Author: G

September 2008 Lease Rate for 08 BMW X3

Published by G

My Take: The numbers for the X3 for September are promising. The 24 month lease is less than $10 more per month, which you can offset by switching from a 15k to 12k miles year. Here is the good news, the 36 month lease retains last month’s residual and receives this month’s lower MF, making it a CHEAPER lease than last month. If you are shopping for a X3, you are in luck!

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  • X3 + Premium + Sport (w/ performance wheels & tires)
  • MSRP $45,925
  • Invoice $42,250
  • Standard inception fees + tax not included
  • Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year.

2008 BMW X3 3.0si 4WD SUV
24 Month – Residual 70% of MSRP – .00160 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 62% of MSRP – .00160 Base Rate

24mo Payment: $540 at invoice, $699 at MSRP
36mo Payment: $496 at invoice, $604 at MSRP <- LOWER THAN LAST MONTH!

Last month’s payments on the same car:

24mo Payment: $533 at invoice, $694 at MSRP
36mo Payment: $524 at invoice, $633 at MSRP

Rates provided by Tarry Shebesta from Leasecompare.com

September 2008 Lease Rate for 08 BMW 1-Series

Published by G

My Take: Not a good time lease a 1-series. The residual values have dropped and MF has stayed the same this month. I don’t need make payment estimates for you on this car. If you are curious as to how much it will cost you, look up August’s numbers and tell yourself that it’s going to be at least $40 more per month. If you still want to see at a payment range estimate, drop me a comment and I will whip one up.

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2008 BMW 128i Coupe
24 Month – Residual 72% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 59% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate

2008 BMW 128i Convertible
24 Month – Residual 70% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 57% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate

2008 BMW 135i Coupe
24 Month – Residual 68% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate

2008 BMW 135i Convertible
24 Month – Residual 69% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate

Rates provided by Tarry Shebesta from Leasecompare.com

September 2008 Lease Rates for 08 BMW 5-Series

Published by G

My Take: Couple of thinks to note about the 5-series is that the September residuals and MF are exactly the same as August on the 36 month leases. There is only one exception to that, the 535xi’s MF was bumped to .00200 from .00160, certainly not bad if you are looking to lease for 36 months. The 24 month leases got VERY expensive this month. We’re talking about a 4% drop in residual, which translates to about $80 per month more than August.

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  • 528i + Premium + Sport
  • MSRP $50,725
  • Invoice $46,680
  • Standard inception fees + tax
  • Lease rate in BOLD

2008 BMW 528i Sedan
24 Month – Residual 63% of MSRP – .00180 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00180 Base Rate

24mo Payment: $755 at invoice, $931 at MSRP
36mo Payment: $656 at invoice, $775 at MSRP

Last month’s payments for the same exact car:

24mo Payment: $674 at invoice, $850 at MSRP
36mo Payment: $655 at invoice, $775 at MSRP

Not too bad if you ask me. Stick with the 36-month lease and you should be paying the same monthly payments as August.

2008 BMW 528xi Sedan
24 Month – Residual 62% of MSRP – .00180 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00180 Base Rate

2008 BMW 535i Sedan
24 Month – Residual 62% of MSRP – .00160 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00160 Base Rate

2008 BMW 535xi Sedan
24 Month – Residual 62% of MSRP – .00200 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00200 Base Rate

2008 BMW 535xi Wagon
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00160 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00160 Base Rate

2008 BMW 550i Sedan
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00180 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00180 Base Rate

2008 BMW M5 Sedan
24 Month – Residual 65% of MSRP – .00210 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00210 Base Rate

September 2008 Lease Rates for 08 BMW 3-Series

Published by G

My Take: The numbers for the 2008 3-series went up from last month. I hope some of you where able to jump those deals. The only car that seems to stand out from the group is the 328i sedan. The money factor is still fairly low, so it may be worth taking a look.

