Originally Posted by craigm1841' post='739169' date='Dec 5 2008, 11:50 PM

well i do want to put on some bigger wheels, am i limited due to the run flats? i am tinting the windows this week. and i would love to do some performance mods that are easy to remove since it is a lease. maybe its time for some new forums or time for me to utilize the search feature. i am new to this board, but not to forums in general..

Originally Posted by DrLev99' post='739088' date='Dec 5 2008, 06:48 PM

Like you said, insurance is always going to reimburse only the current value of a car, regardless of a lease or buy. On a lease, it doesn't pay to put anything down since only the loan gets paid off if totaled or stolen, and if there happens to be any extra left over after that, it goes to the Leasing company...not you, since you don't own the car. Einstein, you said "others walked away with cash back"...not sure what you meant.

Example: You put down $5K towards a cap reduction and pay upfront the $650 acq. fee, $250 for document fees, another $500 for tax on the down payment, etc....on a lease for a $60K car. As your drive off the lot, you total it. The insurance company calls to tell you the car's value is only $55K, due to INSTANT depreciation when you drove off the lot. The bank will get their $55K for the loan you took, but now you're out $5K plus $650 acq. fee, plus the $500 tax, etc. It's gone forever. If you had put $0 Down in this case and borrowed $61K (by rolling other fees into cap cost), the insurance company would have had to EAT the $6K, not you...and you are out nothing.

Unlike a buy, you don't need gap insurance on a lease.

Originally Posted by einstein57' post='739208' date='Dec 6 2008, 01:08 AM

The bank is only entitled to be reimbured up to the lease buyout amount. So lets say your baller who did not want an M5 and was patient enough to pre-order an Audi R8. The lease contract shows the agreed upon sale price of 120k which would be the buy out should you decide once you leave the lot that you can never live w/o the car. You drive the car for a week and boom you get hit by some lady in a e65 who ran a red light cause she was busy trying to figure out how to use her idrive. The value at the time of loss for that car would be about 140-180k. 120k would go to Audi and 20-60k would go directly in your pocket. The insurance company i worked for considered a vehicle new if it was less then 30 days old and had less then 1000 miles. Alot of manufacturers also have built in gap insurance on leased vehicles. The only one I can remember off the top of my head is Mercedes. I've had a few idiots who way overpaid on thier M6s and had the exact opposite happen. Sucks to owe 40k on a car you don't own anymore.

Originally Posted by craigm1841' post='739093' date='Dec 5 2008, 09:58 PM

well i am here in fl. they gave me 2500 for my maxima which blue books at 2100, which i think may have affected my payment. the MB dealer was only going to give me 800. i am obviously happy i didnt get the MB. the car actually costs closer to 49K with the warranty. i am well aware of what it has and doesnt have. i did a ton of research before getting it. do i need the cold weather package? i live in tampa. would the navi and sound system be nice, yes it would be. I couldnt really afford to lease an 09 and have the pickings of the dealership lot. well, maybe i could afford it, but i capped myself at 600.

I turned in my weathered 99 maxima with 156K miles and walked drove away with an low milage 535 leased to me as new, with the extended warranty and didnt take a dollar out of my pocket. my payments are 599 after taxes and all that. am i happy? yes. the lexus dealer wanted far more money than that for a GS, the MB wanted a little less than that for a 31K car. do i think i got a great deal, i do because i got the car i wanted for the price i wanted. do i think if i brought a gun to the dealer and started shooting hostages they might take another 15 off my payment, maybe. in the end, if i am going to worry about a few bucks, i shouldnt be driving an new bmw. do i wish i had navi, sure, but i also wish i had an M5. I am 25 years old and just got out of the military and took my first real job and I feel i made an informed decision, but most of all i feel privelaged to be driving this car at my age with nothing more than my military experience getting me a job. god knows i didnt put anything about my one semester of college on my resume

this is my 3rd bmw, the other two were junkers that i bought for a few hundred bucks in highschool. great little cars, however... this is my first real bmw and i cant stop smiling. thank you all for your input, positive or negative. I appreciate the devils advocates as much as the motivators

i look forward to becoming a part of this community and learning more about the new coolest thing i own.