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#6 of 8 Re: Buy a used BMW or lease a new one? [budugu] by bmlexus

May 11, 2008 (1:42 pm)

Replying to: budugu (Apr 25, 2008 11:56 am)

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• Mr_Shiftright (May 12, 2008 4:58 pm)

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#7 of 8 Re: Buy a used BMW or lease a new one? [bmlexus] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

May 12, 2008 (4:58 pm)

Replying to: bmlexus (May 11, 2008 1:42 pm)

I'm a big fan of buying a slightly used BMW still with warranty. I'd definitely avoid any high miler BMW (over say 80K) that's out of warranty because that's just about the time things will be needed as they say at the BMW dealer.
 
Leasing can be tempting but the waters are filled with sharks. There are so many hidden costs and duplicitous phrasing in leases that you MUST study, study, study until you know a) what every term means in the lease and b) what your actual, real world monthly costs are. So if you put money up front in a lease, you divide your months into that amount and add that monthly amount to your lease e.g. $2,400 up front on a 24 month lease $389 a month is really $489 a month. Don't focus on the monthly costs---focus on the ACTUAL price you are paying for the car and the INTEREST rates, after they are translated from Venusian to English.
 
So anyway---I'd let someone else take the "driveway hit" on a new car---that $3K--$5K you lose on a BMW the minute you take it home.