Shady dealership during a lease buyout

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Bc2005

I am confused about how the BMW lease buyout works. I bought out my Toyota lease last year and I only had to deal with Toyota financial. They emailed me the buyout amount, I sent them a check, and they sent me back the title.

Why would a dealer be in the middle of a buyout? You are buying the car from BMW financial and you already have it in your possession. If you have the money, you just pay them and they transfer ownership. It does get more complicated if you need a loan, but even then you can get the loan from your bank or credit union and just give the check to BMW.

Originally Posted by OC40

I assume it’s the same for bmw as it was with Mini, which bmw owns.

My wife leased a mini s in 2013. When the lease was up, the dealer asked if she wanted to purchase or to finance. The rates were so low that it made sense to finance.

The dealer reached out to three banks and gave her the option. She closed through the dealer, but the loan was with a bank.

What I can’t recall is if she had the option to use our bank.

It’s because certain states sued BMWFS for acting as a dealer rather than a finance company and avoiding charging sales tax on lease buyouts. In those states you must now complete the lease buyout process through a franchised dealer and pay sales tax.

It’s possible BMWFS has adopted the dealership lease buyout scheme across the board, but I don’t know that. In the last several years you could find out from the BMWFS website. In states where a dealership was required it would tell you to contact your dealer and in states where it wasn’t a buyout price would be shown on your account along with instructions on how to send the payoff directly to BMWFS.

[MurrayB]

You don't have to go to the dealer you purchased the car from. Any BMW store can handle the transaction. When my lease was up I checked stores in the area for their procedure and fees. They were ridiculous. I cast a wider net drove another fifteen minutes to a store that only charged the BMWFS and state fees. In addition, because it was a "purchase" transaction they donated $xx dollars to a charity. I asked the manager handling the transaction what gives he said we want to earn your future business and have you as a friend not make a one time hit.

[thebmw]

Originally Posted by thebmw

For years, I've seen people ranting on the forums about shady dealers and horrible experiences, but then refused to list the dealership or shops name. If it really happened, then list who it is. It is only considered defamation if your claims are false.

I don't understand the psychology of people who come here to warn the community of an illegal action but then fail to tell us who's committing that illegal action. It's almost like someone saying "there's a thief in our neighborhood, but I'm not going to tell you who haha". Seriously, who are you trying to protect here, us or them?

Separately, are you sure this is the complete story? Are you sure there are no details or fine print that you weren't aware of?

Did you do your homework on that dealership before you went to them? Like others have said, there's really only one in downtown Chicago and they have an awful reputation.

Finally, 7.7% is actually a pretty good rate in the used car market. Rates are between 7 to 10% with some going as high as 12% depending on your credit. Even if you did get a slightly lower rate, you're looking at maybe $10-20 dollars of savings a month. A couple hours of attorney time will cost you more than all of the extra interest that you will pay.

OP posted almost 3 weeks ago and then ghosts his own thread! paulso Why post if you're not going to follow up or help the community.