BMW i3?

[RichieZ]

I am considering leasing one to replace my beater commuter car. Have scheduled a 3 day extended test drive but was wondering if anybody had real life feedback or knows somebody that owns one.

Daily commute is 70-80mi highway roundtrip depending on which route I take

Current cars, own both outright:
1999 Toyota Camry
2012.5 Porsche 911S weekend/track car

BMW i3 10k mi a year / 30 month lease is ~$250 a month with no cap reduction (ie nothing down). The car is basically free when accounting for what I spend on gas. I can charge it for free at work and has the gas range extender so I don't really have to worry about running out of charge.

Also considering the new Chevy Volt. Any other cars I should be looking at?

Note: I did consider a used Model S but its just physically too large of a car to drive in SF.

 

[LTC8K6]

GENERATOR ENGINE:
DOHC 8-valve 647-cc inline-2, 34 hp

Interesting option...

Car and Driver review:

http://www.caranddriver.com/bmw/i3

 

[herm0016]

watch out with the i3, the range extender can not be used on the highway or to climb long hills. It is only an emergency way to get the car to a place where you can charge it.

We have a gen 1 Volt a LOVE it. in the Gen 1, most people get around 40 miles electric, in the summer i avg around 47 miles and in the winter close to 30. the heat really drains the battery. The car is smooth, quiet, and drives great. very low center of gravity. We have snow tires for the CO winter and it does very well. No problems driving 80 mph up the rockies to Vail from Boulder. There is so much miss information about them out there. The center stack works great and we have not had any problems with the car. we have put about 30k miles on it in the last year and a half and avg around 200 mpg in our normal commuting. It costs us about a dollar to go 40 miles. We also took the car on a 4000 mile road trip and returned about 40 mpg over the 4k miles. You can fit a single vanity cabinet, or all the parts for a 6x5 fence gate, and even an 8 foot 2in steel fence post inside with the hatch closed. it is plenty of space for 2 people, 2 50lb dogs and gear for a weekend.

on the battery: there are volts with over 200k miles and no discernible battery degradation. The batteries in these cars are amazing. each cell is temperature controlled and you only use about 60% of the total capacity. Ours has close to 50k on it total, mostly electric and has no range loss.

 

[SearchMaster]

Volts are awesome (for their purpose) but the price on that lease is hard to beat.

 

[tweakmonkey]

The i3 is a great little car. Optioned it has a lot of high end features. The build quality and feel of it are unique and it's the lightest weight / most nimble electric car out there. It's also pretty quick.

I have borrowed one from a friend for a weekend and really liked it. He's had it about 2 years and likes it too- but when it was brand new it had recalls and service bulletins several times. I think they're ironed out and supposed to be quite reliable now.

I don't think the ReX is much of a problem. I hear it works well but haven't driven one with it. I'm sure the extended test drive will show you what it's about. I am 99% sure it can be used on the highway and with that commute you should almost never require it anyway.

For the money you can't go wrong.

 

[Pantoot]

I have an i3 without the rex and if you put aside the range issues (and clowncar looks) its a great car. Quick (not fast), good handling and very roomy inside.

No issues in its first year. 0 maintenance.

We have a tesla as well, and at times I prefer driving the i3 just due to its size, the tesla really is a big car.

The range is certainly an issue, but being able to charge at work would certainly help alleviate that. It's a great 2nd (or 3rd) car.

 

[RichieZ]

well turns out there are some i3 demo cars that work out to be $167/mo with the same lease terms, going to test drive on sat and will likely just lease it if i can lock down that payment

thanks for all the feedback!

 

[tweakmonkey]

Can you tell me which dealer this is? Maybe PM if you don't want to share. I tried a few months back and everyone wanted a significant deposit.

 

[RichieZ]

Can you tell me which dealer this is? Maybe PM if you don't want to share. I tried a few months back and everyone wanted a significant deposit.

will let you know on sat if i can actually get this deal

 

[tweakmonkey]

Ok thanks good luck!

 

[SSSnail]

will let you know on sat if i can actually get this deal

If it's BMW SF or Peter Pans, they're bullshitting you.

