BMW lease or buy?
A friend of mine has a 2013 BMW 535i which he paid a bit over $60,000 in
2013; so far, replacing tires and some other maintenance work have costed
him about $8,000. Looking at the current BMW leasing deals (2019 BMW
540i: $509/month for 36 months plus $3,500 + $925 at signing time; 2020
BMW 540i: $579/month for 36 months plus $3,500 + $925 at signing time)
and the blue book value of a 2013 BMW 535i with the mileage of about
62,000, it seems that leasing a BMW is a better deal than buying one IF one
keeps the car for 6 years. Given that the maintenance cost of an older BMW
is unpredictable and can be quite expensive, it doesn't seem to make sense
to keep a BMW for more than six years (unless one is a mechanic himself :)
). For a usual driver, it seems to be a better choice to lease a BMW. This is
somewhat against the usual "consumer reports" idea of buying a new car
and driving it to the ground (which works for Honda and Toyota very well).
But BMW seems to be different. Did I get this about right OR did I miss
something here? Comments?