To lease or buy...

I was searching for the perfect used i3 for a little over a week. I found one that was a great deal fully loaded 2017 with 11k miles. I went to schedule the test drive and found that it was sold already. But the salesmen said they could get me into a 2019 lease for $279 which would be way under the $390 i was looking at and under the $300 I'm at now.

I figure if his starting figure for a fully loaded 19 was $279, I could negotiate down to maybe under 250. What do you think is a good deal for the lease? I've owned over 14 cars but have never leased before. I'm not a fan of the restrictions... But 30 months at that price for THAT car kind of has me drooling. I've read people getting leases from 50-100 dollars but those are extreme cases I feel like.

You need some more details on the lease. Is there a down payment required? Is there an acquisition fee? First-months payment due when you sign? Most BMW leases have all three.

So to 'start' the lease, you could be out-of-pocket upwards of $4,000 in fees before you even drive the car off the lot, plus the monthly. At the end of 30 months, you will have spent around $12,000 and change (which works out to around $400 a month, by the way), and you will be on-foot.

Buy a three-year-old lease-return, for $17K - $18K, and at the end of the note, at least you still have a car.

Never ever have seen any $50/$100 leases - anyone posting they got one is pulling your leg, or they are one of the 'low-in' leases, where the first couple of months payments are low, then they balloon up to a higher payment - the end-total in payments at the end of the lease is still the same.

Hi Adam78,

Short money leases are real. The link below is the ad for the 2017 i3 REX that we presently lease. No money down, $139/month, $999 acquisition fee.

Shop for deals using the websites of your local dealers and visit when they are hungry for foot traffic (like in mid-January here in the Northeast).

Good hunting!


https://imgur.com/3gXw5He

Leasing and buying are completely different. Don't caught considering a lease just b/c a dealer is offering it. Especially if it doesn't meet your other criteria and projections for the future of both you, your family and the car. I won't try to give you a whole education on leasing, i'm sure you know the details. You may be paying less for a lease, but remember you need to down money for the privilege to rent this long term. You should calculate the down payment spread over the course of the lease to find your true monthly payment.

$3,000 down + $250 per month for 36 months =
3,000/36 = 83.33. $250 + 83.33 = $333.33 actual monthly cost.