Do most 1er car people lease or purchase?

[thecatyacked]

Are most people who have these new cars buying or leasing? It seems like a no brainer to lease and get a new one after the lease (and warranty) expires. Then you have no worries about costly repairs when you are paying. But something never goes away. The lease payment. After painstakingly selecting options and color for your car are there any thoughts about paying for and keeping these fine cars? Just curious............. party on!

[M3_Dust]

~80% of all new BMW's are leased in teh USA

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by thecatyacked

Are most people who have these new cars buying or leasing? It seems like a no brainer to lease and get a new one after the lease (and warranty) expires. Then you have no worries about costly repairs when you are paying. But something never goes away. The lease payment. After painstakingly selecting options and color for your car are there any thoughts about paying for and keeping these fine cars? Just curious............. party on!

Have you seen the 1 series lease rates?

[silverbullet135i]

Lease Then Buy FTW!

[Troyn]

Purchased mine.

[lib]

Originally Posted by M3_Dust

~80% of all new BMW's are leased in teh USA

May not be true with the 1's this year. You'd have to be crazy to take the BMWNA lease rates & residuals this year.

Some may do a 3rd party lease but few people know that's an option.

[romka7]

I went through this before I leased mine. Here are cons and pros I came up with.

Buying Pros
- Proud ownership
- Can do some serious MODS
- Payed off in 5 years (I never keep mine for more than 3)
Cons
- Still more expensive monthly payments
- Headache of selling or getting riped off on a trade-in
- Warranty expires after 4 years
- Costly maintenance not to mention repair esp on 135i.

Leasing Pros
- Lower monthly payments(even with higher interest rates)
- Just buy gas and tires - neither is cheap
- New car guaranteed in 3 years
- Don't care about the oil service being done at 15k instead of 7k
- Your next BMW lease at a small discount
Cons:
- Just doesn't fees as good as owning one
- Rate on the 1 series is not great
- Hassle of turning the car in and passing inspection
- Only doing the "undetectable mods"

So, I decided to lease... my payment is $512 inc tax with 5k down on the $38,170 car

[TagMan]

At the price tier of the 1-Series, I would expect they are more likely to be purchased than leased. Certainly, they will have the highest purchase ratio in the entire BMW line-up anyway. The higher the price bracket of vehicles, then the higher the number of leases. It's largely an affordability issue with regards to the payment. And... BMWs are overall expensive vehicles... thus the very high number of leases.

Overall, in the USA, the vast majority of vehicles in general are purchased as opposed to leased. Luxury cars tend to buck this statistic, obviously due to their high price.

[ChrisK]

I bought mine since I want to mod it. :roundel:

[warmtoes]

Lease here. I don't want to own it. The lease rate wasn't great but the residual (59%) for 36 months was pretty good.

[Jewpac]

Leasing makes no sense unless you own your own business and can write off your miles. Other wise you might as well just start throwing money away.

[essexcounty]

Bought mine because I plan on keeping it more than 2-3 yrs.

[E82tt6]

Paid cash.

[TagMan]

Originally Posted by Jewpac

Leasing makes no sense unless you own your own business and can write off your miles. Other wise you might as well just start throwing money away.

Good point. Or if you use the vehicle for business, as do real estate agents, for example, and others as well.

BTW, I never lease.

But, that said, here's the rub... The payment is simply too high for many high-end luxury car acquirers to actually purchase. Therefore, they lease. Sales in that segment would collapse if it weren't for lease programs. Also, there is the down payment consideration. Much less on a lease as well.

Lastly, the home equity loans have dried up considerably due to the "housing crisis" in many areas. That will also remove cash from the table... thus making a lease the only way to acquire a vehicle for even more folks.

So... while it is true that leasing isn't a financial "winner" from an accounting standpoint (unless there is a write-off), it still offers many folks a mechanism to aquire a new vehicle.

[JTdrivin1]

Originally Posted by Jewpac

Leasing makes no sense unless you own your own business and can write off your miles. Other wise you might as well just start throwing money away.

i've run the numbers, and it really doesn't make sense to buy if you are going to trade it in/sell it after a couple of years.

i don't want to mod it, and get tired of my cars in 2-3 years, so the 2 year lease for the 1 was perfect for me.

[ManMachine]

It all comes down to whether you want to keep the car for 5 or more years. If you prefer to drive a new car every 2-3 years, lease. If not, buy.

Financially, buy a car and keep for 10 years is a very sound way. Buy a 2-3 yr old car is even better. However unless the previous owner does the extra oil change etc. more than the minimal BMW maintenance schedule, I wouldn't touch such vehicles if I want to keep for the long term.

The pride of ownership is also great.

[romka7]

Originally Posted by ManMachine

However unless the previous owner does the extra oil change etc. more than the minimal BMW maintenance schedule, I wouldn't touch such vehicles if I want to keep for the long term.
.

Its funny that you say that, since I am leasing I will not pay for the extra oil changes or any "extra" maintenance. When I return my car it will probably become a CPO, feel sort of bad for that person.

[lib]

There are definitely a few cases where leasing makes sense. Besides the reasons listed here some people also would like to hold onto the initial down payment and have slightly lower monthly payments when saving for their first home. Leasing isn't always a bad thing.

That being said I still agree with something I heard several years ago:
"If you can't afford to buy the car you can't afford to lease it. Get something cheaper".

[60Driver]

Well, let's see. I owned my '96 Contour 'Sport' for more than 10 years. Cut me slack, I had just got a divorce and didn't have a lot of disposable income. The current wifes Explorer is going on 5 years old with no intention of selling or trading in. I think I'll keep this bad boy and maybe give it to my son in 14 years when he graduates from college. If he's been good.

I understand the deal with leasing, it's just not for me. I do not want a perpetual car payment. A seemingly never ending mortgage payment is bad enough.

[Jewpac]

Originally Posted by TagMan

Good point. Or if you use the vehicle for business, as do real estate agents, for example, and others as well.

BTW, I never lease.

But, that said, here's the rub... The payment is simply too high for many high-end luxury car acquirers to actually purchase. Therefore, they lease. Sales in that segment would collapse if it weren't for lease programs. Also, there is the down payment consideration. Much less on a lease as well.

Lastly, the home equity loans have dried up considerably due to the "housing crisis" in many areas. That will also remove cash from the table... thus making a lease the only way to acquire a vehicle for even more folks.

So... while it is true that leasing isn't a financial "winner" from an accounting standpoint (unless there is a write-off), it still offers many folks a mechanism to aquire a new vehicle.

Unless you can write off a portion of the payment it doesnt make sense to lease. I know its a way for people to drive cars they can't afford but it is essentially throwing $25K down the toilet.

[ansun]

Lease it...great residual. I had a 77%.

Drive it hard, Grind the gears, Drive it to the ground.

Then give it back after 2 years and step into a brand new car.

I love it.

(I take care of my cars and love them. I do not purposely try to damage them. But having it as a lease kind of lets you bring your guard down just a little more.)

[TagMan]

Originally Posted by Jewpac

Unless you can write off a portion of the payment it doesnt make sense to lease. I know its a way for people to drive cars they can't afford but it is essentially throwing $25K down the toilet.

Can't afford? Not exactly.
What you mean is can't afford to purchase. The lease is a mechanism to make expensive cars affordable to those that otherwise couldn't afford to purchase them. (In addition to a good mechanism for those that can write-off the vehicle's use.)

Again, I don't lease, and we both agree that there is a financial "loss" in leasing, but the cash flow makes it work for MANY folks that otherwise could not acquire a high-end vehicle. Without leasing, the high-end market would seriously suffer... and we wouldn't want that to happen to BMW or others.