jayrod

Hello everyone. I have been going back and forth between a 330i and an is350 for a couple of months now and I've been leaning towards the Lexus. I've also recently decided that I want to lease my next car. So I went to each car's website and used the lease calculators to get an idea of what my monthly payments would be. There is something that is very strange to me when I build my is350 and 330i on the Lexus and BMW sites respectively - the monthly payment calculation is SIGNIFICANTLY MORE EXPENSIVE for the Lexus.

Let me elaborate:

I built a330i the way I wanted it and it came out to the following:
Price: $47,540
Term: 36 months
Annual Mileage: 12,000
Monthly Payment: $227

Now on the Lexus site, I used the same price, term, and annual mileage on their calculator and the monthly payment came out to: $389

That's a difference of $162 a month.

I know that these lease calculators are only estimates and the actual quote I get from a dealer will probably be different, but can anyone explain why there is such a large difference here?

Thanks ahead of time.

MatadorIS

Something is wrong with those numbers. There is no way a $47K car can be leased for $227, unless you put over $10K down (which is generally wasting your money on a lease).

One of them may include a larger downpayment.

jayrod

I would think these to be very similar for these two cars, no?

jayrod

This is what the BMW lease calculator shows. It very well could be an error in their calculation, maybe it's as simple as that.

hashs99

should be around $500 for the beamer.

MatadorIS

How much of a down payment does it include?

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

Whoah, those payments are way too low. No way you can lease both cars for that little. But in answer to your other question, leasing 2 different cars is like apple and oranges. The lease programs are very different. Even 1% difference in residual makes a big change in payment on a $47k car. To be absolutely sure of the actual difference, I would strongly urge you to get a quote from dealers. Perhaps via email request if you are just starting your research and not in a buying mode just yet. Good luck.

jayrod

15K for both

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

Wow, thats a huge down payment. Okay then the payments sound more inline. May I ask why you are dropping so much on a lease?

MatadorIS

That $15K is money you'll never see again, and you'll lose the car in 3 years. In my opinion, it's foolish to put down so much. Typically, you should put down as little as possible on a lease.

Worst case situation: Since the car is never yours, and it gets totaled on day 2, Lexus will get paid by the insurance, you get nothing and you're out $15K.

P.S. Post #100!

jayrod

Hmm ... now for the same terms described above I get $412 a month on the Lexus lease calculator. Anyways, I'll use that payment in the calculation below.

If I change the down payment from 15000 to 5000 I get the following monthly payment: $718

Now, if you compare the two, the total for driving the car for 36 months in each situation comes out to:
15000 down:
412*36+15000=$29004

5000 down:
718*36+5000=$30848

So with the higher down payment you actually save: $1844.

MatadorIS

But, you're out an extra $10K upfront, for 3 years. A modest investment of less than 6% a year will make you about $2000 on that $10K.

Plus, the situation I described earlier about you never officially owning the car.

AsianGirl007

iTrader: (1)

To start with, the $718 payment now sounds way too high. And I think the $1844 you save is from less rate and less tax. So, if you are looking to maximize your savings on a car and seem to have plenty of cash to drop, may I suggest you look into doing a one pay lease or a multiple deposit lease?

jayrod

This is a good point. I'm new to the leasing game and have only begun researching it just recently. Anyways, I'm glad I posted this. It gives me some more options to think about.

Tony1

its a huge misconception, that if you prepay a lease or put a huge down
payment down that , you'll lose that money.. totally false, dealers however
use that line to get you to not to do it.. My uncle had a bmw M3 and he prepaid
the lease, it got stolen the first 6 months he had it, and he got every dollar back,

Theres something called gap insurance my good ppl which is included in
\mostly every lease contract..