Lease End - Decided to Purchase my i3Rex

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TheJMan

New member
Joined
Jun 7, 2018
Messages
3
Well, for better or worse, I pulled the trigger on buying my 2015 rex. I was in a 30 month lease, and I was able to work a purchase price of $23,500 (tax included) which included 5 year CPO and 4 new tires as a result, as well as .9% financing for 60 months. My car is loaded with an original sticker price of $54,000 and it has 18,000 miles. I think the deal was decent.

The CPO warranty will take me two years out from today. I was also considering leasing a new 330e, but doing the math, if my rex only lasts me 3 more years I will still come out ahead vs leasing the 330e. I am hopeful that the car will have minimal problems during the next 3 years, and if it does have problems I'll keep my fingers crossed that they happen under warranty!

If the car is still worth $7K-$8K three years from now I'll be happy. While I like the car, I don't love it, and really wish the ride quality and noise level were better. One of the main factors for me in wanting to keep it is that the car is grandfatehred into our HOV exemption where I live. Had I given the car up, I would likely never qualify for the exemption again even if buying a new i3 or PHEV. The toll savings virtually cover the entire depreciation expense on the car.

My economics look like this:
MSRP: $54,000

Down Payment on Lease: $1,680 (inclusive of sales tax and acquisition fee) +
30 Monthly Payments: $7,470 +
Lease End Buyout: $23,500 including sales tax =
Total: $32,650 which includes a free set of tires and 1 year extra warranty on the CPO

Still not a cheap car, but not a bad deal if I can get three more years out of it. I'll share my experiecnes on this forum as the car ages!
 
Congrats!
Can you elaborate a little more.
Did you buy the car from BMW Financial Service or did you return the car to BMW FS and then they sold it to dealer, and you purchased it from dealer ?
In the past , i heard, BMW FS does not negotiate on price, so, returning to dealer and buying from them at discount is the option for discount

In CA the HOV car pool will expire, so that is definitely a big negative for not purchasing , unless its discounted more heavily. I think BMW will see lot more returns now, in CA , as HOV expires in Jan 2019.

On a side note , i have both a 2016 and 2017. The 2017 ride quality is lot more acceptable than the 2016 , which i do not enjoy driving as much now due to the harsher ride. I little over-inflate . i think they did some changes and the added weight of new battery in 2016 probably helps too.
So mine goes back , unless jaw dropping discount . My residual value on paper is 35K which is a Joke.
 
I purchased from a dealer vs directly with BMWFS. I told my dealer that I wanted to keep the car but at a market price, and they said "give us 10 minutes to call BMWFS." They came back with a letter from BMWFS showing my residual and a discount to the residual. My residual was $31,860 and the offer price was $19,650. I then asked the dealer for the cost to add CPO and/or extended warranty. For the CPO they charged me $1,577 extra which included 4 new tires, the extra 1 year of warranty, and other CPO benefits such as .9% financing, 1 year of EVGO charging free, etc. The dealer gave me a loaner car for two days while they worked on the CPO. I am going back tonight to finalize the paperwork and pickup my i3.

I also asked another dealer to do the same thing (Sonic owned) and they had no interest in doing it. They said they would take the car back off lease and ship it back to BMW.
 
EVMan. Really interested in your comment regarding the better ride in your 2017. I traded my 2014 i3 for a 330e after 3 years because of my wife's constant complaints regarding the rough ride. Can you elaborate? I'm considering getting an off-lease 2017 when my 330e lease tolls in 2020.
 
Thejman. Thanks for your description of the method you used to get around the contract "residual". Until lately, BMW was subsidizing leases with unrealistic residual values and it was a very bad deal to buy at the end of one of these leases. That's largely stopped, now; except for the i3. There are four BMW dealers (2 Sonic) in Houston, so I'll look into this at lease end. Might even lease an i3S with the idea of repeating your experience.
 
ted99 said:
EVMan. Really interested in your comment regarding the better ride in your 2017. I traded my 2014 i3 for a 330e after 3 years because of my wife's constant complaints regarding the rough ride. Can you elaborate? I'm considering getting an off-lease 2017 when my 330e lease tolls in 2020.

I can only share my experience that my 2016 with 4 psi over inflation drives rather harsh and stiff if the road is not perfect. Even for very small imperfections on road, they are passed through , specially side to side bouncing roll. As per forum guidance , i over inflate , hoping to increase my tire life. The tires at 15 k are near the end of life.

The 2017 is obviously all new, but just feels improved. at times i feel the padding on seats is little softer , or the seats are just new .
the suspension does seam softer , less harsh. Also the car is heavier with new battery. I think i over inflated by 3 or 4 psi this new one also

May be its all the factors, but they all add up measurably. You know the condition of roads these days.
 
EvMan Your description of your 2016 ride exactly mirrors that of my 2014. Wife and I were at BMW dealer recently and sat in a showroom 2017 i3. Her totally unsolicited remark was that the car felt completely different, just sitting, to our 2014. I discounted that as her experience with our 2014 was too long ago. Reading your comments, I recant and accept that she was right. If my dealer ever gets an i3S to drive, I'm looking forward to it on Richmond Ave--where the potholes have potholes and heaves.
 
ted99 said:
EvMan Your description of your 2016 ride exactly mirrors that of my 2014. Wife and I were at BMW dealer recently and sat in a showroom 2017 i3. Her totally unsolicited remark was that the car felt completely different, just sitting, to our 2014. I discounted that as her experience with our 2014 was too long ago. Reading your comments, I recant and accept that she was right. If my dealer ever gets an i3S to drive, I'm looking forward to it on Richmond Ave--where the potholes have potholes and heaves.

Some times they are right.
My Wife couldn't care less about EVs,never gave them any thought, but she is a big fan of Rex.
As she puts it. The time to top of Rex is less than 5 minutes vs the' life is complicated;.....
And if you think about it , its spot on.
But she is a fan of charging it at home. No gas trips

I was talking about 2017 and not the 2018 pig with new lipstick. hopefully it may have more modifications. If Elon comes to know , there were no new improvements , he may k.ll the Product Manger of the i3. Seriously, he wants improvement every week.

I observed today. I think the seats are same , but the suspension is definitely softer. With increased weight of battery , i guess they were forced to make some changes , if not for the occupants comfort.
 
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