Keep current 130i or lease a new M135i?

[mikearwas]

Evening all,

I'm currently in the position whereby i'm very seriously considering selling my 2006 130i to fund a two year lease on an m135i at a super duper rate of 209 per month excluding vat.

Having never leased a car I must admit i am somewhat suspicious of some of the deals available and how they can possibly be viable for the supplying company. My dad (long standing car adviser) is even more strongly of this opinion and basically thinks that any lease deal is a scam - especially some of the deals on the m135i! Now i know this is not the case but can anyone explain how these deals are possible - they seem to good to be true.

Secondly, the decision making process is an interesting one and i hoped someone could help me with some man maths to justify either option. At the moment i see the lease as costing about 2k more over the 2 year period but am open to other calculations/man maths justification to go for the new car!

Finally it would be good to hear from some people who have leased a car - have you ever been stung with hidden costs? What must i know before jumping into this?

Thank you in advance for the advice.

[carl_w]

Woah, £209/month + VAT? Do it! What are the upfront payments and the mileage?

[mikearwas]

carl_w said:

Woah, £209/month + VAT? Do it! What are the upfront payments and the mileage?

http://www.centralukvehicleleasing.co.uk/vehicle/choose_your_lease/55799/bmw/1_series/m135i_m_performance_3dr.html

There you go Carl. I'm aware it will be a basic spec but this doesn't unduly bother me.

[john banks]

If the car is delivered what is not to like except the ridicule of powerfully built company directors who like to pay cash? Except the company directors I know would lease, regardless of musculature.

[topless360]

The thing to bear in mind is, as you are using the sale of your 130i to fund the rental of the M135i, unless you can save up £5-10k or whatever the 2 year rental will cost, you could find yourself in a sticky situation.

For arguments sake lets say your 130i is worth £6k. In 2 years time, if you lease a new car you will basically be £6k down with nothing to show for it at the end of the rental.

You mention the price is excluding VAT, are you putting it through your business? If so, you will need to factor in NI contributions and company car tax, which will probably be as much as the rental cost on something like a 135.

Also as an additional note of caution, I am sceptical how the company can make any money off this. You will be paying just over £6k exc VAT over 2 years. I would think that car would depreciate more than that over 2 years. Also, it does not state the mileage limitations?

[csmith319]

Keep the 130, as above you pay out over £11 k over the 2 year period - plus you have a great NA straight 6...

[carl_w]

Looks to be a 6+23 deal, so really it's effectively £253.74+VAT/month, if you don't think about NPV (£1200 now costs more than £1200 spread over 2 years). Still, for what's effectively £300/month (ish) inc VAT you could have got yourself a BMW/Merc/Audi 2.0d. So I'd say go for it.

[mikearwas]

carl_w said:

Looks to be a 6+23 deal, so really it's effectively £253.74+VAT/month, if you don't think about NPV (£1200 now costs more than £1200 spread over 2 years). Still, for what's effectively £300/month (ish) inc VAT you could have got yourself a BMW/Merc/Audi 2.0d. So I'd say go for it.

Sorry Carl my understanding was that it's 251 per month inclusive of vat. Am I being stupid and missing something?

Edit: ah are you including the deposit in the monthlies?

Edited by mikearwas on Friday 3rd January 22:35

[carl_w]

mikearwas said:

Edit: ah are you including the deposit in the monthlies?

Yes

[mikearwas]

Mileage is 10k per annum topless. I appreciate your point but i wouldn't necessarily need to release the equity in my car to pay for the lease. Just makes sense transferring one car cost into another. I guess I could also make the money work for me whilst paying the monthlies out of income.

[Dusty964]

mikearwas said:

Mileage is 10k per annum topless.

Make sure it's got dark tints and a good heater.

[ahenners]

It would be interesting to see what they came back with, thanks

[chrisw666]

kambites said:

So about 6k off? That certainly makes the finance figures look a bit more sensible.

It's strange though, the car looks cheap compared to its competitors. Why are BMW having to discount it so heavily to get it to sell? Is the market for big-engined small cars really that poor?

BMW finance aren't stupid.

I looked at the figures on a 640d Gran Coupe a couple of months back. With 0% and a huge deposit contribution a 3 year PCP worked out cheaper for the new car than the quoted figure for a 3 year PCP on a lightly used one from their AUC scheme.

I'd guess they're banking on getting back 2/3 year old low mileage cars with FSH & the ability to sell 'cheap' used cars on higher rate finance through the approved scheme. They might not seem to be making as much on the new car but are getting to sell the same car twice to different types of credit customers.

[T16OLE]

Cracking deal, I've emailed them to ask what the price per mile is for going over the 10k limit.

I may just get rid of my 645ci if it's reasonable.

At least I know what it will cost me over two years

[va1o]

M135i so cheap too much awesomeness for the money

[J4CKO]

Yeah, that does seem pretty good value, amazing infact, how do they do them for that, surely will depreciate more than that, six and a bit grand ?

Where is the catch ?

[CB 987]

I have gone ahead and ordered one through Gateway 2 Lease back in November, just after the 6x23 £251.99 inc VAT deal was being offered. For any doubters the car is supplied by a BMW main dealer, lease is via Network (LeasePlan Group).

I am paying slightly more for a 12k pa agreement. Excess mileage charges are 12.38p per mile for between 100 & 115% of the annual mileage allowance and 18.58p per mile for miles over 115% of the annual allowance. It does pay to get the mileage right from the outset.

Personally I think it's a great deal, but I can appreciate the reservations you have.

[Shaoxter]

If you've worked out that the lease costs £2k more over 2 years (assuming you've factored in that you won't be getting anything back at the end of the lease) then go for it, you're getting a new car for a great price. Just be aware that the lease company will probably try to play games at the end of your lease though.

[mikearwas]

CB 987 said:

I have gone ahead and ordered one through Gateway 2 Lease back in November, just after the 6x23 £251.99 inc VAT deal was being offered. For any doubters the car is supplied by a BMW main dealer, lease is via Network (LeasePlan Group).

I am paying slightly more for a 12k pa agreement. Excess mileage charges are 12.38p per mile for between 100 & 115% of the annual mileage allowance and 18.58p per mile for miles over 115% of the annual allowance. It does pay to get the mileage right from the outset.

Personally I think it's a great deal, but I can appreciate the reservations you have.

A guy on the baby BMW forum has looked and the excess mileage term is 5p per mile which would make 5000 miles ..wait for it... 250 quid. Now that sounds stupidly cheap to me and I'm not sure if that applies to this particular car.

[kambites]

The lease deals available on the 135i do seem almost infeasibly cheap for a mainstream car of that list price. That works out as about £7300 for the two years? There's no way an M135i will lose less than £10k in depreciation in that time, let alone the other costs.

They appear to be making a huge loss on the finance in order to sell the car, which makes you wonder what sort of deals you could get as a cash buyer, too.


Mind you, it's still more than I'd pay for a 1-series.