topic Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350 in Auto Loans

Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

FretlessMayhem — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 20:11:59 GMT

Anyone have one of these new Lexus'? The BMW dealership here is pathetic, and the worse customer service experience I've ever had. They've angered me enough to file with the BBB as well as complain to their corporate office.

As such, I don't even want to pay them interest. I have 2.9 financing on my current car, but I'm thinking about dealing it for a new Lexus so I never have to set foot inside the BMW dealership again.

Thoughts? Anyone have experiences with Lexus vehicles?

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

Watchmann — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:38:12 GMT

Yep, I have a 2006 Lexus IS350. I benchmarked it against the BMW 335i, and the Lexus won. The BMW has better driving dynamics, but the interior is not up to scratch. And since I tend to keep my cars for longer than the warranty period, it was a no brainer (never keep a German car out of warranty, it'll eat you alive). The IS350 is not quite as good in the driving experience as the Bimmer, but still very good, but the interior is much nicer than the BMW. And option prices are lower than BMW. The Sports Package is recommended, and the Mark Levinson stereo upgrade is a steal when ordered with the Navigation. Reliability is typical Toyota.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

Takunda1 — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:03:01 GMT

FretlessMayhem wrote:
Anyone have one of these new Lexus'? The BMW dealership here is pathetic, and the worse customer service experience I've ever had. They've angered me enough to file with the BBB as well as complain to their corporate office.

As such, I don't even want to pay them interest. I have 2.9 financing on my current car, but I'm thinking about dealing it for a new Lexus so I never have to set foot inside the BMW dealership again.

Thoughts? Anyone have experiences with Lexus vehicles?

Sounds to me like this an emotional decision. Have you thought about the cost of getting rid of that Bimmer for the Lexus? Why not just go to another BMW dealership, if you don't like the service at the one you go to. It doesn't seem to me like you have a problem with the vehicle, just the service you received at a dealership.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

mickie08 — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:58:09 GMT

Even with a BMW, you are going to take a decent hit on equity if it is a 2008. It is not worth that financially just to prove a point. Go to another MBW dealer for service, and trade the BMW in when you will not be negative on it.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

FretlessMayhem — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:30:23 GMT

Takunda1 wrote:
FretlessMayhem wrote:
Anyone have one of these new Lexus'? The BMW dealership here is pathetic, and the worse customer service experience I've ever had. They've angered me enough to file with the BBB as well as complain to their corporate office.

As such, I don't even want to pay them interest. I have 2.9 financing on my current car, but I'm thinking about dealing it for a new Lexus so I never have to set foot inside the BMW dealership again.

Thoughts? Anyone have experiences with Lexus vehicles?
Sounds to me like this an emotional decision. Have you thought about the cost of getting rid of that Bimmer for the Lexus? Why not just go to another BMW dealership, if you don't like the service at the one you go to. It doesn't seem to me like you have a problem with the vehicle, just the service you received at a dealership.

There's only 1 dealership in my area. I'll have to keep returning to this dealership to have my vehicle serviced and whatnot.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

FretlessMayhem — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:31:22 GMT

mickie08 wrote:
Even with a BMW, you are going to take a decent hit on equity if it is a 2008. It is not worth that financially just to prove a point. Go to another MBW dealer for service, and trade the BMW in when you will not be negative on it.

That's the thing that kept me from pulling the trigger on that decision when I went to the dealership. They offered about 3-4k less than what I owe, with equity like you said.

If I can get them to pay it off entirely, I'll probably pull the trigger.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

dvroberts81 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:05:22 GMT

Message Edited by dvroberts81 on 12-09-2008 12:05 AM

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

dvroberts81 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:06:25 GMT

If they offered you 3-4k less then what you owe then prepare to spend an extra $60-80 a month extra on a new lexus, assiming that it will be in the same price range as the bmw. Personally, I wouldnt do it, you have less then a 1 year old BMW. Stick with it for another year until you gain some equity on the car. I would strongly suggest making extra payments/larger payments.

Message Edited by dvroberts81 on 12-09-2008 12:06 AM

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

FretlessMayhem — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:41:22 GMT

dvroberts81 wrote:
If they offered you 3-4k less then what you owe then prepare to spend an extra $60-80 a month extra on a new lexus, assiming that it will be in the same price range as the bmw. Personally, I wouldnt do it, you have less then a 1 year old BMW. Stick with it for another year until you gain some equity on the car. I would strongly suggest making extra payments/larger payments.
Message Edited by dvroberts81 on 12-09-2008 12:06 AM

You think it'll count as being a year old in January although I bought it on September? That should even out the equity, I think. Plus it isn't too far away.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

LYNNY47 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:17:09 GMT

I think in these tough economic times you need to see what the difference in the cost is. Your BMW is brand new and if you are going to lose a lot of money in the deal I don't think it is worth it. I have had about 2 or 3 brand new cars in my lifetime so far and now I usually buy a used car as you save a lot of money and the cars are usually in very good condition. I just never see anyone benefit from getting rid of a new car to buy another new car as you lose so much value the first year on the car. I hope it works out for you if that is what you want but only you know what your finances are like and what you can afford. Either way good luck on your car or cars.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

FretlessMayhem — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:58:00 GMT

Lexus does 7 year financing, which could drastically lower my current payment. Also, I have no problems getting a nice used Lexus if I can find one.

