option. Remember 335D prices have been in the increase for the last 6 months.

THEN ...get an Evolve remap box....just makes it seem like its got 2 extra cylinders when you need the push, otherwise it feels just like a std 335D. Until you reapply the original map and the car feels like its half asleep.


I usually change after 2 years and once I held on for 28 months before changing.

I've had my 335D since the launch of the coupe in Sept 06, so thats 38 months and I keep looking but the only thing I find that would provide a similar mix of MPG, ummph etc is the latest Jag XF with the 272 BHP 3.0 S diesel.

At three years I renewed the warranty, it breezed thru the MOT, had it serviced for the 2nd time, 4th RFL fee......easy ownership for the next 10 months,

So with the worst of winter approaching, I think whats the point of changing


I'll treat it to a fresh set of wheels in the spring....thinking BBS

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by red355

If you could get a common sense buyback price that would be a good option. Remember 335D prices have been in the increase for the last 6 months.

As mentioned, my buyback price is currently way less than the cheapest 335D I can find in the UK of any age, miles or spec so I am happy with that. Indeed even if I were not wanting to keep it, at this buyback price I would buy it off them anyway if only to then sell is on again.

three years I renewed the warranty, it breezed thru the MOT, had it serviced for the 2nd time, 4th RFL fee......easy ownership for the next 10 months,

Out of interest, how much did the warranty set you back?

[red355]

Originally Posted by m@rk

Out of interest, how much did the warranty set you back?

the 4th year warranty with the full roadside recovery package was £435 inc VAT

I did look at other warranties but didn't think there where worth the potential hassle in the event of a claim.