To lease or to buy - BMW specific

[crisdoc]

I know that my dream car is the 330ci but my concern is whether to lease or to buy. The upshot of leasing is that if there is any truth to the consumer reports suggestion that reliability has fallen off then I will give up the car (for a new one) when the warrantee is still valid. The downside is that it is a bit more expensive to lease. Any thoughts. ANy thoughts on the BMW lease program?

Thanks

Chris

[playdrv4me]

I dont know why anyone would go with a lease if its MORE expensive than buying (unless you have negative equity from a prior vehicle). The whole point of a lease is supposed to be that you make much smaller monthly payments than a purchase on a much nicer car, while at the sametime maintaing full warranty coverage through the entire period of the term.

HOWEVER, lease popularity has really dropped off over the past few years and rates (i.e. the Money Factor in a lease) are not as good as they used to be due to declining residuals. I dont know what you have heard about BMW reliability but since this isnt an american car, and the depreciation isnt nearly as bad as one, I would definitely choose purchase over lease here especially if the lease is MORE expensive.

[crisdoc]

When I said more expensive I meant that it is more expensive over the long run to lease every 3 years as against purchase and keep. in the short term it is definately cheaper to lease.