[mike-y]

exactly.. with bmw's current special of 0.9% financing, I elected to finance a portion of the car instead of paying cash, because I can earn 3%-4% in my bank's savings and CD's. So I ended up with a little payment for 36 months, which I can pay off early if I want to, without a penalty. Basically, the interest I make off my savings and CDs *almost* covers my monthly payments.

[BK]

Originally Posted by badpyhedy

液下泵　　液下泵与介质接触的零部件,系用聚乙烯醇缩丁醛改性酚醛玻璃纤维,经高温模压成型的酚醛玻璃钢制件,联接管、出液 管采用半干法卷制工艺制成的酚醛玻璃钢管,叶轮轴套的装配均用酚醛胶泥和液下泵泵轴粘成一体,液下各部装配 均用酚醛胶泥粘结,伸入液下全无金属与介质接触,液下泵耐腐性能绝对可靠,产品具有轻质、高强、不变形、耐温、耐腐蚀等优良性能,在防腐方面可部分替代含铝不锈钢 、铁及钛合金等贵重金属。　　液下泵在传动和旋转方向:液下泵通过爪型弹性联轴器由电动机直接驱动,从电动机端看泵为顺时针方向旋转。　　玻璃钢液下泵广泛用于化工、石 化、冶炼、染料、农药、制药、稀土、化肥等行业,在贮罐上输送不含悬浮固体颗粒,不易结晶,温度不高于10 0℃的各种非氧化性酸(盐酸、稀硫酸、甲酸、醋酸、丁酸)等腐蚀介质的最理想液下泵设备。

Google translation of the above:

Liquid under the pump under the pump and fluid contact with the media components, with the Department of polyvinyl butyral modified phenolic glass fiber, high temperature molding of phenolic glass pieces of steel, pipe connection, using a pipette semi-dry process rolling Made of phenolic glass pipe, the impeller sleeve assembly with both clay and phenolic liquid under the pump shaft into a sticky one, the liquid under the ministries were fabricated with phenolic adhesive clay, into the liquid metal has no contact with the media, liquid Decay is absolutely reliable pump performance, the product has a light, high-strength, non-deformation, temperature, corrosion-resistant properties such as excellent, could Anticorrosive part of the aluminum to replace steel, iron and precious metals such as titanium. Under the pump in the transmission fluid and the direction of rotation: liquid through the pump under the claw-type flexible coupling by the direct-drive motor, motor from the pump depends in a clockwise direction as the rotation. Glass under the pump liquid steel is widely used in chemical, petrochemical, metallurgy, dyes, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, rare earth, fertilizer and other industries, in the tank on the non-delivery of suspended solid particles, not the crystallization temperature does not exceed the range of 10 0 ℃ Non-oxidizing acid (hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, formic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid), and other corrosive liquid medium of the best equipment under the pump.

Time to break this icon out?

[BMW F22]

There really is no right and wrong here as both sides have valid arguments. However, here is how I look at leasing (my car is also a lease): let's say a car is $40,000k and you lease it for 2 years with total payments of $10,000. That means two years from now the car is worth $30k. Now if you financed the car, it would still be worth about $30k at the end of 2 years (maybe a little more and maybe a little less).

If you really like the car you could always buy it when your lease is up. So let's assume that you purchase the car at the end of the lease for $30k + tax, it would still come out to about the same as if you were to finance in the first place. Also, if the value of the car drops (which has been the recent trend given the economy and all), you don't have to worry about loosing more value. For example, if the value on that $40k drops to $26k at the end of 2 years, you'd have end up loosing more due to depreciation. Now if you were to lease the car, you could renegotiate the buy out value and end up ahead or just simply turn it in.

IMO, if you plan on buying but are uncertain about the future, you should lease first and then buy. That allows you to save up and have a lower payment just in case something happens. Of course the current financing rates make buying more attractive but in the end, it would still come out about the same.

[Paddy]

I am returning my lease next week, 2006 330i. Was rear ended Jan 2008, $20K worth of repairs, frame damage, front/rear damage, the car was completely disassembled in order to repair. Car is probably worth about $10k now. Loss of value, not my problem.

Next week I wash my hands off it and pick my new ride.

+1 for leasing, no diminshed value

BMWFS were offering me a buyout of $17K on a $24K residual (this is before I informed them about the accident).
If I wanted to purchase at end of lease I would have saved a chunk of change.

+2 for lease, the option to buy may work in your favor.

[venom7777]

Originally Posted by Barmats

And, if you plan on getting rid of the car or upgrading before the lease term, the only "out" is to pay the balance of the lease payments and give the car back.

You can also buy the car out and then resell it, or swap the lease with someone else.

[Eternum]

Originally Posted by stickypaws

Can you use your payments as a business tax write off?

