[Hap]

Other posts seem outdated about leasing in these times.
OK lease vs buy car option is a puzzle.

I need basic answers I think.
Pay cash I can do that.
Lease car and possibly buy at lease end and how much more will the entire lease option cost me vs paying cash?
Keep my 50 K in bank. Make Lease Payments.
What about car market in 2-3 years ?
Will market in future favor giving back car or buying with bad economy making deals offered from BMW possible ?
So not asking for predictions just what others used as their financing plan for this car.
Hap

[Rag9000]

I’m in the same boat. Rates are thru the roof. I’m thinking of financing $10k of it and putting an equivalent amount in an I bond.

[OriginalFake]

Unless things have changed drastically in the last few months, this is not the time for the best lease rates.

[KJ10]

I personally believe with the current state of interest rates if you are able to pay cash it's the best option for buying a car right now. I would never lease with the intention of buying when lease ends.

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by Hap

Other posts seem outdated about leasing in these times.
OK lease vs buy car option is a puzzle.

I need basic answers I think.
Pay cash I can do that.
Lease car and possibly buy at lease end and how much more will the entire lease option cost me vs paying cash?
Keep my 50 K in bank. Make Lease Payments.
What about car market in 2-3 years ?
Will market in future favor giving back car or buying with bad economy making deals offered from BMW possible ?
So not asking for predictions just what others used as their financing plan for this car.
Hap

Used the same financing plan for my 230i purchase as I have used for cars since circa 1996. Cash. Not bragging. Just hate monthly car payments and of course payments which include a nice slice of interest on top of what is directed to pay for the car.

All I can advise you to do is investigate/research leases to determine the true cost of leasing vs. financing vs. paying cash. And the fact after the lease ends you have no car.

Of course if you think you would want to buy the car at the end of the lease you need to look into this. What residual value will be assigned to the car for one thing.

And try to come up with what it would cost you considering you have several years of lease payments and then a lump sum payment to buy the car.

Not making a blanket statement leasing is bad just do your homework and with facts decide if leasing works best for you.

[soflacarguy]

Leasing today is historically worse than it's ever been. A good lease requires:

1. A low money factor. MF translates to Interest rate. Today's BMW lease programs are very expensive with base rates at .00200 ..that's equivalent to a 4.8% rate.

2. High Residual Values. A strong RV is at least 60%; these are currently rated at 54-55% by BMW Financial.

3. A strong lease is usually a result of solid manufacture incentives ie lease cash, rebates, etc to get the capitalized cost discounted off msrp as much as possible. Currently there are 0 incentives. You're "lucky" to get the car for msrp.

Cash is king, but if that's not feasible a great alternative to leasing is financing with a local credit union. Depending where you are located some are still offering rates in the 2-3% range.

[ZacMatic]

Current residual value and money factor can be found here:
https://forums.edmunds.com/discussio...als-and-prices

36 months with 10K miles is 53%
36 months with 12K miles is 52%
36 months with 15K miles is 51%

You're paying for almost half the car plus interest. I feel like leasing only makes sense if the RV is mid-60s or higher and/or you can negotiate a discount on the selling price. The goal is to have the lowest monthly payment with no cash up front. The numbers on this car and the fact that we can't get any significant discounts make leasing a fairly expensive option.

Also, if you do a lease, the dealer will probably mark up the money factor for extra profit. If you know what the number is (thanks to the volunteers at Edmunds), you can shop around and see if any dealer will give you the non-marked up rate before you order the car. And this is assuming you have top-tier credit of course.

[azuki]

in the end its how you control your overall finances/budget and balancing with discretionary spending. this is a fraction (it should be for all of us) of your overall money pie. 99.999% cars are just depreciating assets but its something I find enjoyable and have no problems rotating to a new one every 3 years.

[Hap]

OK
This is exactly what I wanted to Know.
I have leased a couple cars in my life and have ended up buying out lease so I could sell the car early. I am hoping this is the last fun car I will buy.

Thanks to all
Hap

[SpeedyATL]

I know it's a rule of thumb that some people don't like, but I always keep the 1% rule in mind...

If the lease pmt all in with nothing down is more than 1% of MSRP, then it's not a great deal. My current BMW 440 lease is much better than %1, so it is just a rule of thumb but it can save you a bunch of time...

This is why we just bought my wife's new X4 as the quoted lease pmt was 1.4%, and that's with nearly $7k of lease 'trade' credit.

