Help leasing an 08' BMW 3 Coupe??

[BillyBatson]

I am sure these are the forums I post under?

I need to purchase a new vehicle within the next week. I got into a bad car accident and totaled my car and I have not been able to go to wither of my 2 jobs in 2 weeks now due to my injuries and not having a vehicle.
I need help with those of you who have experience in leasing cars especially leasing this car in particular

I am looking to lease a 2008 BMW 328i Coupe, automatic. I am really not looking for any extra options however most of the allocation of these cars all come with leather interior (leatherette is nearly impossible to find), and come with at least the sport package and up. I am looking for a 36 month lease, 15k miles, with $2,000 down.

Everyone keeps telling me a $40k car leased with $1,500 - $2,000 should be about $400 a month. For this most part this holds up as a 328i SEDAN with 2k down I can get for $400 a month however when it comes with a similarly COUPE they are asking for $580-600 a month. I was explained that the residuals and a few other thigns work differntly for the coupe. I am not sure what that is.
Is there any way I can bring down the monthly without putting more of a down payment?

Also one dealer has a 2008 335i automatic loaded with the xenon lights, power seats, heated seats, sports package, premium package, paddle shifters, pretty much everything other than navigation, 36 month lease, 15k miles, $2000 total drive off including tax for $560 a month. Sounds good? Better car for less money...
however 3 things wrong with this. 1 is it is white exterior with black interior where I want white exterior with beige interior. 2 is it is an Executive Demo, meaning some bmw exec got to drive this around for a lil while. I as told the car has never been registered, would be like leasing a car with 0 miles, and she is not sure how many miles are on the car and won't know until it comes in this week but she says average is 8k miles. 3 is my Mom would have to co-sign with me since she is a current bmw owner for me to get the loyalty incentive.

I apologize for the length but I wanted to be somewhat detailed
thank you in advance for anyone who goes out of their way....

 

[ayabe]

Ok, bottom line is you need a vehicle with a payment of around $400 a month and you need it immediately....

So why the hell are you looking at BMW's?

Especially a lease, I would never lease a vehicle, you are pissing money down the drain and are looking at cars you can't afford. Maybe you should look for something in the $25,000 range, that will put you at around $400ish for 60 months...or buy used.

Then in a couple years you can trade up with the equity you have in the new vehicle.

In a lease you are walking away with nothing and after 3 years will be in the same spot as you are now.

Take your yearly salary, divide it by two, this is the maximum amount you should finance a car, otherwise you are tying up too much of your assets in a poor investment.

Best advice I can give you, look elsewhere.

 

[BillyBatson]

Ayabe, thank you for your time in trying to help me out. However I feel you did not fully read my post. I never said I am looking to pay $400 a month on a lease but that what others told me that is what I should expect to pay on a car worth this much. I can afford to pay more than $600 a month on a car but doesn't mean I should or want to, like you said it's not a good idea to tie up too much of my assets in a poor investment and that is what I would be ding if i was spending much more than $600 a month. My concern is that the coupe is costing me upwards of $200 more monthly than a sedan of the same price so I am 1) trying to understand why that is, and 2) trying to find out is there is any way I can bring the cost of the car down/if i am being screwed by the price or is this what i should expect to pay.
If $600 a month is REALLY the lease price of the car then I am going to pay that much but from what others tell me it should be less for this car. That's what I am trying to figure out.

Also I know leasing isn't the greatest thing in the world and I went through ALL that 15 months ago when I turned to anandtech when I was trying to lease/purchase my first new car. I did end up purchasing a car at that time and i did learn. This time around I would like to lease and try that out and get a better car than I had before (though I LOVED my last car)

 

[DivideBYZero]

This will not end well...

 

[BarneyFife]

BMW has good offers for 2004 CPO at 2.9%. You can nab a 525i for $26k. Try looking at that. The problem is that you put pressure on yourself to get a car right away and if a salesman knows that, you will get burned.

The 335i sedan is faster than the coupe.

 

[BillyBatson]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife
BMW has good offers for 2004 CPO at 2.9%. You can nab a 525i for $26k. Try looking at that. The problem is that you put pressure on yourself to get a car right away and if a salesman knows that, you will get burned.

The 335i sedan is faster than the coupe.

A 5 series is out of the question even a new one. I am looking for a smaller coupe.
speed doesn't matter to me at all lol

 

[BarneyFife]

Just get the 328i sedan. Its more practical than a coupe.