Is there any difference in business tax write off between financed and leased car?

[cn555ic]

You buy the car and finance it...you pay it off and take car of the car...after that you have a nice ride....Different senario....you buy a car and lease it...after 3 or 4 years your lease is up and for instance the economy or your job is in jeopardy, you have to turn in your car....whats the next move....buy a honda civic because you can no longer afford a BMW even if its leasing it again....Scenario one gives you the option of having a nice car regardless of the economy and how much money you take in.....I had a buddy that was always into nice cars and leasing them, well the economy turned and he is driving around in a Honda Accord....I told him when he leased his 645i convertible to buy it outright and not lease it, well at that time he was making a nice salary, car went back 3 months ago and with the new state of the economy, he couldn't get into another BMW....but if he listened to me, he would have a nice ride already paid off and still chilling!!!

[Barmats]

Originally Posted by venom7777

You can also buy the car out and then resell it, or swap the lease with someone else.

This is an option. You would need to pay the balance of all remaining monthly lease payments, then fork over the residual amount before you would own the vehicle. I have never seen this be a good deal or represent anything close to fair value for the vehicle, but I suppose it's done by some.

Swapalease.com says their success rate with transferring leases is about 1/3. This is probably your best option to get out of a lease, especially if you're willing to provide a $$ incentive.

[BK]

Originally Posted by Eternum

Is there any difference in business tax write off between financed and leased car?

Not really, although that's often erroneously pointed to as one reason to lease. The real difference is that it's easier to compute the business write-off for a lease. You can write off a car purchased for legitimate business purposes, too, but you have to depreciate, so it's more complicated.

[venom7777]

Originally Posted by Barmats

Swapalease.com says their success rate with transferring leases is about 1/3. This is probably your best option to get out of a lease, especially if you're willing to provide a $$ incentive.

Yeap, just keep in mind that you need to have at least 6 months left on your lease or BMW won't let you do it.

[BMWFanboy]

I have yet to see anyone setup the proper model for determining whether or not to buy or lease. I'm talking time value of money calculations here. I tried to do this but got nowhere; seems like real finance gurus don't frequent automotive forums. There are some calculators like this out there, but they don't let you input all the variables.

[Phil G.]

Originally Posted by digivue

BTW, with the rock bottom financing rates, it seems to be the best time to buy rather than lease. Any CD will bring you more money than you spend.

Correct. I leased my last BMW, an '07 328xi which had a very high residual (>70%) and consequently a very low monthly lease rate. Leases right now just aren't even comparable. Leasing my Audi TT would have run close to $700/month, so I bought it. With BMW finance rates until year end at 0.9%, it's much cheaper to finance than to even buy and put on my home equity line, which is around 4%. Even with a tax deduction for the interest, it would come down to around 3%, still much higher than the BMW finance rate. With that said, and the prices going up on January 1st, I bought a new '09 today and locked in the cost and the finance rate (unless it goes down, then I can take advantage of the lower rate). Got a solid deal and the car should be here around the end of February - beginning of March. My lease is up 3/15/09 so timing should be about right. Ordered a loaded 328xi sedan in Space Gray with Oyster leather, sport, premium, cold, Logic7, xenons, iPod, essentially all but iDrive. Should be a nice car.

[jjlawyer]

Originally Posted by Barmats

Leasing is no different from an expensive rental. Unless you buy the car for the residual value (and it's seldom a good deal), you've spent a bunch of $$ and have zero equity in the car. And, if you plan on getting rid of the car or upgrading before the lease term, the only "out" is to pay the balance of the lease payments and give the car back.

If you finance, then you own the car and can mod it, sell it, or do whatever you want to it. And if you're no upside-down on the loan, you will have some positive equity in it.

Proof that someone can be totally clueless without actually saying "You should NEVER EVER ________,"

[willa1975]

I decided to buy for two reasons.

I got my Mazda 3 on their "Assured Value Purchase" plan, which is basically a balloon finance plan with the option to return the car at the end of the finance term. In that case, it works like a lease. Unfortunately, my work situation changed a few months after getting the car, and I am now WAY over my allotted miles. None of the dealers I worked with were willing to offer me a decent trade-in. And, if I return the car, I will most certainly take a bath, and I don't ever want to be in this situation again.

Also, with the current financing rates, leasing wouldn't save me more than $100/month.

[Bruce Thompson]

If you think donate your car so Every vehicle donation that is offered to our cause allows us to continue working towards the betterment of the care and living situations of needy children in the community. Your donation will benefit you as well. When you make a car donation, you can write it off on your yearly tax return. We will even handle the tax forms for you, saving you the time and the trouble! Don't have a car to donate but still wish to contribute? In addition to vehicle donations, we also accept contributions of real estate and land.