Lease Is Up..Should I Buy It ?

[Chainshot]

Hello, I'm new to this forum. I have an 2006, X3, 41,000 miles, and the lease is up. Its been a great car and I'm trying to find the pro's and con's of buying it. What do you think ? I really don't want to lease another one. Pro's and con's of buying this one ? Thanks !

[LeMansX5]

Are you getting a good buy at end of lease price?

[Chainshot]

Original sales rep. is going to call me back with a price...He said, they would warranty it to 100k (got to check what is covered)and put new tires on it. I checked KBB: $20k trade in, 23k private party, 26k retail...its in excellent condition. I've always turned them back in at the end of the lease. But, I do like this one and know its history LOL.

[X-cellent]

My salesman is a good friend and tells me that as a dealer they are making more money and having more success right now CPO'ing customer vehicles and putting them back in the same vehicle at lease end then thay are selling new units. BMW, like most manufactureres, is having trouble due to the high residual values on lease vehicles that are all being turned in.

You've already been to KBB, try edmunds, nada, and ebay and see what they are really selling for (go to completed sales in ebay). My thought is they are going to show you a payment near what your lease was with a longer warranty and maybe a service plan. I have not had sucess for years in negotiating a buyout of anything other than what was stated on the lease, but it is a new world out htere right now. I bought one of my leased vehicles, and I took a beating on the car (Audi A8).

I know for a while BMW leases covered tires (for like $50 ech) on leases so maybe the new tires isn't much of a throw in. I'd ask them to throw in the extended maintenance plan (but i don't think it's the same as the original plan) as well.... can't hurt to ask...good luck!

[RhodesX3]

My X3 lease was supposed to end today, but I was able to get out of it a couple months early (April 10th) without penalty. Before leasing a new vehicle, I looked into buying the X3 but they only offered my the contractual lease-end buyout price on the contract, despite promising me in February it would be much less.

In addition to the '06 X3 lease, I was leasing an '06 X5 4.4i and, believe it or not, they offered my the same lease-end buyout for the X5 as the X3 - $26,000. The contractual price on the X5 was originally $37,000, so I clearly took advantage of getting the $65k X5 (CPO with extended maintenance) at the same purchase price as the X3.

Also looked into leasing a new X3. Horrendous money factor and residual values at this time. Would have been paying >$200/month more, for a lesser X3, than before.

Since the X1 will be coming out and hopefully a new X3 within the next year or so, I wouldn't want to buy the X3. It's the oldest model left in BMWs lineup and really not a great long-term investment.

Maybe think about buying a great CPO deal and wait until the new X3 or X1 come out?

[Chainshot]

Great info and many thanks ! My salesman told me the new leases aren't good. I thought he may be blowing smoke...sounds like he is being honest.