 

[BillyBatson]

it's not nearly as pretty
my last car was an 07' civic coupe, white exterior beige interior. i got use to the 2 doors

 

[ElFenix]

i'm calling horseshit on the residuals being that much different between the sedan and the coupe. the cap cost might be different if there are incentives for the sedan (ugly) and the coupe (sexxor).

anyway, the number 1 rule of car buying is that if you don't like the deal, walk away. if you really need a car that bad go rent something cheap.

which dealer told you that the 335 coupe was $580 and the 328 coupe was $560? different dealers? and who told you it should be $400?

 

[RichieZ]

so you want a 328 with steptronic and no options? thats going to be a special order car or you'd have to buy a loaner car.

btw sport package on the 3 series coupe adds nothing but different rims, sports seats, and i think a thicker wheel.

How much of the $2k down is cap reduction? you should put down multiple security deposits to lower the money factor.

Originally posted by: ElFenix
i'm calling horseshit on the residuals being that much different between the sedan and the coupe. the cap cost might be different if there are incentives for the sedan (ugly) and the coupe (sexxor).

the residual is the same, but the MF is higher on the coupe (Jan 08 rates based on 15K/yr):
2008 BMW 328Ci Coupe
24 Month ? Residual 68% of MSRP ? .00200 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 58% of MSRP ? .00200 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 42% of MSRP ? .00295 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 33% of MSRP ? .00295 Base Rate

2008 BMW 328i Sedan
24 Month ? Residual 68% of MSRP ? .00165 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 58% of MSRP ? .00165 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 42% of MSRP ? .00295 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 33% of MSRP ? .00295 Base Rate

 

[BillyBatson]

i was told the residual was th same. Sorry but what is MF?

ElFenix, how have you been? The 335i coupe Executive Demo would be $560 for me (as of right now without going in trying to lower that price) and the yet to be driven 328i coupe came out to $597 at the same dealership. The $400 a month is what everyone told me I should be looking at for a car in this price and every dealer I have spoken to have told me that can do $400-440 on the Sedan (my mom has a lease 2006 bmw 325i sedan and pays $420 a month) but that the coupe can't come close to that price

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: BillyBatson
i was told the residual was th same. Sorry but what is MF?

ElFenix, how have you been? The 335i coupe Executive Demo would be $560 for me (as of right now without going in trying to lower that price) and the yet to be driven 328i coupe came out to $597 at the same dealership. The $400 a month is what everyone told me I should be looking at for a car in this price and every dealer I have spoken to have told me that can do $400-440 on the Sedan (my mom has a lease 2006 bmw 325i sedan and pays $420 a month) but that the coupe can't come close to that price

Money Factor, it's derived from the interest rate that BMW charges you. Multiply the MF by 24 to get your interest rate.

You can do the calculations here: http://www.leaseguide.com/calc.htm

When I ran your numbers I got ~$520 without taxes. That's not much of a deal, IMHO.

 

[ElFenix]

i should have figured MF rather than cap cost was how they were mucking with it. wouldn't want that average selling price to decrease, after all.

ElFenix, how have you been?

been doing good man. seems like you've got some hectic stuff going on right now

 

[MixMasterTang]

BMW's tend to have a very good resale value, have you looked at just purchasing one and then selling it in 2-4 years (however long you were going to lease it)?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: BillyBatson

Originally posted by: BarneyFife
BMW has good offers for 2004 CPO at 2.9%. You can nab a 525i for $26k. Try looking at that. The problem is that you put pressure on yourself to get a car right away and if a salesman knows that, you will get burned.

The 335i sedan is faster than the coupe.

A 5 series is out of the question even a new one. I am looking for a smaller coupe.
speed doesn't matter to me at all lol

Then why are you considering the 335i at all? It is no different than the 328i, just the twin turbo engine...which will cost you more to insure as well.

 

[dirtboy]

BMW has a lease estimator on their website. It has factored in plenty of profit for the dealership, so if you use it, it will give you a fair estimation of your payment.

$400/mo on a 36 mo lease with 1.5-2k down? hahahaha no way. Maybe if it is a promotional lease on a stripped car, but you won't get near 15,000 miles. Many of those now limit you to a whopping 7,500 miles per year.

Other things:

Don't lease a used car, including an "executive" car. It doesn't appear you are getting any discounts for this.

BMW coupes always carry a price premium over sedans.

Make sure you budget to replace the tires before your lease turn in. You will be required to maintain the car, BMW does this for free, but they don't cover the tires. Sport tires aren't cheap.

