Garage Queen.....that's funny lol

Leasing or buying isn't that the reason why people buy new BMW's.....:dunno:

Private selling is a large challenge in this economy. You have to find someone willing to write a big check. I recently inquired about financing a private party sale and the rate was over 8% and I have excellent credit. It's tough to be a private seller when BMW will sell you a 4.4 at 2.9%.

Yeah, I was SHOCKED when I saw the trade in value for my Treg, 2008 with 45k trade in value 28k, that is terrible! I mean it's good for an suv but still terrible.

What seems to be happening (in my opinion) is that they are underbidding on trade in values to cover themselves in this economy

Try selling it to an overseas private party (while the US dollar is undervalued=their currency is worth more).

Any asset that leaves you with a positive cash flow is an investment. Unfortunately a car does not.

Good luck.

Uhh .. sorry, but I don't quite follow you.

If someone is buying they are buying and if they're leasing ... well, they're leasing - not buying as you seem to indicate.

Regardless, I guess the auto industry is losing out when it comes to leases. If they say the residual is high (in this market), then they may be stuck with an overvalued vehicle.

If they say the residual is low, then the customers are not gonna sign up because their payments will be higher.

It's nuts out there. My sister just bought a CPO'd 2007 M-B SL550 AMG with 21K miles, silver exterior with black interior, full load, for $48,000. That car had a sticker of $109,000. Nuts I say, nuts.

Right, but why isn't the payments lower on these vehicles? The way leases were designed, you are making monthly payments on the difference of the selling price, minus the residual. If a car has a high residual percentage, the car should be cheaper to lease, but with high end cars, that is not the case. I used to sell cars back in 1993. Leases were the highest money maker for the dealers. Usually $2-2.5k profit per lease. What most people don't realize is that you can negotiate a lease payment. Always ask what is the selling price of the vehicle that determined the lease payment. They do have to tell you, but most will try to give you some bs story. Since the residual value is already determined, if you negotiate a lower selling price, it will lower the lease payment. Plus, most dealers require $2-4K down, which also needs to be deducted from the selling price.

That is one great buy.

Yup, trade-in values seem like they are never where you think they'll be. It's because we study the Edmunds and KBB values online, and then are shocked by what the dealers will give. A dealer will only pay what the car is doing at Manheim auctions - maybe a bit more or a bit less based on color, rarity, etc. But pretty much what they are doing wholesale is what you're going to get.

If you have any buddies at a car dealership (doesn't have to be BMW, any dealer that has access to the manheim dealer-only website), call them up and ask them to look up what your make/model/year car has been doing at auction lately. THAT is the value you're going to get. And usually, it's rather...um...disappointing :)