Never ever ever lease a BMW if you don't plan to keep it full term of lease.

goheels2017

I leased a 2015 BMW 528i Xdrive in September of 2015. I planned on keeping it the full term. I was allotted 10k miles a year. The car sticker was $59,000. On the lease paper, they had the residual value after 3 years at $36,000. (This is the price they expect you to buy the car for if you decide after the term is up). So in 2018, the car should be worth $36,000.

I called to do an early turn-in and they gave me 2 options; Option A (which is to take what you owe left on the leaseand pay it off) I had 1 more year and I owed about $8,000 (why would I pay the exact amount on the lease to turn it in early and not have a car for a year?), or Option B (which is the value of the car, minus what you owe left (After 2 years I owed $43,000, down from the $59,000 from the MSRP sticker).

AFTER ONLY 2 YEARS, BMW told me that the car is only worth $27,000. This means if i chose options A, I would have to bring $16,000 to the table!!! I told them on the lease agreement that the residual car amount after my 3 years in 2018 was $36,000. They explain "Oh that is just an estimate and in your case, it looks like we made a mistake with the estimate).

Yes you read that right. The car lost $32,000 in value in 2 years. Which means next year it wont even be worth what they are saying.

Never ever ever lease a BMW. They are marketing snakes and very untrustworthy. I have owned 7 BMW's and there is either always something wrong with the car, or a dealership trying to slip something by you. They are very, very poor designed. My wife got a 2014 X1 and after 1 year the car had to have a new motor and transmission.

Needless to say, I will keep the car for the next year to continue to commit to my term, but wow.

kyfdx

I don't think that's exclusive to BMW. As far as that artificially high residual? That's what gives you a low payment. Complete the contract and turn it in, and you got over on them.

Your good advice applies to any lease contract. Don't sign if you can't complete it.

Mr_Shiftright

Sounds like the lease was subvented by the manufacturer.

Michaell

Residual values rarely reflect reality, in terms of what the car will be worth at the end of the lease term.

The banks financing these leases have insurance policies in place to make them whole from the contract residual value to the actual market value (in the OP's case, the $9000 between the $27K current value and the $36K contract residual value).

solomonshv

Audi did the same to me. Such is life. 

My A6 depreciated so much that they even refused to honor their own 3 month pull ahead program. 

smachine03

Have you tried swapalease? Many BMWs are listed by people wanting to get out of their lease and others wanting in. As long as you got a good deal it shouldn't be hard.

thebean

goheels2017 said:

... I have owned 7 BMW's and there is either always something wrong with the car, or a dealership trying to slip something by you. They are very, very poor designed. My wife got a 2014 X1 and after 1 year the car had to have a new motor and transmission...

And yet you leased a new one, knowing all this. And, you have an issue when you want to get out of a legal contract and they don't give you a sweetheart deal to do so. Sounds like you need to think harder before you make future major choices.

ponytrekker

My residual value on an old 3 was 27k. They took it back 6 months early with a promotional "pull ahead." I saw what BMW gave the dealer for the car (which was over mileage, which I paid) and it was 17k. Cost to me: 30 of my 36 month lease payments plus a few thousand miles, which totaled like $500. In this case waiting until the pull ahead made me a winner.

In financial matters, the most patient person usually wins.

djscrubba

Is it possible to the change terms on a lease before a contract is signed but after a partial “due at signing” payment is made? Or is it possible to question the numbers I see listed on the contract before being signed? I ask these questions because if I am not certain the deal is a good one (too high of a cap cost and addtl fees added after credits and rebates) and I want to know if the terms can be re-negotiated. Thanks

sergeym

As long as you have not driven the car off the dealer's property you can refuse the delivery and/or renegotiate.

ken117

You were not allotted 10K miles, you chose 10K miles a year when you took the lease. Taking 10K over 12K simply resulted in a lower monthly payment. BMW does allow a leasee to purchase additional miles for .20 a mile.

There is nothing untoward by BMW. It appears BMW set a high residual value which allowed you to lease the Bimmer at a lower monthly payment. That actually benefited you.

The actual value of any vehicle depends on a variety of things. The condition of the vehicle being one which is under your control. The actual value is not the residual value. Sometimes actual value is higher, sometimes lower.

You have a contract with BMW. Both you and BMW are bound by the terms of that contract. To fulfill the contract you must make 36 lease payments. BMW must take the vehicle back at the end of the lease. Anything else, by either party, breaks that contract.

With any lease, the leasee has several choices. He can fulfill the lease and return the vehicle. He can sell the vehicle but will need to make BMW whole by fulfilling the terms of the lease. He can trade the vehicle but again making BMW whole by fulfilling the terms of the lease.

When a leasee sells or trades a leased vehicle, there is a chance to make money if the selling price or trade value is more than the lease payoff or lose money if the selling price or trade value is less than the lease payoff.

Your anger at BMW is misplaced. The fault rests with you as you are the party attempting to break the contract. It also sounds like you did not lease properly. It sounds, from your post, you leased at MSRP. A person leasing a vehicle should always negotiate the price of the leased vehicle exactly as they would if they were purchasing the vehicle.

As far as the quality of BMW, I am on my third leased BMW. I have yet to have one unscheduled repair visit. I did have one minor warranty issue which was addressed during a regular service visit.

isellhondas

Why blame BMW? Actually it sounds like they were desperate to move some cars so they artificially inflated the residual in order to keep the payments attractive. BMW isn't the only car company to do this and after three years they lose thousands when the lease returns are auctioned off. Honda has done this too but to a lesser extent.

It's like they forget about tomorrow for today's sales.

Make the rest of your lease payments and smile as you hand them the keys and walk away!