Make sure you keep the interior and exterior in great shape. They can and do charge people for damages upon turn in. That can be at their discretion and there's nothing you can do about it other that fork over money. Be sure you know in advance what is chargeable and not chargeable damage.

Never lease past the manufacturers warranty. If you do this, you are liable for anything that breaks out of warranty.

If you want a "deal" on a lease, you won't find it at BMW. Like any car purchase, deals are had by manufacturers struggling to move cars. Currently that is most American manufacturers.

Make sure you are getting the best possible residual and MF. You can't get "screwed" on these per say, as every dealer has a max and min amount they are allowed to charge. If you don't know what the minimum residual and MF is, you won't get it. Also, the interest rate you get is based on your credit, so don't cry if you have crappy credit and get a substandard rate.

Your mom got a promotional deal on a stripped BMW. I see them advertise $299/mo leases, but the terms and the car aren't great.

If you are going to lease, the best way is to find out the residuals and MF's on a variety of cars out there. You don't have much time to do this. I do this with every lease and I have no trouble getting the best deal possible. My recent Jeep I got 25% off the window and did a 2 year $0 down lease off of that. That... is how you lease. If you educate yourself you won't get screwed at the dealership.

Good luck. Feel free to ask questions. I won't give you the "don't lease you're an idiot speech." I think leasing is great if it fits your needs.

 

[BillyBatson]

I know I have not responded to you guys and I will get around to it but I just want to update since I ahve been on the phoen all day again.
Talked to another dealer, have a car in the colors i want, auto, sport package, ipod hookup, msrp $39,000, says she is taking $1,500 off of the price. $2000 total drive off with 15k miles on a 36 month leae I am looking at $585 a month, if i do $12k miles I am looking at $565 a month

I was also told by 2 seperate dealers that the executive demo since it is going through reconditioning and not being sold as new has most likely gone through some sort of damage or being reapolstered so I don't thinkt hat would be an option

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: BillyBatson
I know I have not responded to you guys and I will get around to it but I just want to update since I ahve been on the phoen all day again.
Talked to another dealer, have a car in the colors i want, auto, sport package, ipod hookup, msrp $39,000, says she is taking $1,500 off of the price. $2000 total drive off with 15k miles on a 36 month leae I am looking at $585 a month, if i do $12k miles I am looking at $565 a month

I was also told by 2 seperate dealers that the executive demo since it is going through reconditioning and not being sold as new has most likely gone through some sort of damage or being reapolstered so I don't thinkt hat would be an option

Bollocks. It will be fine.

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: MixMasterTang
BMW's tend to have a very good resale value, have you looked at just purchasing one and then selling it in 2-4 years (however long you were going to lease it)?

Compared to what? Lexus hold's it value better than BMW does.

 

[BillyBatson]

ElFenix, yeah =\ i actually turned to anandtech october of 06' with help purchasing a car and ended up buying a 2007 civic coupe which I totaled 2 weeks ago... hence the search for a new car

dirtboy thank you so much for your advice. How do I go about finding out the MF and minimum residual? also for the "executive demo" I was told it would be $4,000 off but for the time being I am not thinking about this as an option

also for those peopel talking about resale value I think BMW isn't bad but from what I know Infini is higher and lexus is th ebest out of the 3

 

[iamwiz82]

You have to poke around the Internet to find the rates, or ask the dealer. Some will not tell you, however. I usually use the Edmunds forums for a quick answer.

 

[dirtboy]

Roadfly Forums

Check here. Tarry really knows his stuff. There's even a spreadsheet on how to calculate the lease payment. Of course you must know where your credit stands, so only you can determine if you will qualify for the lowest rate.

Also check Tarry's website, it's useful for information.

If you want the best deal on a lease, find the manufacturer that is having trouble selling cars, then find the model they have the most of... that's where the deals are today.

 

[BillyBatson]

thank you so much again dirtboy, along with the rest of you who helped and gave me advice.
I ended up leasing the car just 30 mins ago however since it si a dealer trade I do not have the car yet, it is looking doubtful that I will be getting the car today so much likely would have to pick it up tomorrow night (I may ask her to have it delivered if I can't pick it up today)

i got what I wanted, 2008 328i coupe white on beidge, sport package, ipod hookup
base MRSP $39k, $1,500 off, $2000 down, 15k miles, interest rate is 7%, my monthly is $570.
Using the numbers on tarrys site and the lease calculator is came out to $571.06 IF i iput all the numbers correctly
so sounds about right?

 

[alkemyst]

What term on that lease?

 

[BillyBatson]

oops. 36 months