Lease Take Over Questions

[level]

Hi everyone. I've seen a few lease take over threads in the for sale section. Can anyone share their experience with this? Do you work directly with the seller or through BMW? Do you take possession of the car after agreeing to assume the lease? Do you have any guarantees about pocking up the car if buying the car out of state? What about taxes in your home state if purchasing an out of state car?

Any thoughts or experiences would be helpful. I'm currently looking for any way to get into a slightly used 135.

Thanks.

[EINSER M]

assuming the lease is with BMW FS you will ahve to get approved with them first. once the paperwork gets started, the seller will be informed when it is ok to release the car to you, and the lease has been transfered in your name. The process takes about 30 days if you send back the docs with notary and signatures on time. Everything hinges pretty much on BMW FS so learn that number by heart you will be calling them a lot ha ha

if the car is out of state then you have to make arraangements to go get it and i'll assume lease tax is due to the state where your car will be registered,

good luck with the process and good luck with the 135

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by level

Hi everyone. I've seen a few lease take over threads in the for sale section. Can anyone share their experience with this? Do you work directly with the seller or through BMW? Do you take possession of the car after agreeing to assume the lease? Do you have any guarantees about pocking up the car if buying the car out of state? What about taxes in your home state if purchasing an out of state car?

Any thoughts or experiences would be helpful. I'm currently looking for any way to get into a slightly used 135.

Thanks.

I've never done a lease takeover.
I will say it's something I don't think I would do.
I do lease though. My last 3 cars have been leases, 325i, A4, and my current 135i.

If you're looking for a used 135i, there should be some good deals in the Chicago area. Plus, with low interest financing for used, along with most of the depreciation gone, a CPO might be just what you're looking for.
Right now BMW has a 2 payment program going on, if you buy through BMWFS. Make your best deal, secure a loan through BMWFS and they will make the first 2 payments. It's just like a discount, except you pay tax on the whole purchase price.

The big Chicago BMW dealers usually have a good selection on used BMW's and their prices are pretty good, as there a lot of used BMW's in the area. But, check the internet sites to look up what the going prices should be, and remember CPO does cost a bit more. But, if you negotiate a better price on a CPO then even better.

Buying private or non BMW store may or may not get you a better price, yet also consider the interest on the loan. BMW has some low used car rates. If you go with a bank, make sure to compare payments. A lower price may seem good, but if the loan rate is a good bit higher, your payments may not be any lower. Some times you can go for a higher priced car if the interest is lower your payments may come very close.

I especially would never buy or re-lease a car I've never driven or seen.
Take that advice seriously. Don't buy a used car without seeing AND driving it.

Also, consider that in Illinois you pay tax on the FULL value of the car and that gets rolled into your lease.
In my state, Indiana, we are only taxed on the monthly payment of the lease, which makes a good difference.
I'm not sure how a lease takeover would work for an out of state purchase, but I'm sure Illinois will want it's tax money.
Check that out completely before buying/leasing.

[pujo31]

I just took over a lease on an out of state car a couple weeks ago- I have nothing bad to say about the process and it took far less than the time than stated in the first response.

Before you decide to pull the trigger on something like this, make sure you do your due diligence. Check service records, pull the car's Carfax as well as get a PPI (Pre-Purchase Inspection) performed by a reputable shop/dealership,etc... Do no commit without making sure the vehicle is in the shape advertised and drives without any issues. If the seller does not agree to a PPI, I would stay away as it could mean that they are trying hide something that would not be on a Carfax or other report.

After you commit, the seller initiates the transaction with BMW Financial Services. They will email you with the request for a credit approval- in my case, it occurred same day. There is a $500 fee associated with the transfer process- you enter your payment info here but do not get charged until it goes through, except for a $100 deposit if you decide to bail on the transfer once it is set in motion.

Once this takes place, they will email you documents to fill with your insurance information and other general papers with your info/drivers license/etc. You will print these out and send them- overnighting them is the best option. Papers are sent to both the transferor and transferee with relevant info depending which side you are on. After approval, there is only one more set of documents which will be second day aired to you. With these documents, the transferee can register the car in your name, at which point the transferor will be obligated to release the car to you.

It is up to you how you want to get the car to your location. In my case, the car was in South Carolina and I am in Maryland so I had it shipped- I used uship.com to get a pretty good deal on the shipment. The process takes far less than 30 days as EINSER M states above. There may be other fees associated, as stated above, such as titling and registration- Maryland got me pretty good with these fees but it was well worth it.

I can only say that it is important to be in constant contact with the seller- they are not obligated to do anything besides fill out the paperwork/release the car. I was in contact via email with my seller throughout the process, made sure that the PPI came up clear, set up shipping in a timely manner so that there wasn't a lag between when the paperwork clears and when the car actually shipped. Overall the process took 2 weeks (shipper drove the car up the day after pickup, which you usually will not get if you go with a larger shipping co. I had an independent shipper with great feedback bring my car up).

One other thing you may want to consider are the incentives provided by the transferor for you to take over this car. They are in a situation where they are looking to get rid of a car that they may be bored of/unhappy with (not necessarily for mechanical issues/problems), or simply want to try something new so you are doing them a favor for assuming their lease. In many cases, the transferor will offer a cash incentive put towards the lease payments so that you don't have payments for a couple months or cash to you to decide how to use it. I received my car a couple weeks ago and don't have to make a payment until August which definitely sweetened the deal, so keep that in mind when you decide on the right car.

Hope that helps

[BimmerEnthusiast99]

+1 Everything RPM90 said.

If you're going to lease, lease new (there are rare exceptions that work out well, I'm sure); but generally, you can get much better deals financing a pre-owned. Especially right now through BMWFS.