From your list of vehicles, I see that you own a Passat wagon with a stick? Has that been a bad experience? If not, what about the Jetta wagon? I went through your same experience at the end of my last CPO lease in 2009. For me, leasing CPO cars (with manual transmission) was a good deal with the old incentives. By 2009 those incentives were gone and I purchased my 330i at the end of the lease. What will happen in the future? I'm thinking I'll start looking for older models with low mileage and a decent repair history. IMHO, that will reduce the cost of the activity and, hopefully, provide more purchase options. Unfortunately, that approach places you at the mercy of the annoying upholstery and electronic gremlins which either demand periodic tribute or acceptance. Thankfully, Mike Miller has always been willing to provide technical advice, when possible. Good luck
Can we assume you're talking about buying your leased new BMW at the end of its lease and having it Certified (CPO), or are you really leasing used cars? I'm not sure what "CPO lease" means. Leasing used cars just never seemed to make any sense, financially.
Three year leases on a CPO. Three years of warranty (covering years 4, 5 & 6) and the lease rates were much more favorable than the lease offers on new cars. I did this four times in 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006. It worked well for me until BMWFS stopped the CPO lease incentives after 2006. BTW - I do understand that they were used cars.
You may have but I did not. A lot has changed since I was last in the franchise car biz (1995). Used-car leasing was something that didn't make any financial sense in my twenty years back then, and doesn't today, but then obviously it did for you at one time.
The rates (the interest rates) were similar to the new car lease rates and the principle was the market value for a 3-yr old car. Excluding the minimal interest rate balloon loans on BMW bikes in the very late 90's, the CPO leases from BMWFS were one of the best financial deals I've seen. Of course, in those days, the exchange rate really favored the US customer. Accordingly, the finance deals were quite generous.
Bad experience? No, I've liked my Passat quite a bit. In fact, this is my 4th Passat and my 7th VW in 20 years. I'm quite used to the quirks and maintenance issues of German cars between those and the 2 BMWs I've had. My "short list" of cars (new or used) that I think I would like currently contains the following: Audi A3, A4 Avant or A6 Avant (or RS6 Avant... /drooooool) BMW 3 or 5 Series Sport Wagon Mini Cooper S or Clubman S VW GTI, Golf TDI or Jetta Wagon TDI The problem I'm running into is I want something that is comfortable, yet sporty. It has to be practical, hence all the cars listed are wagons or hatches. And I would prefer something with a bit of luxury and cachet, which bumps the Minis and VWs down a bit on the list. Since I have the M3, I don't need it to be a sports car. But I do want it to be sporty. And I really dislike torque converters! Other cars that have interested, intrigued or otherwise caught my eye (even though they may not meet the above specified needs or affordability) are: Buick Regal Cadilac CTS/CTS V Wagon Chevy Volt Ford Fiesta Hyundai Genesis Coupe Subaru WRX Aston Martin Vantage or DB9 Lotus Evora Porsche Cayman Ariel Atom
