BMW i3 Lease in San Francisco Bay Area

[MCbayarea]

Folks,

What is good ongoing lease deal in Bay Area ?

36 Month/10-12K/some downpayment etc. I am relatively new to market and doing research for good deal in SF Bay Area .

 

[Chrisn]

I ordered a REX for MSRP, but with the 7% residual bump. Took delivery two weeks ago. I felt OK about that.

 

[MCbayarea]

Thanks.

How does 7 % residual works ?

 

[Chrisn]

On the 7%, the dealer positioned as a special program for which he had limited slots. It just increases the residual by 7%, which works out to a 12-13% reduction in the depreciation amortized over life of lease, so a nice "discount." Just ask dealer about it. Others have posted that the promotion has been extended into September. Perhaps a way to clear out 2014 my cars? I'm not sure.

 

[MCbayarea]

ok. Thanks

Do you recommend a dealer in Bay Area

 

[tiburonh]

Folks,

What is good ongoing lease deal in Bay Area ?

36 Month/10-12K/some downpayment etc. I am relatively new to market and doing research for good deal in SF Bay Area .

Hi MC-

Independent of where you buy, you may well find the "owners choice" plan to be better in terms of lower total net cost over the term compared to a lease. This assumes your federal tax obligations will be big enough for you to take advantage of the full $7,500 federal tax credit.

In any event, whether you go lease or owner's choice, under current market conditions in the Bay area (depending on the options you may want and on the dealer) you should be able to get at least $1,000 of the MSRP and quite possibly $2,500 or more.

As for the "residual bump", this is a program that BMW started in early August and has now extended through September in which the residual values that monthly lease and owner's choice payments are calculated on are "bumped" up by 7 percentage points from what they were earlier in the year -- which of course results in a significant decrease in your monthly payments, but at the same time requires you to make a significantly higher "pay off" at the end of the term if you wanted then to keep your car. Your dealer should be able to show you the details on this -- just holler if they are resistant.

Also, your dealer should be telling you that BMW NA's finance program will also give you a small but nonetheless helpful discount off their standard OC purchase APR (not sure what the standard is now, but in August when I got mine it was 2.99%) and off their standard lease money factor (again, not sure what that standard is now, but in August it was .00125) if you do a downpayment of more than 15%.
And if you opt to lease you can reduce the money factor by doing "multiple" security deposits. Again, ask your CA at your dealer to run the numbers on the various scenarios on all this to help you make a decision.

As for best Bay Area dealer -- I am personally very partial to Sonnen (where I bought my i3 and where i have bought and/or had serviced other BMW's through the years). Stevens Creek probably has the biggest i3 inventory and thus the best prices. I understand Weatherford in Berkeley also has many i3's sitting on their lot and could be willing to deal. BMW SF and East Bay in Pleasanton have both always felt very slimy to me and I personally would not shop again at either one. I don't have much direct experience with the others in the Bay Area dealers group so can't comment on them.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Chrisn]

Great info, TiburonH.

I bought at BMW Concord, and also like Weatherford (same ownership, I think). I ordered a custom car when discounts were scarce, but agree that the market ought to be softening (especially on 2014 MY cars).

While it is true that you get the full $7500 Fed tax rebate (versus like $4250 to the leasing company) when you "buy" versus lease, note that with a 36 month lease you still get the same CA $2500 cash back and you ONLY PAY SALES TAX ON THE CAP REDUCTION which means, if my quick math was right, you kinda get to the same place (savings on sales tax offsets lower Fed Tax credit embedded in the lease). Frankly, the 7% residual bump should push you MORE toward a lease because the risk is on BMW that the car won't be worth the residual value at end of lease, meaning the "option" embedded in the lease has real value to me.

I also did the multiple deposit thing (good trick)--I'm sure I will forget about that money by the time the lease expires and will get a "surprise" check toward my next car. I love the i3 so far, but I'm sure there will be a new-new EV to tempt me in three years (perhaps the Tesla III or whatever they call it)....