Am I crazy for wanting to lease a top-of-the-line 3-series out of college?

So I just landed my dream job today and am riding on cloud 9. I'm a huge car enthusiast and LOVE to drive. I love stick-shifts. I hate automatics. To me, driving is not only to get me from point A to B, but also to give me a ****-eating grin. Thus far, I had no means to own a car that would give me such joy.

Alas, things have changed for me today, and I immediately went to dealerships all over to test drive sporty, fast cars, everything from VW GTIs, to Caddy CTS's, and the BMW 335is. Sidenote: I went to two audi dealerships; both of them treated me like **** since I'm a 22-yo and they didn't take me seriously. The guy at the BMW place treated me like royalty. So did the guy at Cadillac.

I fell in love with the 335.

It is just.. pure sechs. I walked into the showroom simply looking to test drive some cars and I found myself negotiating numbers for the heck of it.

The monthly for the 335 would be around $590 including tax. I can definitely afford this, but it's just so hard to wrap my head around this. Please don't get me wrong and think I want this car for the badge. It's simple and true: bimmers handle the best and it's unfortunate that it's so closely associated with douchebags and brand whores. But they had the exact car I want: alpine white, black leather interior, 6-speed manual, and navigation.

I don't really know **** about negotiating lease payments, except that you should negotiate around the car's final price and not the monthly. Well, the car's MSRP is around $58K, but they dropped it to $1,000 above invoice, which resulted in that monthly payment. I also want to put as much down as possible (I have a lot of savings) to reduce the monthly payment. The term is 27 months, which is perfect, as I will most definitely be changing cars every couple of years.

So, some questions:

1. Am I being marsupialed?
2. How can I negotiate a better lease payment?
3. How much down should I put?

Thanks!

Yes
Yes
Yes

Originally Posted by Rambo

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Yes
Yes
Yes

why?

I drive a formerly leased, now-owned BMW 3-series. I also love Bimmers, so understand where this advice comes from.

A few days ago, you were stressing that you didn't have a job. You needed the advice of the forum to figure out how to negotiate offers and buy time while you heard from someone else. You were indecisive and obviously very inexperienced. You're a kid. Your demeanor and naivete reinforce this. There's nothing wrong with that - you are a kid. But your financial future is far from secure. This is your first job out of college. The economy sucks and there are few guarantees of anything for anyone right now.

Do yourself a favor. Buy a cheaper car, bank the difference. It's the right thing to do.

Damn.

What cars do you suggest? And by buy, do you mean buy used? Or lease cheaper?

Originally Posted by GreenFrog

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Damn.

What cars do you suggest? And by buy, do you mean buy used? Or lease cheaper?

He means buy an affordable car and save the money. Don't go spending it all right away on a car, it should not be your first priority.

My advice? Get a 335, but get it after you have the cash on hand to pay for it. So in the mean time? Buy a used 335 or 328, drive it for 3-4 years or until you have enough saved for it. you can get a 08-09 328 for $16-22k whearas a fully loaded 335 would cost you $60k + tax to buy. Alternate cars that you can get would be a Maxima or an Audi A5 (I understand they may not be the same, and the Audi may be only a tad bit cheaper if fully loaded, and the Maxima, much cheaper)

I personally have the same interests as you in regards to automobiles, but my dream car is a Porsche. However, I would never buy it brand new maybe 2-5 years old and only if I have the cash to get 0% or to buy the car completely. I am okay for now driving a 2000 Volvo S80, until I can save up for the Porsche Cayman S.

Originally Posted by GreenFrog

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why?

Originally Posted by Douglas

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I drive a formerly leased, now-owned BMW 3-series. I also love Bimmers, so understand where this advice comes from. A few days ago, you were stressing that you didn't have a job. You needed the advice of the forum to figure out how to negotiate offers and buy time while you heard from someone else. You were indecisive and obviously very inexperienced. You're a kid. Your demeanor and naivete reinforce this. There's nothing wrong with that - you are a kid. But your financial future is far from secure. This is your first job out of college. The economy sucks and there are few guarantees of anything for anyone right now. Do yourself a favor. Buy a cheaper car, bank the difference. It's the right thing to do.
This is why.

Originally Posted by GreenFrog

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Damn. What cars do you suggest? And by buy, do you mean buy used? Or lease cheaper?
Buy a used compact car that gets good gas mileage. Save your money so you can buy nice suits, accessories, and vacations. Nobody really gives a **** about the car you drive unless its a complete POS.

Originally Posted by Saturdays

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He means buy an affordable car and save the money. Don't go spending it all right away on a car, it should not be your first priority.
This.

