[bm328]

right probably wont buy the car because it wouldnt make sense be better off buying a new car at lease end ,apparently cars have taken a steep depreciation lately and theres no estimate on what it would be worth 3,4 years from now

[dhillont]

i just picked up my 328i last week:
jet black
black leatherette (for a lease and the fact that i don't care much for the diff between dakota (+1500extra) and fake, not an imp thing for me, personally i like cloth cause its easier)
sports package
ipod
heated seats

for 37k -1k (cap cost reduction from bmw) - 1.5k (money down cause bank asked for it - never bought a new car) = 34.5k = 398/mo 36mo's 12kmi a year. Would be around 450 if i didn't prepay my sales tax as i think its stupid to finance sales tax.

when leasing, best option is to put no money down. its like prepaying your rent, theres no point, what happens if the car gets totaled in week 1? you loose out, esp cause the car has depreciated. also 0 down leaves money in your pocket accruing interest for you, not them. the MF is hard to work as its set by BMW, but some dealers will artificially quote you higher, you can get the real rates by doing a google search. MF can be lowered by putting multple security deposits down, but like putting money down, its useless and the reductions are minimal in the long run. the amt of miles you put on the car or lease for is the 2nd most important as it calculates what the depreciation rate is, so make sure you know how much you tend to drive.

If you're ordering the car, i would fax out a letter to a bunch of dealers telling them what you're willing to pay. Most will quickly right up the deal for 500 over invoice because they're paying 97-98% of invoice (if not lower) and its just paper work for them at that point. You could however find a dealer w/your exact car or something really close and try and take it off the lot for him for invoice or in exchange for other BMW products (need a 300 golf bag? go for it).

At the end of the day, you need to know what you can pay and what you want to pay. Don't act flimsy w/the dealer, they're sales guys, they know the deal. Know what the deprecation and MF are so they can't screw you (again you can google this).

also, personally i think you need to look at the car and think of what you really need in it. do you need the premium package if you only car for leather? do you need comfort access cause your too lazy to deal w/a key thats pretty nifty anyway? do you need an overly expensive rear shade? these things add up in price.

[persian54]

its hard not to put any money down because they will almost always require: 1st months payment, DMV etc fees, state fees... all that...

but yeah, keep as much in your pocket and put it in a CD or savings and get interest on it

[Tim2189]

http://www.leaseguide.com/calc.htm