[soflacarguy]

Leasing a BMW with today's available programs is s terrible financial decision. There's no way around it.

This is coming from someone whose been exclusively leasing cars since 2006. Im extremely versed in leasing contracts inside and out and have acted as a lease broker for many friends and family.

That being said, I purchased the G42 as it was a no brainer.

[Jamesyl14]

Originally Posted by ZacMatic

Current residual value and money factor can be found here:
https://forums.edmunds.com/discussio...als-and-prices

36 months with 10K miles is 53%
36 months with 12K miles is 52%
36 months with 15K miles is 51%

You're paying for almost half the car plus interest. I feel like leasing only makes sense if the RV is mid-60s or higher and/or you can negotiate a discount on the selling price. The goal is to have the lowest monthly payment with no cash up front. The numbers on this car and the fact that we can't get any significant discounts make leasing a fairly expensive option.

Also, if you do a lease, the dealer will probably mark up the money factor for extra profit. If you know what the number is (thanks to the volunteers at Edmunds), you can shop around and see if any dealer will give you the non-marked up rate before you order the car. And this is assuming you have top-tier credit of course.

The current residuals and money factors for this model BMW, are terrible!

I work at a Maserati & Alfa Romeo dealership, and the numbers aren't too far off what ours are on the Maserati's lol!

A BMW lease really needs to be below a 2% Equivalent, and residuals in the 60's.

It's insane to be paying that much on a BMW Coupe.

I financed my 2023 M240i. Had the numbers been what they should have on the lease, I would have definitely leased it.

Hope this helps.

[matty1013]

Just met with my CA—he came down 1500 in credits and offers, plus lease equity of 2300. It's still more than I want for my monthly payment, solely because of the 3.99 financing. Otherwise, it's a pretty sweet deal!

[JK479]

Originally Posted by soflacarguy

Leasing today is historically worse than it's ever been. A good lease requires:

1. A low money factor. MF translates to Interest rate. Today's BMW lease programs are very expensive with base rates at .00200 ..that's equivalent to a 4.8% rate.

2. High Residual Values. A strong RV is at least 60%; these are currently rated at 54-55% by BMW Financial.

3. A strong lease is usually a result of solid manufacture incentives ie lease cash, rebates, etc to get the capitalized cost discounted off msrp as much as possible. Currently there are 0 incentives. You're "lucky" to get the car for msrp.

Cash is king, but if that's not feasible a great alternative to leasing is financing with a local credit union. Depending where you are located some are still offering rates in the 2-3% range.

One thing for S Corp and LLC- the lease is 100 percent write off and does NOT have to be titled to the corp. So… if your lease is 1000.00 a month, that's 12,000.00 bucks your business is not paying taxes on provided you run a profit.

You can run a loss and carry that too with leases.

No one is talking about this!

[Hap]

I learn something with every post on here so want to keep it up with current rates ect.
I know pros and cons of leasing...I think.

But to me this car is a hobby, and I am not that worried about saving money with a hobby.
Please comment on MY pro/ cons of a lease.

Pros.
I keep 50K in the bank can get 3-4% which is $150-200 income monthly. Off set the payment a bit?
No hassle at end of lease to get another vehicle or walk away.

Cons.
Most people don't like are not an issues for me.

I am not adding mods.
10K miles is enough a year.
People say "You have nothing at end of lease"?
I say with buying you have a car that is worth 1/2 what you paid for it. I see that as awash.
The total cost of driving the car at end of lease vs buying is close 2K ?

With similar total cost for driving a car for 24 months lease vs buying leasing seems OK to me.

OK I am willing to listen.

Hap

[Dolma]

I am probably going to be exploring this option too soon in the next 2-4 months or so depending on when the car gets built. I want to mod the car but nothing extreme so I am leaning towards financing as i've been leasing for many years and am getting tired of it.

I think if you want to mod the car i would just finance/buy it. If no modding and just want to have fun for 2 years or so then obviously lease and see what you want to do then. Everyone is going to feel different. I have many friends and family who swear by leasing and change car every 2-3 years so they don't have to worry about major repairs. That is another big pro of leasing. I've leased 3 times now in the last like 5 years so i am gonna see if financing isnt much more monthly payment wise I will go with that. I just wish the economy wasn't in such shiet state that it is now and I seriously don't think we'll see anything recover for the next 4-5 years. Constant delays due to labor shortages and every country just wanting war of some sort. That doesn't help.

