Dealing with BMW/Buyback

After almost 2 of the 3 year lease my 15 i3 has seen the shop on a regular basis for almost entire time we've had it. About 45 days in we were left stranded on a very cold day in Denver, CO. The REX didn't kick in and there wasn't any place to charge. From that point forward we've had her in service for all kinds of reasons. All of this adds up to around 65 days of verified service per BMW Offical count. Last year we tried a buyback. Unfortunately we weren't successful. Right after that we relized that the amount of service days was reduced to less than 30. To this day we can't get BMW to honor the lost or intentional removed days to our total days in service.

So now here we are again at a crossroads with this car. Do we continue making our lease payments for the last 14 months of the lease, or, do we try to get BMW to do the right thing and just buy back the problem child of a car? I can say this with confidence. I would never ever buy another BMW under any set of circumstances after this very expensive nightmare we've experienced with the i3 over the last 23 months. I can't believe BMW doesn't just do the right thing in this situation. There is a very good reason why there's a lawsuit on the i3 started in 2016. The car should never have been sold to the public until BMW worked out the big problems first. The price of this car was $53,000 in 2015. I think often on what wonderful cars I could have had for that amount of money. BMW North America should be paying us for this car. Nobody that pay over $50k for a car should see the service department for over 60 days in less than 2 years. When buying from BMW I expected more respect. If I wanted to be treated like this I would have bought a Ford. You expect more from BMW. I shouldn't have to kill myself with all the time it takes to receive fair treatment. Two choices. I can hand the car back to the dealership. Or, just suck up the last 14 lease payments to preserve my credit. I'm sure on the final walk around I'll get charged for wear and tear, excess mileage, etc. Insult to injury....

Most states have a lemon law whereby if you car stays in the shop for X days the manufacturer is obligated to buy it back. Check you state's laws for the exact wording because it varies for state to state.
California has one of the most consumer favorable lemon laws but I don't know where you are located.

We're in AZ, but we bought the car in CO. So, I'm not sure what state law to look at. Updated as of 7/10/17. Now the i3 has another 3 weeks in the shop. The dealership can't seem to figure out what's wrong and how to fix it. All we know is there is a short somewhere near the battery. This short makes the siren go of alter you lock the car . Just another episode in this i3 problem child life. What's sad is if BMW does a buyback they'll sell this car to another poor sole that will be kept in the dark about all the problems it's had. BMW rather do a buyback then take it as a return under the lemon law. Then they can resell it. How can a $53,000 car and a BMW have so many problems? The i3 is making BMW look really bad. I expected a refined car for that amount of money.

I bought my car in GA but I live in SC. When I bought it, the sales rep explained that the car would fall under GA lemon laws if it came to it. So, based on that, I would say you come under CO laws.

You say you have 65 days of verified shop service. What kind of verification do you have ? If you have the original service sheets from the dealer, they contain the "in" and "out" dates. Also, now, since you now have another 3 weeks in the shop it seems like the dealer would agree it's been in the shop more than 30 days.

I don't know CO laws but my guess is you have a good case for a lemon law buyback. BMW could then sell the car but would have to disclose that it was a lemon law buyback and what the problem was. If you're not a member of the BMW Car Club of America, I suggest you join. They have a free ombudsman to help with such cases. Or you could try one more time to work something out with your dealer. Talk to the owner, not the service guys. Or you could call a lawyer.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Time to talk to a CO lawyer.