[Stick435]

Hey all,

New to BMW and am looking into leasing a 230i Xdrive. I went online and was looking at the lease price calculator and noticed that it seems the lowest miles/yr limitation you can have is 10K. I'm single and work from home, so I only put about 3000 miles a year on my current car. Does BMW allow negation of lower miles at the dealer for a lower lease price? I want to try and get somewhere around 5-6K instead of 10K.

[VegasG42]

I've never heard of that for leases.

What did you have in mind - about $250 a month or something ?


Probably wouldn't be worth BMW's or the dealership's time on a depreciating asset.

Would be nice to lease a brand new 2nd vehicle for dirt cheap to only drive on the weekends .....

[Stick435]

No, the monthly lease payment is $784 with a 10K/miles per year. I was hoping to knock maybe another 40 or 50 off that by lowering the miles per year limitation.

[VegasG42]

Originally Posted by Stick435

No, the monthly lease payment is $784 with a 10K/miles per year. I was hoping to knock maybe another 40 or 50 off that by lowering the miles per year limitation.

Oh wow, I didn't realize what they are charging for a monthly lease.

And you are only hoping to get $50 or so taken off that ?

Honestly that sounds very reasonable. I'm not certain if dealerships are able to adjust the lease agreement parameters.

Hopefully someone familiar with lease agreements adds to the discussion

[Stick435]

Yeah, what I did was calculate the difference between 10K miles and 15K miles which was $40 more for 15K. So I figure if I want to reduce the limit by 5K downwards I would suggest that same $40 or maybe a little more since it should be a bigger discount for putting less miles on it.

[eleven11]

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not familiar with a sub-10k lease program from BMW. A few lease-related ideas that might interest you:

• You can pay your lease off in a single payment, which saves some of the interest amount. However, carefully review the details regarding insurance GAP coverage, etc. in the event of a collision.
  
• In the past (I assume it's still possible), you can give BMW multiples of your security deposit (up to 7, last time I checked). This will reduce the amount of your monthly payment by lowering the money factor. When returning the vehicle later, they will return the money.

Your situation is not one I immediately think about leasing. If you like the idea of getting a fresh vehicle every ~3 years, leasing can be refreshing. However, realize you are paying for the depreciation of the car, which is typically greatest in the first 36 months. In general, my recommendation (sorry, I know you didn't ask) is to find the vehicle you like that's 24-36 months old and purchase/finance it. That's the sweet spot. It will have already taken the major depreciation hit, and the payment to own will be similar to lease the brand new one. For peace of mind, get one that is CPO from the dealership.

[Littlecoupe]

In the end I will always tell people do what makes them happy, but considering your low mileage situation, is it really worth taking on a lease when you drive so few miles? Will you really enjoy and appreciate the vehicle enough to justify paying all of that depreciation on something that sees so little use?

You may very well have the financial means to do so. For me personally, I'm actually tired of making car payments, and I drive my car more than twice the miles you do. Not saying I want an EV (I don't), but some of those deals in the USA with crazy low monthly payments for a new EV (sub $250 per month in some extreme cases) makes me revisit how much I pay for a commuter vehicle, myself.

To your question, I am pretty sure in my dealership I bought from, 10K a year was the normal option. I recall seeing 8K a year as well, so you may have more options when enquiring with the dealer in person.

[Stick435]

Originally Posted by Littlecoupe

In the end I will always tell people do what makes them happy, but considering your low mileage situation, is it really worth taking on a lease when you drive so few miles? Will you really enjoy and appreciate the vehicle enough to justify paying all of that depreciation on something that sees so little use?

You may very well have the financial means to do so. For me personally, I'm actually tired of making car payments, and I drive my car more than twice the miles you do. Not saying I want an EV (I don't), but some of those deals in the USA with crazy low monthly payments for a new EV (sub $250 per month in some extreme cases) makes me revisit how much I pay for a commuter vehicle, myself.

To your question, I am pretty sure in my dealership I bought from, 10K a year was the normal option. I recall seeing 8K a year as well, so you may have more options when enquiring with the dealer in person.

No EV's for me for various reasons, one of which is that I live in an apartment complex without chargers and another is I want the sound and driving experience of gas. I've only had 1 car in the last 17 years and that was my first new car ever two years out of college so don't relish the idea of driving a car for another 10-15 years. I just figured I would lease for 3 years, then either do another lease or fiance a newer model when interest rates go down (hopefully).

[J-RO]

I have a 7500 miles per year lease.

[evdoho]

Originally Posted by J-RO

I have a 7500 miles per year lease.

This.
In the U.S. market you can opt for 7.5k miles per year, it usually increases the residual by 1% compared to 10k miles per year.

I can’t speak for the programs in other countries.