[saosinned]

I've been going over the possible options for when my car arrives, as I haven't yet decided to lease or purchase. My CA came up with some numbers for owners choice, though, that on paper looked better than leasing. I've tried some research but haven't found much regarding this, basically I guess it's pretty similar to a lease except that the car is mine instead of BMW's so if i choose to purchase at the end I don't have to pay taxes on the residual. It also takes away me having to pay an additional fee for registering a leased car in chicago apparently...?

Am I missing something here, why does owners choice seem too good to be true? A couple dealerships have tried to get me to do it so either it really is a deal or they get some kind of a benefit out of it that they're not telling me about.

[thegeneral101]

people lease for two reasons normally, to lower the monthly payment (cash flow game) or to get a new car ever 2-3 years. Although the payment is lower in a lease normally you still end up paying more because of the taxes. If you have the money, and want to mod (or keep it longer then 2-3 years) than by all means buy it because you can always sell it a few years down the road. Hope this helps

[thegeneral101]

nice color choice btw

[saosinned]

Originally Posted by thegeneral101

people lease for two reasons normally, to lower the monthly payment (cash flow game) or to get a new car ever 2-3 years. Although the payment is lower in a lease normally you still end up paying more because of the taxes. If you have the money, and want to mod (or keep it longer then 2-3 years) than by all means buy it because you can always sell it a few years down the road. Hope this helps

Thanks for the info. I was speaking more about the owner's choice lease, which is different than a standard lease but only available in certain states (illinois being one of them). The dealers have been pushing me towards it but they don't explain it in great detail. It's a type of lease where the title is in your name and if you decide to purchase at the end you don't have to pay additional taxes. However it also apparently has lower monthly rates due to the lease % fee for leasing in chicago. Still seems too good to be that simple.

Originally Posted by thegeneral101

nice color choice btw

Thanks! took me forever to finally decide on the exterior/interior/trim. Titanium silver with red interior doesn't seem too common so either i'll have something nice and semi-original or i've made a huge mistake and it looks like crap together. either way i'll still love the car

[thegeneral101]

yeah, you got me with the owners choice lease. I'm sure there is someone on here who can help. Try to PM "IrvRobinson" of BMW motorwerks I believe, hes in IL so he would know! good luck

[Enkur]

The owners choice program is only offered in 2 states, IL and TX. The reason is that both of those states charge the entire sales tax on the car instead of only on lease payments. The choice is offered to make leasing more attractive in those two states. In the case of TX if the leasee decides to keep the car then the new owner has to pay sales tax again on the residual value of the car. This is double taxation as you paid sales tax on the original car and again on residual. The owners choice option is really great for regular consumers.

The second advantage to OC is that you are not bound by any contractual agreements to complete the "lease" period. You own the car and hence can sell it at any time. OC is really a regular finance with a balloon payment.The balloon payment is an offer to purchase the vehicle by BMW if you keep a certain number of miles for a certain period of time.

Third advantage of OC in TX atleast is that say you decide to get into a new BMW at the end of say 3 years then you only pay sales tax on the difference of the price of the new vehicle and the residual of the old vehicle.

One last advantage of OC in TX is that you are not assessed property taxes on the vehicle. Even though the State does not charge you property tax on leased vehicles, certain cities in Texas have elected to charge property tax on leased vehicles. You get a bill from the leasing company to pay the taxes.
http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinf...uto/index.html

Now the downside to OC is if you are a business owner and have the opportunity to deduct your lease payments if you use your vehicle for business, you cant just deduct the OC payment but have to go through the regular depreciation of assets. So for business owners leasing makes sense in this regard.