 

[RichieZ]

test drove this morning, agreed on $115 a month w/ no out of pocket cap reduction (price includes corp discount so I get an extra $1K off and a .0002% reduction in the money factor). this works out to $205 a month when you amortize all the taxes etc

the car I want is currently on an extended test drive, I will very likely be leasing it when it comes back in a few days

i3 rex mega world
white
tech package
parking package
MSRP $50,700

PS: it is not bmw sf or peter pan bmw

 

[Denly]

I am considering leasing one to replace my beater commuter car. Have scheduled a 3 day extended test drive but was wondering if anybody had real life feedback or knows somebody that owns one.

Daily commute is 70-80mi highway roundtrip depending on which route I take

Current cars:
1999 Toyota Camry
2012.5 Porsche 911S weekend/track car

BMW i3 10k mi a year / 30 month lease is ~$250 a month with no cap reduction (ie nothing down). The car is basically free when accounting for what I spend on gas. I can charge it for free at work and has the gas range extender so I don't really have to worry about running out of charge.

Also considering the new Chevy Volt. Any other cars I should be looking at?

Note: I did consider a used Model S but its just physically too large of a car to drive in SF.

by the end of the lease you will be doubling the allowed mileage?

 

[RichieZ]

by the end of the lease you will be doubling the allowed mileage?

yes but i actually take the train on 1-2x a week and also occasionally drive the 911 if the weather is great. will be tight on the mileage but it fits in with my existing pattern

 

[tweakmonkey]

So it says 6000 down at time of signing?

 

[core2slow]

But it's so butt-fugly doe

 

[SSSnail]

So it says 6000 down at time of signing?

How else do you think they promise the payment so low? Also, the residual value after the lease is INSANE.

 

[RichieZ]

How else do you think they promise the payment so low? Also, the residual value after the lease is INSANE.

- you get 2,500 back from the state as a rebate almost immediately
- you don't have to put down the multiple security deposits to lower the money factory if you don't want to, monthly amount would go up $33. you get all of these deposits back at the end of the lease

Lets say you want to put the minimum down:
- minimum drive off is ~$2,366 (fees + license + reg and first months payment) that will get back as the $2,500 rebate from the state. Works out to a monthly all in each month and $242. I am choosing to front the rebate and put down security deposits (that effectively lower interest rate) to lower monthly payment.
- who cares about the residual? i'm not going to keep it and that residual includes the fact that the first buyer/leaser got $10K off from tax credits

 

[Ferzerp]

The lessee does not get, at least the federal tax credit. The actual owner receives that credit. I do not know if they would be eligible for the state tax credit.

 

[tweakmonkey]

But it's so butt-fugly doe

That's subjective. I like it.

 

[RichieZ]

The lessee does not get, at least the federal tax credit. The actual owner receives that credit. I do not know if they would be eligible for the state tax credit.

the federal tax credit goes to the manufacturer when you lease, you can see it included at the 7,500 taxed leased incentive (lease cash) in my spreadsheet above

in CA if you lease for 30months you get the 2,500 tax credit

 

[SSSnail]

Yeah, just make sure you're certain of everything. Before I purchased my other car, I was looking at leasing the i3, and the numbers they presented to me were pretty convoluted and didn't favor the lessee at all. Besides, I couldn't fit a stroller in that damn thing .

 

[RichieZ]

ok lol i just was getting an insurance quote for it and I kind of forgot that it is a 50K car, insurance is not cheap it costs almost as much as the lease itself and more than I am paying on the 911 which is insured as a second car

quoted for 10k miles a yr and includes discount for having homeowners insurance and clean driving record, even upping the deductibles didn't really change it much. living in SF really screws me on all cost of living items.

it's still actually very compelling from a financial standpoint but i really loved thinking i was finding an amazing deal

 

[Demo24]

Probably cause its somewhat rare and likely very expensive to repair. The lease itself is pretty impressive. I'd heard bmw leases well but never seen the numbers before. Some bs fees in there though like 'acquisition fee' or the 'deposition fee'?


Seems like a neat enough car, my only issue is it looks like it rides on fake tires with how thin and tall they are. That's most noticeable from the back.

 

[MustISO]

Damn, those insurance premiums are killer. Maybe it's a good thing we always buy lower priced cars. Can't imagine paying that much.