Originally Posted by GreenFrog

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why?
You need to save some dough. Dunno if you're living at home right after graduating (I always recommend this post graduation if you can), but that's the easiest time of your life to save a boat load of cash. It'll never be easier. Anyway, if you really need a car $40k on a bimmer at 22 is pretty silly.

Originally Posted by Rambo

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Buy a used compact car that gets good gas mileage. Save your money so you can buy nice suits, accessories, and vacations. Nobody really gives a **** about the car you drive unless its a complete POS.
He loves to drive. Did you miss that? Who gives a **** if other people give a ****? Have fun with your 'accessories' that nobody gives a **** about either. BMWs are cheap to lease right now, and BMWFS offers some of the best rates in the industry. Remember the basics: - Do not put any money down. - instead use Multiple Security Deposits (MSDs) (up to 7 allowed, each lowers MF by .0007) - Get lease quote at base MF, use leasecompare.com to get base MF/residual - Don't allow negotiated price of car to be any more than $500 over invoice - Don't allow markups on lease acquisition fee (it is $725) - Consider European Delivery to save even more money There is tons of information on the BMW forums about leasing. Educate yourself. Once you know what you are doing you can generate your own numbers and send them to your local CAs and ask for simple 'yes' or 'no's. No negotiation or emotional BS. People that buy used cars often end up with higher TCOs than people that lease brand new cars. I laugh at people that compare MSRPs of cars like it actually matters. They are shocked when shown the numbers.. You can easily pay more (TCO) for a used and previously wrecked and shoddily repaired 35K car than a brand new $60K car. A lot of people have no idea how to negotiate for a car and end up paying way more than necessary. I am paying less for my new E92 M3 than friends who bought used Acuras. Remember any new BMW does not incur any running costs besides tires for four years (e.g. the entire life of the lease). There are people that are content driving A to B cars like Corollas or Priuses and have no idea what it is like to drive a fun car and the smile and thrill you can get each time you go for a drive. Ignore them.

Buy something <10k Preferably in the 5-8k range. You will love paying 200ish/mo for a car rather than 400+.

Trust me buying a cheap/reliable car out of college is well worth it. I have to suppress my desires for a clean E39 5 series or a newer Mustang GT all the time. You may have some cash flow in your future, but for the time being, don't go out and buy a car and lock yourself in with big payments. Save up some cash, wait for a raise or two at work, then find a nice, clean used version of the car you want. You'll feel responsible and you'll enjoy the car a lot more.



Edit: After your reading your initial post, I would say you should get something "fun" in the 10-15k range if you really are that comfortable with your salary and savings. You shouldn't finance (or lease) a car that is 2/3 or 1/2 or even 1/4 of your salary.

(this coming from a person who never plans on buying a brand new car, because there are plenty of good, fun, cheaper, used cars and I think it's crazy to pay so much for a car)

No, you are not crazy.

I think you should do whatever pleases you. Get your car, be happy.

On the other hand, if you really have your doubts about the financial ramifications, you can always turn to Suzie Orman.

Besides, I am sure there is some neat sociological way you can justify this car purchase given your industry and career. Something about symbolic or cultural capital and some such. I am being glib here, but really this is really something to consider, if only in making your "cheaper" car choice. What does this mean anyway? Are you going to get a used 1999 Honda Accord to really save the money? Please.

Edit: In before "spoken from a true poor man blah blah"

Originally Posted by username79

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He loves to drive. Did you miss that? Who gives a **** if other people give a ****? Have fun with your 'accessories' that nobody gives a **** about either. There are people that are content driving A to B cars like Corollas or Priuses and have no idea what it is like to drive a fun car and the smile and thrill you can get each time you go for a drive.

Ignore them.
Oh give me a break. I can have just as much fun zipping around town in a Civic Si, Mustang, or a Mini as a 335i or an M3.

Buy used but recent. At this stage of the game, it makes much more sense. Let someone else suffer the instant loss you'd otherwise suffer the second you drive that new car off the lot.

+1 to everything; $15K is a nice used car price for a 22 year old just starting a first job, leasing a $58K car sounds pretty lavish, even if you're making the styleforum entry-level 250 stacks a year. My old man has worked his way through life (and still works) and makes good money, but he still looks for solid used cars for about $15K. He'd probably balk at a $25K used car, even though he should probably catch up with the times.

Originally Posted by impolyt_one

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...he still looks for solid used cars...
Don't tell anyone ... but so do I. I've bought new ... but it's not my preferred way to purchase a car. Once again ... and this can't be said enough ... I certainly don't recommend buying new.