Surprised you leased a Diesel....far more value in buying....a higher residual and longer life...IMO.

But you could have other influences....drivingyour decisions

Why nobody mentions multiple security deposits (MSD)? You can put 7 MSDs and lower your money factor (interest rate). If you have free cash, use it to lower your interest payment. It works like an 10-12% tax-free return.
I did put good downpayment on my first X3 lease, car was totaled after a year, money was gone. After that I used my cash as MSD only, on second X3 and current X5. It does lower my payments and it's my cash at the end.

Look at my post above. I also did multiple MSD's and saved a bundle, plus that money is mine at the end of the lease, no matter what terms the lease "ends".

And your cautionary tale highlights exactly what gresch and I are saying. To compare the scenarios, if you put the same amount down that you would have paid as MSD's, if the car is lost after the first month, you are out that down payment. Not so with MSD's. So while MSD's don't lower your monthly payment as aggressively as a cap cost reduction, it is the much safer bet to take.

You did mention, my bad.

I was surprised few dealers here didn't know or pretended they didn't know about MSDs (San Francisco bay area). 2-3 salesmen didn't even want to talk about money factor and base rate at all. Only about monthly payments and down payments (what's your monthly budget, put this much down, we'll get a payment for your budget). That's what they did to me 4 years ago, for my first lease, then I learned my lesson.

To resurrect this thread...what if I'm getting ready to apply for a home loan and don't want to have an $800/mo. car lease payment on my credit report? Outside of choosing a lesser car, what are my options other than maybe a combination of paying the taxes up front (& deducting them) and MSD's to get my payments down into the $600's? Thoughts?

I know virtually nothing about leasing, as I think leasing is unwise in the vast majority of cases; however, I am quite knowledgeable about Finance. My assumption was that if you gave them money up front, it would not be a prepayment of payments, but a reduction in the principle on which the lease payments were calculated. So that's not the case?

What do you guys think of these numbers? I just put a $500 deposit on it, but if there's a lot of room to wiggle, let me know and I'll make sure to get the deal right.

MSRP = $57,525

$3,000 Out of Pocket + 187.50 Massachusetts 6.25% Tax
1st Month Payment & Deposit = $1,200
Acquisition fee = $925 + 57.81 Massachusetts 6.25% Tax
New plates/registration/sticker/doc fee = $445
Total upfront cost = $5,815.31

10,000 Miles per year

$34,515 Residual


Lease payment = $565 + Massachusetts 6.25% tax = $600 per month total

What do you think? If there's any wiggle room? Invoice is $52,900 or so.

I pick up the car either Monday or Tuesday.

Thanks everyone
Johnny

At the risk of being repetitive, why are you putting $3k down? Is that a cap cost reduction or is it a combo of other up front costs? If it's a cap cost reduction, it is my opinion that you're wasting your money because all you're doing is artificially lowering your monthly by about $90/month and paying it up front.

The $3k was in fact to lower the payment. I now see what you all mean with putting it in the bank and let it pay itself.

Other than that, how do the numbers look? Just want to make sure I'm not leaving money on the table that I can recoup.

Thanks again,
Johnny

Treat a lease just like a purchase. You need to get the selling price of the vehicle and the interest rate (money factor). That will tell most of the story. Shopping payment amounts is dangerous.

If this lease is through BMWFS, the are hitting you hard on the acquisition fee (marking it up) -- $725 is the base. Like the previous poster, I am not a big fan of putting that much down on a lease. Did you look at doing multiple security deposits instead?