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  • 328i + Premium + Sport
  • MSRP $38,575
  • Invoice $35,505
  • Standard inception fees + tax not included
  • Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year.

328i Sedan
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00140 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00140 Base Rate

24mo Payment: $582 at invoice, $714 at MSRP
36mo Payment: $466 at invoice, $556 at MSRP

Last month’s payments for the same exact car:

24mo Payment: $494 at invoice, $626 at MSRP
36mo Payment: $457 at invoice, $547 at MSRP

One word: Ouch! Payments went up nearly $100 on the 24mo lease because of the lower residual and higher MF. The 36mo lease isn’t too bad, going up only about $9. Still worth leasing, if you can get the .0014 MF and invoice price. Remember, negotiating with BMW can sometimes be very challenging, so stay cool and calm.

328i Coupe
24 Month – Residual 60% of MSRP – .00185 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00185 Base Rate

328xi Coupe
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00185 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00185 Base Rate

328xi Sedan
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00165 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00165 Base Rate

328i Convertible
24 Month – Residual 64% of MSRP – .00230 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00230 Base Rate

328i Sport Wagon
24 Month – Residual 60% of MSRP – .00235 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00235 Base Rate

328xi Sport Wagon
24 Month – Residual 60% of MSRP – .00235 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00235 Base Rate

335i Coupe
24 Month – Residual 59% of MSRP – .00210 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00210 Base Rate

335xi Coupe
24 Month – Residual 59% of MSRP – .00210 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00210 Base Rate

335i Sedan
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00150 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00150 Base Rate

335xi Sedan
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00190 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00190 Base Rate

335i Convertible
24 Month – Residual 61% of MSRP – .00230 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00230 Base Rate

M3 Coupe
24 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 49% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate

M3 Sedan
24 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 49% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate

M3 Convertible
24 Month – Residual 51% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 47% of MSRP – .00270 Base Rate

Ford, GM August sales drop

Published by G

From the AP

DETROIT – Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday its U.S. sales fell 26.5 percent in August, as the struggling automaker’s results — even worse than July’s dismal figures — showed that the U.S. auto sales slump may not have bottomed out.

Toyota’s sales dropped 9.4 percent from August of last year, a further indication that the woes in the U.S. auto market are continuing, but Nissan — the only major automaker to show a sales gain in July — reported another improvement, with a 13.6 percent increase in August sales.

Meanwhile, General Motors Corp. reported a 20.3 percent drop in sales from a year ago but a 31 percent improvement over its July totals, mainly thanks to offering all buyers employee pricing on many models.

Ford sold 155,172 light vehicles last month, down 3.6 percent from 160,990 in July, which was the industry’s worst month for U.S. sales in 16 years.

The Dearborn-based automaker said its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury car sales dropped nearly 9 percent, while truck sales were off more than 32 percent last month.

The company also doesn’t expect a sales rebound in the second half of the year. It said Wednesday that it plans to cut 50,000 more vehicles from its production plan in the second half of the year, reducing its output to 890,000 in the last six months of 2008.

FULL ARTICLE

Funny how Nissan is the only automaker to post a rise in sales. I must be because of the attractive leases and low APR financing (Like the  EX). Overall, this article clearly shows that most americans are shifting over to more fuel efficient cars than ever before. I just hope most people doing so aren’t panicking and taking a major loss on their SUVs.

Infiniti Special Financing for 2008 Models

Published by G

If you missed out on Infiniti’s August lease rates and special financing, they have decided to extend their 0% and 0.9% financing on their 2008 EX, G, M and QX models.

Models offering 0% financing for 72 months include the EX and QX.

Models offering 0.9% financing for 60 months include G35 sedan, G37 coupe, M35 and M45.

Unfortunately, the 09 FX are not included in these special offers.

Leasing a 2008 model will become less and less attractive as we near the end of the year.  Since special financing is available, financing a purchase is the wiser financial decision. No MF will be low enough to beat 0% financing. It’s a interest free loan! If that isn’t good enough reason to consider a purchase, I don’t know what is.

