[CatOrtega3881]

Ok, so my '08 335 coupe is set to come in before the end of the month! The only problem is I'm not sure what to do with leasing, financing, downpayments, MSDs, etc.

I need some advice, what would you guys/girls do in my situation. Also, rough estimates on monthly payments would be appreciated.

the details:

negotiated price: $49,150

trade in factor: I owe $6,000 on my car now, and I think I can get $16,000 for it from dealer. I'm not willing to hold onto it and sell it privately as this has not worked out for the past 2 months. It has to go when my new car arrives. This leaves me with $10,000 + $1,000 (deposit) = $11,000 total to go towards the car.

If I lease, I'm looking for 36 month, 15K miles.
If I finance, I'm looking for 60 month term.

What would you guys do? Lease using multiple MSDs to lower current MF from .00315 to .00266? Should i use the rest of the trade value as a downpayment to lower my monthly payment or not? What payments should I anticipate?

Or with that type of cash downpayment, should I just finance it?

If you need more details from me, just ask!

Thanks so much everyone...this board is great!

[EastCoast335i]

Is that price before taxes? Just curious because I'm sorta in the same situation but I plan to buy.

[CatOrtega3881]

Yeah, before taxes. That price only includes the handling and destination charge. It does not include any doc fees, taxes, bank fees, etc.

[COUPE-DADDY]

With that down payment I would just buy the darn thing, or see if the dealer would cut you a check for the extra cash. Thats too much money to put down on a lease imho. You drive off the lot, get hit and your out 10k.

[TYW]

What Dealer? I'm near Lawrenceville and about to order an 2008 335i.

DO NOT put $10K down on a lease.... as stated in the post above, your fucked if you total the car.

[vbb]

Leasing vs. Financing is always a question someone should ask themselves. There's a long thread on that someone on this board, and if you search you'll find it. But the short of it is that for someone that plans on keeping the car for 3 years or less, doesn't plan on doing extensive modifications to the car, and doesn't plan to have it paid off within that time period, leasing is usually the best option. I've never leased a car before... but after doing a lot of research on the subject, I've come to the conclusion that it makes the most sense for me, since I get a new car about every 3 years, don't drive more than about 12K/miles a year, and almost always sell or trade it in before I've paid anything off.

Now, assuming you go with a lease, I'm not sure if you want to put the full $11K down as cap cost reduction. Just like the poster above said, if you get into an accident where the car is totaled early in the lease period, then that money is going to be lost. I wouldn't feel comfortable with that. You'd be better off setting that money aside, and just making payments out of that stack month by month. Or even just put SOME of that money down to get your payments within a reasonable range, and then set the rest aside.

If you do want to finance the vehicle straight out (which is what I'd do if I planned on keeping the car for 5+ years), then I'd probably just roll the full $11K into reducing the amount that I was financing though. Still, if you end up financing around $40K, your payments are going to be around $800/month, if you figure around $100 per every $5000 financed, which is just a rough estimate of what it would cost to finance. Just as a very rough guess, if you lease with the total cost of the car being about $40K (assuming you decided to roll the $11K into the deal and including costs and whatnot) then your payments would be somewhere between maybe $550 and $600 for a 36/month 15K/year lease.