View Single Post
  #2  
Old 09-24-2014, 01:07 PM
Proflyer Proflyer is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Denver
Posts: 95
Proflyer is on a distinguished road
I just did this with an Infiniti FX lease. I will NEVER lease a car again. You pay for all the depreciation, plus interest, then own nothing. We traded in the FX (which we actually had some equity in compared to the residual) on a 2011 X5d with 15,000 miles. Bought it CPO and got killer financing. Our payments went up $100/month, but we will own it.

The dealer that took it in on trade literally didn't even look at it. It was almost perfect, but had a few things here and there. Tires were maybe 30%, which have to be 50%+ for most lease returns, check your lease to be sure. New tires alone would have cost us $1200, so simply returning it wasn't an option that made sense.

Figure out first what car you want next. Then go to a few dealers and see what they'll give you for yours. Don't tell them it's a lease or they can very easily figure out what your residual is. If they come back at $43m and you owe $45m, and you're sure you want that car, work on the new car part of it first (pricing) then say 'ok my residual is X. I'll do this deal if you can just simply payoff my lease." If you want another BMW, they should really work with you. Most of the time you can go in 90 days before your lease is up and 1) look at new cars and 2) have someone look at yours. Lean on the dealer hard, as they either get to buy your car for the residual from BMW to keep it on their lot or they send it back if they don't want it, or a combo of both and BMW will work with them on what they can 'buy' it from BMW for. Lots of price movement here, so just make sure the spread between what you owe and what you get the next car for is net $0. Don't pay $55m for a car that's worth $53m and take $45m for yours...you just basically took a $2m loss on that deal.

As far as dents/dings/damage/tires--they will bend you over. They want that car to be perfect and the guidelines for what's acceptable are clearly lined out. Expect to pay full dealer rate for tires, paint repair etc. They know they've got you if you want to just drop it and go, so get a few bids first. If the car REALLY is worth less than the residual, including the costs to get it brought back to acceptable condition, you're better off just biting the bullet BUT I'm assuming you'll be buying something else, so really work that angle.
Reply With Quote

Sponsored Links