[robertoerc]

Hey guys, so that’s my first thread here and I’ll try to make a long story short for the first one.

So I moved to Canada about a year ago coming from Brazil, a place where a brand new M240i would cost you ~ 82 USD or 116 CND, minimum wage is around 264 USD or 375 CAD and APRs are monthly and not yearly, so yeah, I’d never be able to own one in my life.

I currently own a ’11 V6 Mustang with only 35k km over the cold Canadian soil and the car has been amazing for me, but I was looking for something updated and more fun so I started to check some newer V8 Stangs. The problem is that I went to Miami and was able to rent a C63 AMG and that reminded me why German cars are so amazing. That being said, my last car in Brazil was a Mini Cooper S and I was always a fan of BMW, specially the M division, of course, so a couple days ago I went for a test drive on a preowned M235i and a brand new M240i and, well, I’m sold.

So yes, I’m considering to spend all my remaining low-immigrant-income to lease this car and be able to drive one everyday, because as they say: “you can sleep in a car, but you cannot race your house”, right?

But here comes the question: what are my risks of leasing a car right now? And what about the Owners choice program? I’ve heard some bad things about it, but couldn’t really figure why owning the car while paying pretty much a lease would be that bad.

I honestly don’t care of having a base M240i right now, instead of paying pretty much the same thing to get a fully loaded M235i which would be 3 to 4 years old, not covered by warranty and services anymore. So I think that a brand new one would be a better choice over the preowned ones that I saw, but I would appreciate a second thought.

The last thing that I’d like to know is what are your guys opining about waiting to get the 2018 model which is supposed to be coming in the next few months? I’d probably have to order the model that I’m looking to purchase anyways, so wouldn’t it be a better decision to wait a couple more weeks to order the brand new one?

Tried to make it short, so I’m sorry if it wasn’t, but I had to get some stuff out of my chest, lol.

I appreciate any advice that you guys could give me here, and look forward to share with you the thrill of owning it in a couple months.

[keylime503]

If you're leasing then a 2018 is going to be much more expensive to lease for the first six months or so that it is out. If you're buying IMO it makes no sense to buy a 2017 at this juncture.

[robertoerc]

Originally Posted by keylime503

If you're leasing then a 2018 is going to be much more expensive to lease for the first six months or so that it is out. If you're buying IMO it makes no sense to buy a 2017 at this juncture.

So the lease is going to be more expensive in the first six months? Didn't know that!

[Mr Carrots]

when 2018's are out the dealers should offer some additional incentives on the 'old' 17s

[bimmerfile]

OP;
Sorry I can't answer any of your questions, but, for my future reference for our annual trip to Florida this coming winter, from which rental car company were you able to rent a C63 AMG on your "low-immigrant-income"?

[fullstack]

Originally Posted by robertoerc

So the lease is going to be more expensive in the first six months? Didn't know that!

I think what he meant was that leasing the new 2018 is going to be more expensive than leasing the 2017 at this point because they will offer better lease rates on the 2017 model.

[robertoerc]

Originally Posted by bimmerfile

OP;
Sorry I can't answer any of your questions, but, for my future reference for our annual trip to Florida this coming winter, from which rental car company were you able to rent a C63 AMG on your "low-immigrant-income"?

lol
I rented through Turo, there are some nice options in Florida.

[robertoerc]

Thanks for the answers guys, so it's worth waiting till the 2018 comes out

[Luftwaffe1O1]

It depends on several factors, I leased my car, thinking I would just get something else at the end of the lease (like a 240 or M2), and in the end I just bought out my car.

I looked at leasing a 240 instead of buying my car, but the residuals on the 240 were crap for April, so it really depends on several factors. What the MF is, what the residual is, and how much they are willing to deal. If you wait for the 2018s to come out, I bet there will be more incentives to offload older ones. I think DF got almost 20k discounted on a 2015 vert they had on the lot. Still a new car, just was sitting there for over a year.

So I would just look around as well, don't be afraid to contact different dealers see what they can offer. When I leased mine, it was April of 2014, the residual was 63% and I got over 4k knocked off the MSRP. It wasn't the greatest deal ive ever gotten on a car, but it was pretty decent.

