[lkn]

there should be a BMW production plant located here in the US to ease costs..

[Robert]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

Someone commented that leasing is throwing away money and that is why they only buy.....
that makes little sense in many ways; leasing is a safe way to hedge against the market conditions and puts the money you would have spent on the car in another investment (read: appreciating assets) rather than a car which depreciates in value. By buying you pay for the entire price of the car and every day you have it it loses value, it is like filling the trunk with money and driving around with it open; how does that make sense? You pay $50 k for something and sell it for $10k... great way to not throw away your money! Drive that car 100k miles and it will cost you .50 per mile without maintenance... leasing they charge .15 per mile for the overage, so you could lease the car and drive it the same distance for a lot cheaper!

My 07 530XIT has a lease turn in residual of $47k, in 3/09. Current KBB value (which we know is usually high) is $29k, that means BMW will be in the hole for almost $20k on my car, not ME. I took the money I would have spent on it and put it in investments that have made me money. I hedge my bets on the car market and came out way ahead, it is that simple I did not "throw" away anything, with a lease you can buy at the end ( a balloon at .9 %) if it is worth more than your buyout you can resell for a profit or if it worth less you can walk away and breathe a sigh of relief.... especially if the car has had issues or you do not like it. Aside from tax advantages these are some of the nice points of a lease.

As long as they offer leases I will lease unless the residuals are unrealistic like 30% for a 2 year residual....

And BMW will continue to keep current customers in BMW through owner loyalty rates, they want to keep people in cars and keep others wanting to get into them.

Great write-up. You explain the fundamental of economics quite clearly in lay term. Decision between leasing vs. purchasing comes down to individual buying the car. If you are the type to hold the car until the cost to maintenance is greater than value of the car then purchasing will always win. Leasing can be better valued supporting certain lifestyle but purchasing and holding the car, another lifestyle, will always be the wiser financial decision. Depreciation of the car flattens out and I don't think any new car residual can beat that.

[methodtim]

Originally Posted by lkn

there should be a BMW production plant located here in the US to ease costs..

I hope this is sarcasm. There is a BMW plant in South Carolina.

http://www.bmwusfactory.com/

[alan93rsa]

there should be a BMW production plant located here in the US to ease costs..

Current events are optional and extra

[stressdoc]

I am feeling more inclined to invest (pardon the misuse of that term) in mods for my current 335 rather than wait for a tii.

[herbz]

the market these days is coming back down to earth. everything: gas, food, cars, real estate, everything is going up (besides real estate of course). the reason for that is because the price right now is where the price should have been in the first place. millions of people driving around cars they cant afford on loans, people filling up their monster SUVs with a tank of gas every other day. people being in homes they cant afford and attempting to flip them balooning the real estate market to ridiculous proportions. this entire "crisis" is a friggen reality check for the entire United States. you cant have shit you cant afford. how difficult of a concept is that to understand? charging shit on credit cards only works for so long, till your up to your skull in debt.

the only way to "live the american dream" is to work your ass off from High School on, get a degree, and use your work ethic to become respected and well off. oh yeah; learn how to save your money and stop spending on stupid shit you cant afford (like leasing a 335i). people want everything with the least amount of effort possible. that has never worked and its not gonna start working now.