Got my 2014 Rex for $9990 but thinking about returning.. help

I feel weird about the purchase. I came from a paid off nissan leaf to a financed bmw. I feel I got a great deal after trading my leaf in. Wife is super upset that I got a rear wheel drive because we live in Colorado and she thinks I'll get in a accident. I have 48 hours to return with w restocking fee if it doesn't work out..am I over thinking the snow driving danger. I love the car but just feels strange to have a car payment even though low.

So that was $9999 on top of trading in the Leaf?

Dealing with female thinking is a problem us males have been spectacularly bad about. So I would point to any pickup truck (plenty in Colorado) and without any emotional content ask, "Is that another rear-wheel drive?"

Score extra points by pointing to a Corvette with the same question.

Has she seen the turn radius?

Bob Wilson

Please keep money aside for winter tires of 19" wheels ( must for snow)
since there is no regen setting, Your wife wheel need to learn how to coast on ice patches.
lets see what others say

I think, It really is upto the driver , if they are ok with this car or not.

It's 9990 after trade in. Yea it's a pretty cool car

Buy winter tires, ideally, a full set of wheels and tires. Check with the dealer, when I bought mine, they were cheaper than TireRack once you added in the TPMS and shipping. FWIW, when I got mine, they were all mounted the same way (the tires are directional), so the dealer had to swap two of them around so I had a proper set. Somebody screwed up and someone else probably got four for the left side while I had four for the right.

Until you get used to it, drive more cautiously when the roads are funky. I've been through a few winters here, the worst one, we had over 100" of snow. The car handled it well. It might not have with the all-season tires, and certainly wouldn't with the summer, performance tires (which is what you'll get if it has the 20" wheels).

I grew up in a snowbelt near Lake Ontario with rear-wheel drive vehicles...this was before front-wheel drive became much more common...the car drives a bit differently, but it's all doable with some experience. The right tires really help. At this time of the year, finding winter tires may be nearly impossible. There are two winter tires available in the right size for the i3: the OEM Bridgestones and the R2 from Nokian. OF the two, I think the NOkian is more capable in the winter, and if I still have my i3 when the OEM ones wear out, I'll buy some of those to compare. BMW only sells the OEM Bridgestones in a package. They might be able to get the Nokians, but the deal won't be as good.

The Leaf is a slug compared to the i3...and, you won't have to worry about things rusting out, either.

bwilson4web said:

So I would point to any pickup truck (plenty in Colorado) and without any emotional content ask, "Is that another rear-wheel drive?"

Score extra points by pointing to a Corvette with the same question.

Click to expand...

An i3 should handle much better than these rear wheel drive vehicles because they typically have much less than 50% of their weight over their driving wheels unlike an i3. I drove a VW bus and mid-engine Porsche, both with studded snow tires, in Vail winters for 10 years without any problems because they, like an i3, have much of their weight over their driving wheels.

A bit beyond your 48 hours return window, but don;t forget about the skinny tires. A great benefit in snow driving!

We don't drive our 2015 i3 on snow/ice. Regenerative braking, rear wheel drive and OEM all season tires are a dangerous combination in our experience. We have an all wheel drive Honda CRV with winter tires that is excellent in slippery conditions. So that is what we use. Love the i3 9 months of the year in Canada.