My 2023 BMW X4M got stolen recently - I’m still in shock and processing how to move forward.
I have a few questions and would appreciate some feedback.
The car was leased, I only had the car for 5 months (out of a 36 month lease). I put a significant down payment down to lower my monthly costs. Since the car was stolen, would I be able to get the remainder down payment refunded? (Or at least a partial amount).
If my insurance settles the car with BMW and I owe nothing, I’m still down X amount of $$$ from the down payment. That means I either get that down payment money back and put it towards another lease OR I have to take more money out of my account for another down payment on a new car?
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on this topic? Appreciate all the help…
Never ever put money down on a lease. There’s literally no point. It’s not like a loan, it’s the exact same total amount over the lease term.
They only look at the monthly payments 😂
No it isn’t. Putting money down decreases the leased amount, which decreases the amount that accrues interest.
Lmao
There is a money factor. But I’m not sure if the money down just applies the monthly payments or whether it saves on the interest that accrues over the course of the duration of the lease.
This is generally true, except for security deposits. Last I checked, it’s up to 8 payments and lowers the money factor. So if you have a $1000 payment, you put $8k in as 8 payments. You get it back at the end of the lease. (It actually lowers those payments too. So you end up paying 8 x $950 or whatever it works out to.)
Sorry that happened to you, and that you’re going through this.
would I be able to get the remainder down payment refunded?
Unfortunately very unlikely. When you put money down in a lease, you kiss that money goodbye. In a lease, your down payment is much like your monthly payment in the sense that it doesn’t give you “equity” in the car. It is very unlikely that you will ever get that money back.
OR I have to take more money out of my account for another down payment on a new car?
This.
Worked at BMW in sales and finance.
You have a very good chance of getting a new car with little to no down, just to keep you part of the BMW family. All depends on what car you want. If it’s an X4M, there’s more money in the car, and they’ll want to push it faster towards the end of the year.
I would go in now, see what you can get, because this is the time of the year where you’ll have the best chance of getting the best possible scenario.
Good luck!
Did you have a faraday pouch?
Sorry to hear. Serious question, were you not able to use the Connected App to track the car and tell the police where it was? Or did it happen to where you didn’t realize it was stolen for a day or more?
If I ever walk out and see it missing, I’ll be straight to the app to see where it is!
Isn’t it a bit weird that you get screwed. You have a deal with BMW for a car. Which got stolen and they are insured for. So they just can’t get off the hook of their side of the contract by having the car stolen. I’d say they still have an obligation to actually deliver you “a” x4m. Realistically it could be a slightly used one, and not a new one.
Contracts work both ways.
I’m don’t think that’s how this works though. They already made the deal and delivered the vehicle. BMW is not on the hook here, the buyer is, and that’s why buyers are bound by the terms of BMW financial contracts to maintain insurance on the vehicle until it is paid off or leased returned. Contracts do work both ways, but it seems in this scenario BMW has fulfilled their obligations up to this point. That doesn’t mean they will just provide another vehicle. Certainly the contract would not require that, and they certainly aren’t providing another vehicle out of goodwill.
Your insurance adjuster has a lot of power in this situation. When my 3 series was stolen earlier this year, the value of the car was higher than what I owed on my lease and I got paid a hefty sum for the difference. It will all depend on what the market value of that car is right now. It is unlikely to be higher than what you owe on the lease.
You may also have a specific coverage on your insurance which pays out the full msrp and if that’s the case you should receive a newer version of that car.
I had to re -read to get the the “lease”. Now I’m wondering why anyone would down payment on a lease.
Yeah but that would imply financial lease. In which ownership and insurance is with the customer. And in that case it would be settled between insurer and customer. Not bmw.
In the case OP provided is operational lease. Basically a car as a service for which you pay a monthly fee and all other costs are just fuel and perhaps a fee for additional miles.
I never put money down, and if you argue you should then you shouldn’t get that expensive of a car.
Personally a max down payment of 2k is fine, but I always do $0.
Lol, who puts a down payment on a lease?
Just wanted to say …. The way they are stealing all these cars …. Is there picking up your key fob when u use it with a machine and they save the signal to then relay to car and boom gone……happened to me in my Acura tlx 23’ …….so to help my fellow bmw people…… I only use my phone or the bmw key card…… haven’t used my key fob since I left dealership…… hope that helps when you get your new bmw…… faraday pouch works but the moment you pull your key out to use…… they taking the signal……… I put 4 AirTags in car removed the speakers in the AirTag so they can’t find…… steering lock…. And a owl cam so if they do get in the car I get alerted…. And it’s gonna take sometime to take the steering wheel lock offf…. Don’t rely on bmw gps …… use AirTags cheapest best way…. They know how to remove all that bmw stuff…… but they won’t know wth you stuck them airtags
How does an airtag prevent theft? In my area the cops won’t pursuit this.
So you can find it cuz the cops ain’t gonna find it …. They couldn’t find my brand new acura tlx 23 special edition ……. Smh
Same thing happened to me with vw finance and I lost the down payment
When you say stolen you mean taken off on a truck right? Not driven away ?