Remarkable end-of-lease buyout offers from BMWFS

[websterize]

As 2017+ lease contracts near maturity dates, I'm reading reports of fantastic offers from BMWFS to lessees. For lessees 90 days out or less from the end of your contract, what kind of buyout incentives is BMWFS throwing at you?

An i3 lessee from Los Angeles reported on the Facebook user group that he received a buyout price of nearly $10,000 below the residual value for his heavily optioned, 2017 BEV. The selling price was a little more than $50K. The contracted residual value was almost $30K, and he's buying it from BMWFS for nearly $20K (Apparently, because his dealership isn't involved in the deal, the car will not have a Certified Pre-Owned warranty). He said he's taking them up on the offer.

The 24-month lease on my heavily option 2018 Sport matures in October, and the buyout price is still showing at the contracted residual price of $34,206 on the BMWFS site.

 

[Anonymous]

Definitely contact BMW NA Finance if you are approaching end of lease. In the past BMW had an easy time of disposing of lease returns to the secondary market through auctions. Big outfits like Carvana were getting most of their cars through these auctions. Now, with the glut of unsold cars on the market, no-one is buying at the auctions, so a perfect time to buy your leased vehicle at a big discount from BMW, when the alternative for BMW is to sit on a huge inventory of unsold used cars..

 

[symonray]

I can affirm this. Last weekend, I purchased from a BMW dealer an end of lease CPO fully loaded 2017 i3 Rex with 22,000 miles for under $20k. Also, BMWFS was offering very attractive financing rates up to 72 months.

 

[websterize]

I contacted BMWFS about the buyout price of my 2018 i3 S lease, which matures in October. A representative said that, currently, any lease-end purchase promotions are applied within the final four months of a lease.

 

[skeptic]

Prices are dropping like a rock. BMW doesn't want to get stuck with a bunch of cars they can't sell and are depreciating fast. I could have saved thousands if I'd only waited a month, and who knows how much more they will continue to drop.

 

[RoadJager]

When we checked with BMWFS about purchasing our I3 last week they quoted a $10k customer incentive to buy it. We checked 2 months ago when it came off lease and the residual was too much versus market value, so we decided to order and purchase, not lease a new I3s. We were given a July production slot. Then the pandemic hit. We revisited when we would potentially receive the I3s and it looked like Nov-Dec at best. That is when we saw postings on this forum. Now the 2017 buy-out is less than $20k. We have the paper work and will send in the money. Our car has 12,600 miles on it. We are happy that this worked out this way as 2-3 months ago it is the deal we were looking for. "WATTSON" will be ours next week.

Road Jager

 

[websterize]

When we checked with BMWFS about purchasing our I3 last week they quoted a $10k customer incentive to buy it. We checked 2 months ago when it came off lease and the residual was too much versus market value, so we decided to order and purchase, not lease a new I3s. We were given a July production slot. Then the pandemic hit. We revisited when we would potentially receive the I3s and it looked like Nov-Dec at best. That is when we saw postings on this forum. Now the 2017 buy-out is less than $20k. We have the paper work and will send in the money. Our car has 12,600 miles on it. We are happy that this worked out this way as 2-3 months ago it is the deal we were looking for. "WATTSON" will be ours next week.

Road Jager

Outstanding. Four months from lease maturity occurs in early June for me. If the $10,000 buyout incentive is still in effect then, I’ll likely buy it as well.

 

[websterize]

Four months from lease maturity and the $10,000 purchase discount appeared today on the payoff information section of the BMWFS site. Remarkable!

 

[EVphile]

Hello! Sorry to revive an old thread, first time poster!

The lease for my 2018 BMW i3 is up in September. Just wanted to see if anyone is getting buyout offers? My payoff info on the website still shows $27k. Considering it's less than a couple months before my lease ends and used car sales are hot right now, I'm guessing I won't get an offer? Would love to buy the car, anyone else having good luck getting a lower buyout price?

Thanks

 

[Arm]

I have 2019 i3s with a 2 year lease. It was a loaner car with 3000 miles on it already when I leased it. I called BMWFS...they laughed at my face when I asked if they would do a buyout incentive. Their response was "we don't negotiate on such things." Goodbye BMW.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, the only time BMW was willing to negotiate on a lease buyout was when no-one was buying used cars during the worst of Covid. Dealer's used car lots were full and they wouldn't take them, and the normal lease disposal route of auction companies was the same - and BMW was stuck with paying for storage on lease returns they couldn't sell. Now that the market is back, and in fact there is higher than normal demand for used cars because of the chip shortage, there is no reason for BMW to offer a discount on a lease buyout when they can easily sell the lease-return car to a dealer or at auction.

 

[Arm]

Yeah, the only time BMW was willing to negotiate on a lease buyout was when no-one was buying used cars during the worst of Covid. Dealer's used car lots were full and they wouldn't take them, and the normal lease disposal route of auction companies was the same - and BMW was stuck with paying for storage on lease returns they couldn't sell. Now that the market is back, and in fact there is higher than normal demand for used cars because of the chip shortage, there is no reason for BMW to offer a discount on a lease buyout when they can easily sell the lease-return car to a dealer or at auction.

Well they lost a customer of 7 years over a few thousand dollars. That's not the way to treat long term customers. If that's the game they play, then there's no reason to buy or lease another BMW.