At least I think if I finance now with the higher interest rate, if things get better I should be able to refinance with a better rate and company in maybe 2-3 years or so but I definitely want to keep this car in the long run and stick to a coupe life. The wife has the sort big family sedan so I get to have my fun car (no kids).

[zipstic]

Originally Posted by Hap

The total cost of driving the car at end of lease vs buying is close 2K ?

With similar total cost for driving a car for 24 months lease vs buying leasing seems OK to me.

OK I am willing to listen.

Hap

It depends on if $2k is a big deal to you or not. Owning the car gives you flexibility on how long you want to keep it. You may want to keep it for more or less than two years.

One more thing to consider on a lease is how much, if any, money you're planning to put down. If you put $5k down and you total your car diving out of the dealership lot, you're pretty much out $5k. This is why some say to never put any money down on a lease.

[OriginalFake]

Originally Posted by Hap

I learn something with every post on here so want to keep it up with current rates ect.
I know pros and cons of leasing...I think.

But to me this car is a hobby, and I am not that worried about saving money with a hobby.
Please comment on MY pro/ cons of a lease.

Pros.
I keep 50K in the bank can get 3-4% which is $150-200 income monthly. Off set the payment a bit?
No hassle at end of lease to get another vehicle or walk away.

Cons.
Most people don't like are not an issues for me.

I am not adding mods.
10K miles is enough a year.
People say "You have nothing at end of lease"?
I say with buying you have a car that is worth 1/2 what you paid for it. I see that as awash.
The total cost of driving the car at end of lease vs buying is close 2K ?

With similar total cost for driving a car for 24 months lease vs buying leasing seems OK to me.

OK I am willing to listen.

Hap

Have you actually calculated what the difference will be monthly between buying and leasing with all of the current rates? Or if you buy, are you just going to buy the car straight cash? And make sure to factor in if you're going to put money down. I still wouldn't put a large amount of money down on a lease just to get a lower monthly payment.

I've only leased BMWs in the past so I'm not against it by any means but it made a lot more sense when dealerships were giving 7-12% off MSRP and MFs were better. I bought my M240i because the difference in monthly payment between leasing and buying was a lot closer and that small difference per month was worth it for me to have the flexibility to get out of the car whenever I want to.

[Hap]

Your point of:
"I bought my M240i because the difference in monthly payment between leasing and buying was a lot closer and that small difference per month was worth it for me to have the flexibility to get out of the car whenever I want to."

Is another input option in this decision.
My credit union offers a loan that you have total amount of requested loan in your account then the interest is 2%.

Or just pay for it and be done....Still seems like it could also be the way to go.

I am struggling with this decision for some reason.
Hap

[KJ10]

Originally Posted by Hap

Your point of:
"I bought my M240i because the difference in monthly payment between leasing and buying was a lot closer and that small difference per month was worth it for me to have the flexibility to get out of the car whenever I want to."

Is another input option in this decision.
My credit union offers a loan that you have total amount of requested loan in your account then the interest is 2%.

Or just pay for it and be done....Still seems like it could also be the way to go.

I am struggling with this decision for some reason.
Hap

If you are not using the money to make more elsewhere might as well just buy it outright and save the extra cost and hassle. Gives you complete flexibility and peace of mind.

[zipstic]

Originally Posted by Hap

I am struggling with this decision for some reason.
Hap

Originally Posted by KJ10

If you are not using the money to make more elsewhere might as well just buy it outright and save the extra cost and hassle. Gives you complete flexibility and peace of mind.

Another consideration is the used car market. We're starting to see the prices for used cars drop. We can't predict the future, but this trend will likely continue. Selling a car in two years could be dicey if it's down, which would decrease the price you could sell your car. A lease takes away that risk, but then you're forced to make decision at that point. Is there a car you want to buy in two years?

If the used car market wasn't an unknown at this point, I would buy with the cost difference you stated.

[OriginalFake]

Originally Posted by zipstic

Another consideration is the used car market. We're starting to see the prices for used cars drop. We can't predict the future, but this trend will likely continue. Selling a car in two years could be dicey if it's down, which would decrease the price you could sell your car. A lease takes away that risk, but then you're forced to make decision at that point. Is there a car you want to buy in two years?

If the used car market wasn't an unknown at this point, I would buy with the cost difference you stated.

I mean, the used car market is just coming back to normal. It isn't like your used car is going to be worthless two years from now. You're definitely not going to get the same amount people were this time last year though.