So don't be afraid to call and email with different dealerships see who is willing to give you what. Whether you lease or buy will ultimately come down to what they are offering. Like others, I would recommend waiting until the 2018s are out, as there might even be some 2016s (M235) sitting around you could pretty much steal at that point, as well as earlier 2017 240s.

Since the residual values change kind of month to month, you just have to stay ontop of what the incentives are. If they are high, and the money factor is low, you could end up getting a pretty sweet deal on a lease vs buying, but inversely if the car is 1 model year behind sitting on the lot, they will give you a better discount on a purchase vs a lease. So its entirely possible you will kind of have to make this decision when all the numbers are infront of you at the time you are ready to buy.

[Maynard]

First pick the car, then the payment method (lease vs. buy will depend on a lot of deal-specific factors). If you anticipate limited funds, better to go new than a used out-of-warranty. I agree with above posters, that you can often get much better deals on the 'old model' and the changes seem very minimal, so a '17 may be a much better bargain. You might also check out the 230's - there is a performance difference, but to me it was kind of the diff between 'f'ing fast', and 'I'll end up in jail', so the 228 was plenty for my use and it will save you quite a bit (a bit more nimble too, IMHO, with less weight up front).

And consider a gofundme page to solicit charitable donations to get you out of a mustang - nobody should suffer that way

[ares05x]

Originally Posted by Maynard

And consider a gofundme page to solicit charitable donations to get you out of a mustang - nobody should suffer that way

[ORIGIN M.]

Never Ever Say Never !!!!

[3rdcoast228i]

IMHO

Wait a few more months and see if the new 2018 lci push the 2014-2017 prices down.

As for buying used... just pick up a good after market warranty or find a CPO. As with any car, factor in maintance cost for the time you plan to own the car. This will be quite abit higher than your mustang.

Also depending on your financial situation, consider buying an 228i/230i instead.

I really wanted the 235i also, and I could go buy a brand new one if I wanted to. But the price difference didn't make sense to me at the time with other long term goals I have. Also I still have not found a used one in my area that I like, and to me that is the best way to go, let someone else take the first hit on depreciation.

[robertoerc]

Originally Posted by Luftwaffe1O1

It depends on several factors, I leased my car, thinking I would just get something else at the end of the lease (like a 240 or M2), and in the end I just bought out my car.

I looked at leasing a 240 instead of buying my car, but the residuals on the 240 were crap for April, so it really depends on several factors. What the MF is, what the residual is, and how much they are willing to deal. If you wait for the 2018s to come out, I bet there will be more incentives to offload older ones. I think DF got almost 20k discounted on a 2015 vert they had on the lot. Still a new car, just was sitting there for over a year.

So I would just look around as well, don't be afraid to contact different dealers see what they can offer. When I leased mine, it was April of 2014, the residual was 63% and I got over 4k knocked off the MSRP. It wasn't the greatest deal ive ever gotten on a car, but it was pretty decent.

So don't be afraid to call and email with different dealerships see who is willing to give you what. Whether you lease or buy will ultimately come down to what they are offering. Like others, I would recommend waiting until the 2018s are out, as there might even be some 2016s (M235) sitting around you could pretty much steal at that point, as well as earlier 2017 240s.

Since the residual values change kind of month to month, you just have to stay ontop of what the incentives are. If they are high, and the money factor is low, you could end up getting a pretty sweet deal on a lease vs buying, but inversely if the car is 1 model year behind sitting on the lot, they will give you a better discount on a purchase vs a lease. So its entirely possible you will kind of have to make this decision when all the numbers are infront of you at the time you are ready to buy.

Cool advices, thank you so much =)

[robertoerc]

Thanks for the advices everyone, I'll definitely wait now for the 18, so I can look at 17s and possibly 16s as well.

And yeah, may come up with a gofundmepage for that lol

[ORIGIN M.]

As long as you realize the car industry needs to sell cars more than you need to buy them you can always get a great deal. Take your time and shop around.