Lease ending for BMW X3.. should I buy back or re-lease new beemer?

[iamfat]

Situation:

- 2004 2.5 X3 is due to expire in Mar 08 and the buy back at the end of the lease is roughly $30k
- I got a letter saying if I buy or least a new BMW, I can get up to 2 months paid off my remaining lease AND get 0.5% off the current financing rate
- about 36k km over 4 year period.. so it's basically not used that much and has high residual right?

Options that I've come up with:
1) If I pay $30k, I'm out $30k and no warranty protection; so all repairs are on me

2) I could lease a new car and since I'm paying roughly $560/month for the X3, that translates to about 4.5 years lease on a new beemer ($30k/560). But I don't actually "own" it .. and since my car has such low mileage, is it worth it?

Question:

what would you do?
do people actually buy back their cars?

[TooSoonJr]

In general people don't buy back their cars as most people lease as they want to switch up every couple of years in order to drive something that's new, covered by warranty, and will not give them problems.

Whether or not you decide to buy it back totally depends on how much you like the car and if you plan to keep it for a while. The 2.5 is fairly decent, but i am sure you have to get your brakes done fairly often as that's the case with most new bimmers (good quality pads = fast wear).

The buyout price seems pretty reasonable, but that also depends on how much you put down at the beginning of the lease.

Personally i wouldn't keep the car and i'd move on to something new (i get bored of cars fast). I think bmw offers a maintenance free package right now as well where with all new purchases you get some services done for "free" which include high ticket items like brakes (if my memory serves me right).

So, essentially that 30k will get you 4.5 years of leasing, or a bmw x3 with a residual value. However with wear and tear and the longer you keep the car the more the costs will add up (Control arms/tires/brakes), you also have to factor in the interest rate that you will be paying on that 30k over the 5 years. Last, but not least selling a car private later on can be a real pain as you get all kinds of lowballers, if you decide to trade in to a dealer to get a new car you will get 2/3 of what you could potentially sell the car for on the market.

Also, keep in mind that BMW parts are expensive (unless you buy online from the states, i used to buy parts for my bimmer from www.bmaparts.com, which is comparable to what i pay for parts here for my current Honda). You will also have to pay more for labour as bmw specialized shops charge more. You could take it to smaller shops, however they don't have the bmw tools to reset your oil light/etc. There are also ways around it as you can bypass most of their electricals if you look up the wiring diagrams, but it comes down to how mechanically inclided you are.

It's hard to predict what would be more cost efficient as it depends on many things, i tihnk you should focus whether or not you want a new car.

[ac328]

I have a X3 on which the lease is ending next year too. My buyout is roughly 32k + tax. I am pretty sure the buyout is way above what the car will be worth. According to the black book my car is "upside down" by about 3 to 4k right now.

I bought a Subaru in the US as a replacement...yes my lease still has months to run but there's no way I will get another BMW. Prices are too high. Saved about 16k off SUbaru MSRP. BMW makes it expensive to import a car, so screw that.

Your 2 months off letter is nice though, would have been nice to have that option. Dealer wanted me to pay 3k to get out of my lease early.

[TooSoonJr]

Did you get the subaru brand new? If so was it a new york dealer?

I think subaru is the only one that allows Canadians to buy brand new from US dealers.

[ac328]

Did you get the subaru brand new? If so was it a new york dealer?

I think subaru is the only one that allows Canadians to buy brand new from US dealers.

I'm in Calgary, and have put down a deposit on a brand new Outback 2.5XT turbo in Seattle. Fly down there next SUnday to pick it up, and 11 hour drive back.

It's not a BMW, but it's 45k MSRP (incl. PDI/freight) + tax in Canada, and I got it for less than CAD$30k.

Can't get that kind of deal on any BMW, and they're being jerks right now anyway. Have to pay about 2,500 to import a used BMW (just in BMW inspection fees and mandatory speedometer replacement, which is BS). BMW won't sell new in US to Canadians.

Infiniti will also sell new to Canadians but you have to pay 6.1% duty. No duty on Subaru Outback because it's made in North America. SUbaru was best deal overall, but Infiniti is excellent choice if you want more luxury (at a price). Long warranty too, fully transfereable to Canada.

[iamfat]

I have a X3 on which the lease is ending next year too. My buyout is roughly 32k + tax. I am pretty sure the buyout is way above what the car will be worth. According to the black book my car is "upside down" by about 3 to 4k right now.

I bought a Subaru in the US as a replacement...yes my lease still has months to run but there's no way I will get another BMW. Prices are too high. Saved about 16k off SUbaru MSRP. BMW makes it expensive to import a car, so screw that.

Your 2 months off letter is nice though, would have been nice to have that option. Dealer wanted me to pay 3k to get out of my lease early.

the letter basically said I get 0.5% off the current interest rate .. and that looks wayyy too tempting to give up; it translates to 1.5% now! I also didn't pay any money down so $30k sounds fair, but also I didn't get any fancy features except the bum warmers, haha.

btw, is paying $30k in cash a bad idea?

[TooSoonJr]

Why pay cash now if the interest is so low? If you have it kicking around then invest it and make interest on it.

[iamfat]

Why pay cash now if the interest is so low? If you have it kicking around then invest it and make interest on it.

b/c if I borrow, the rate would be about 6%

investing it would yield max 4.75%

so id be losing 1.25% by financing instead of paying cash.

that's why its such a huge dilemma for me: buy back vs. re-lease

[jerryhung]

http://www.wholesaleautobrokers.ca/2004/BMW/X3/2.5i+Premium+Package/3888/car-for-sale.html
http://wholesaleautobrokers.ca/images//3888/001-640.jpg


Web Price: $23,988
Model:2004 BMW X3 2.5i Premium Package
Condition:Used - Clear Title
Odometer:53,000 km
Engine:2.5
Transmission:Automatic


PM me if you need more discount :P

[fido_fido]

just wondering .... why don't you buy out a car? Cheaper then you lease all the time ... unless your using it as for your company's car then never mind.

Well that's my opinion so please don't gang up on me or anything ... lol

[TooSoonJr]

I am not getting something.

The interest would be 1.5%
But if you have to borrow it will be 6%
:confused:

I suppose buying it back would save you a few grand vs leasing a new one. If you want to save money, why not get rid of it and buy a cheaper car or a x3 for 23k like the one above haha?

[VivienM]

just wondering .... why don't you buy out a car? Cheaper then you lease all the time ... unless your using it as for your company's car then never mind.

Usually, the buy out price on a leased car is higher than the market value of a comparable car, so it's generally better to just lease another one.

Now, if you meant generally "why not buy a car and keep it for 10 years", well... a lot of people like having newer, warrantied, etc. cars. And leasing is a reasonably painfree way of doing that...

[blue mountain raider]

why blow 30gs on a 3 year old x3 when u can lease the 07 facelifted one for another 3 years. sounds like OP has money to blow otherwise he/she would not have leased a bmw.

generally speaking BMW and "save money" dont mix. doesnt matter how u look at it, u cant really save $ by driving a bimmer, unless its a 20yo one.

but OP if you lease the new x3 i doubt u will regret it, i test drove one and its good, not as good as the e70 but close.