Cancel M135i lease and buy a Focus ST?

[Hackney]

I started looking for a new car last November due to starting a new job and doing a higher mileage. I was originally looking to buy but then saw a great lease deal for the BMW M135i.

I ordered on 25th November with an expected delivery date of mid / late Jan. Over Christmas I started to hear a few rumours of delays on the BMW and builds being put back to May. Last weekend I was in a BMW dealer and asked them to check on the build date which they said was April.

On Monday I contacted the lease company who said the dealer shouldn't have told anything due to data protection! And they were wrong anyway because the build date was week commencing 16th March. Considering there could be at least two weeks from build to delivery that's still into April. They said they'd look into, get the manager to look into it when he came back on Wednesday etc, etc. Oh, and they said build date is apparently the worst case scenario anyway and it'll come forward.

Due to my concerns I looked at other options. I wouldn't be able to get as good a deal on a lease (for the BMW or an equivalent) and that would involve a delay anyway. My choice to buy after exploring many options is a Focus ST (the latest turbo model) with 6 month old low mileage examples available.

The lease company said they'll call me tomorrow with an update (but I think I'll have to call them). I don't expect them to get anywhere near the original delivery date (of late Jan) so do I wait for the BMW or buy a Focus this week?

Other considerations
- current car is a 100,000 mile '52 plate Passat W8 which was bought pre the current job, so didn't expect to put high mileage on
- driving holiday in May so would like the new car ahead of that and for it to be run in
- lease company could potentially say Feb delivery and then in Feb say it'll be March and so on and so on

[matthias73]

Do you get a full refund if you cancel?

[Hackney]

I've paid nothing so far and no payment is due until the car is delivered.
I would dispute any fees requested should I cancel on the basis that I ordered a car for delivery in January which they cannot fulfill.

[matthias73]

Hackney said:

I've paid nothing so far and no payment is due until the car is delivered.
I would dispute any fees requested should I cancel on the basis that I ordered a car for delivery in January which they cannot fulfill.

I would check the fine print in the paperwork just to make sure you don't get into a headache.

[aw51 121565]

Hackney said:

... the lease company who said the dealer shouldn't have told anything due to data protection! ...

Go back and ask them which of the Data Protection Principles the dealer broke .

And find another lease company - if they lie get the basics wrong now just consider how they could conceivably respond/behave when something significant goes wrong with your new car ....

[r11co]

Hackney said:

On Monday I contacted the lease company who said the dealer shouldn't have told anything due to data protection!

Gotta love the way data protection 'breaches' get alleged in this way. A perfect example of 'a little knowledge'.

If the information that was given out concerned your order then you were entitled to receive that information - that is the whole point of the DPA.

[Ozone]

matthias73 said:

Hackney said:

I've paid nothing so far and no payment is due until the car is delivered.
I would dispute any fees requested should I cancel on the basis that I ordered a car for delivery in January which they cannot fulfill.

I would check the fine print in the paperwork just to make sure you don't get into a headache.

Agreed.
Are you having a PCP or PCH? With a PCH you get a 2 week cooling off period once the finance is ok'd, after that you will probably pay most of the cost of the car to get out before it is delivered. You need to ask them what your options are in cancelling now.

[SuperVM]

I'd just wait for the M135i, unless you actually prefer the Focus. Impatience results in many a wrong decision I think.

[Hackney]

SuperVM said:

I'd just wait for the M135i, unless you actually prefer the Focus. Impatience results in many a wrong decision I think.

Yeah, good point.

Spoke to the lease company today and it appears there are several people in the same boat. Some build dates are happening but it seems a bit random (from BMW) as to what the reasons are for delays and specific builds.

The lease company now have an offer on the Golf R which I'd be tempted by but that's a 12 wk lead time, so I'd be no better off switching - although I do like the car.

I think I'm going to give it another week and see what the news is.
FWIW I'd be able to pull out with no challenge if the car wasn't delivered by the 10th of March as that's their usual "quoted delivery window plus 28 days" period.
In addition the original deal for lease co's was on cars ordered for delivery before the end of March. So if it's not delivered by the end of March the price could go up and I'd be able to pull out straight away.

[rsv gone!]

r11co said:

Gotta love the way data protection 'breaches' get alleged in this way. A perfect example of 'a little knowledge'.

If the information that was given out concerned your order then you were entitled to receive that information - that is the whole point of the DPA.

splitting hairs, isn't the dealers' contract with the lease company?

[Hackney]

rsv gone! said:

r11co said:

Gotta love the way data protection 'breaches' get alleged in this way. A perfect example of 'a little knowledge'.

If the information that was given out concerned your order then you were entitled to receive that information - that is the whole point of the DPA.

splitting hairs, isn't the dealers' contract with the lease company?

Perhaps. However the dealer I went into was in Portsmouth, the lease company's dealer is in Stoke.