Offer ends 9/30.

On a side note, GM extended their Employee Pricing offer until 9/30 as well. I know, who cares right? Well, you might want to if you are considering a roadster. GM may be pulling the plug on the Sky and Solstice because the platform in which they are built on is not “profitable”. For car nuts like myself, this is significant news because these two cars have a lot of “potential” in the aftermarket world. It may even be possible that these two cars’ resale value may go up in the near future because super fanboy (and girls) may want to buy them for modding.

Back from My Break

Published by G

For those who didn’t notice, I was away on some R&R from Friday until Today. I’m really sorry if I didn’t get around to answer some of your posts promptly. Hopefully, nothing too urgent happened over the Holiday weekend.

Well, it was an exciting weekend, I got some rest, ate well and laid out by the pool. My G37 also got up close and personal with a big boulder. I won’t get into details as to how that happened, lets just say a new grille and bumper are in order…I’d take pics and post them, but it pains me to even look at the poor thing. LOL. I also participated on a Labor Day parade, which was televised. Unfortunately, our footage didn’t make the cut. The cool thing is that a photographer from the local newspaper some picks of myself and family so I suspect that I could see myself in the newspaper tomorrow! LOL How exciting!

Anyway, I’m back and ready to resume this months research. Keep in mind that most of the Infiniti deals ended last month, so expect new rates in the coming weeks. One thing to note this month is that I have come to the conclusion that estimating payments on cars that have bad rates is really counter productive, so I’m just going to comment on them and skip the payment estimates. I am thinking of highlighting the “good” rates of the month so you can see what the good leases are for September.  However, if you still want some ballpark numbers, just leave a comment and I will work some numbers for you.

Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day!

By the way, congrats to VX on his new A3, B on his Cooper S, David on his C300 and ix007 on his EX35.

A quick “congrats” to the following people on their new rides!

  • VX and his A3
  • B and his Cooper S
  • David and his C300
  • ix007 and his EX35
  • Jake and his X3 / 328xi
  • Warren and his Cooper (not sure if it’s a S or not)

Excellent cars! Just watch out for boulders! LOL.

BTW, the Wall needs more cars! Send me some pics! ^_^

The Most Reliable Brand?

Published by G

Consumer Reports’ most reliable brand is Honda, followed by Acura. No big surprise there. It is well-known that Honda makes great cars, so I won’t disagree with Consumer Reports on this one. A few brands seem out of place, like Buick rolling in at 10th.

Here is a quick summary of the top 10 most reliable brands.

  1. Honda
  2. Acura
  3. Scion
  4. Subaru
  5. Toyota
  6. Lexus
  7. Infiniti
  8. Mitsubishi
  9. Porsche
  10. Buick

Buick sticks out like a sore thumb here. Considering Buick is a GM, that’s some serious reliability there.
So who are the bottom-feeders of the list?

  1. Land Rover
  2. Hummer
  3. Cadillac
  4. Mercedes Benz
  5. Pontiac
  6. Volkswagen
  7. Chevrolet
  8. Jeep
  9. GMC
  10. Suzuki

What I find surprising is how GM has 50% of the crappiest brands out there. OUCH! I take back what I said about GM not making crappy cars. What is interesting to see is that only one Japanese automaker on the 10 worst list is Suzuki, which also happens to be 10th worst (not exactly bad if you ask me). We also see only 2 Germans and the rest are all American. That’s 70% of the of that list. Pretty sad.

Keep in mind that it doesn’t mean ALL cars of that brand are bad, the CR report gives you a visual range of how good/bad this brands models are.  For example, Pontiac has the widest range of good-to-bad models of any manufacturer, with the Solstice being pure garbage and the Vibe being their best model (It’s no coincidence since the Vibe is the Toyota Matrix’s cousin).

CR brand reliability report [PDF]

Your thoughts?