But if I can wait until 2009 (January 1) and have my car equity even out, I think that is optimal.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

mickie08 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:09:47 GMT

First off, waitning until Jnauary will not amke a difference. You willhave to wait until you have paid off 4k more than the car has depreciated currently. That would probably take 6 months or so. The first 2 years of any loan most of the payments go to interest, so it takes awhile to pay down the balance.

Second, a 6 year lona is always a bad thing. The rule of thumb is if you can not afford the car in a 4 year loan it is more than you should spend. Now if you can afford the 4 year loan but choose to stretch out the payment a little to give you some breathing room (with the plan on making larger/bigger payments) OK. Or if you end up in a situation where you have no choice to buy a car for some reason and that is the only way, then so be it. But, if you are buying a car for pleasure/personal desire, stretching it out makes no sense. I would at least wait until youhave the BMQ paid down a bit. Make some extra payments on it. If you can not afford to make extra payments on it right now, then you should seriously consider whether you are in a financial position to waste teh negative equity you have right now by trading it in.

Again, to each his own. I know what it is like to have to deal with a bad dealer, but how often do you reall yhave to deal with them...Not that often. Much better to suck it up and deal with them to make a bad financial decision during what is probably the worse financial crunch since the 20's.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

cabarkeep — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:45:55 GMT

I guess I would have to agree with other posters on this topic ...the decision sounds like more of an emotional decision rather than a financial one .. if thats the case and you can afford it ...do it and dont look back ....peace of mind is a hard thing to put a price on.

However, I do not know where anyone is getting a 4k negative value on this car ..I am a manager at a major dealership and I can tell you an 08 model vehicle bought new ....well lets just say you can probably figure that value to be somewhere between 25-30% less than what the invoice was on that vehicle new! No one in their right mind Lexus included would give you almost invoice less 4k for a BMW 328i not even with 100 miles on it lol .....just wouldnt make sense.

People are correct in stating if you had another dealership to go to I would go there but if that is the only dealer in your area then I guess your options are limited.

I do not know your situation with the service of your dealership but have you talked to the Owner yet? I know our Owner is on site 5 days a week and is very hands on and is involved in every aspect of our dealership and has an open door policy with customers unlike most dealerships.

A visit with the Owner may prove to be a simple and easy fix and at the same time might save you a ton of cash to boot :) If you have already done this I would say do what makes you happy.

Oh and by the way ... 6 year loans are not bad things but more like the norm because of the amount of money it takes to purchase a car these days although I would say my personal choice on "highline-type" vehicles ie BMW, Mercedes, Lexus etc ... would be to lease it unless you put a ton of miles on it or intend to keep it forever.... payment is low ...you can buy it out after the lease term and you have a guaranteed future value that you can turn the vehicle in after the term or just purchase it if you feel you like owning it.

With the lease at least you can turn in the car after 2-3 years and not have to worry about the trade in value just vehicle condition and excess miles .... thats why you see so many people in highline leases ... beleive it or not trade in values are most of the time worse than you think on high line vehicles ...but to each his own ...

Like I said it all depends on your financial position .. if you do not really care about the negative equity and this is all about making a statement then just do it ...if it is going to kill you to lose 10-15k on a new BMW then I would be trying to stay in some sort of good grace with the only dealership in town ....

Just curious ..how far is the next closest dealership? :)

Anyways ..good luck sorry for the rant....

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

FretlessMayhem — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:53:14 GMT

cabarkeep wrote:
Just curious ..how far is the next closest dealership? :)

Way out in Newport News. Probably a good hour from here.

The stereo on my brand new car goes in and out. I took it in to have it looked at. They admitted they didn't look at it at all. Then I discovered someone stole money out of my car. Instead of apologizing, they told me it was my fault and that it was okay to steal money because "sometimes car washers get thirsty and want a drink from the soda machine".

I wrote a letter to their corporate office. I'm hoping that will do some good. Under no circumstances will a senior manager at a car dealership tell me stealing from cars is an acceptable practice.

The sticker on my car was 42k. I talked him down to 32k when I bought it.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

realworldknowledge — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:50:39 GMT

My 2 pennies having driven both cars, the BMW is more enjoyable to drive, hands down. I own both makes (not the 3 or the IS, but have driven both when each car/truck was in the shop). Initially had the BMW and the wife had the Lexus, but I drive further to work on a daily basis and the Lexus truck gets better gas mileage so I now drive the Lexus.

Don't get me wrong, its a great make, and if a car is a car to you and nothing more, you can't go wrong with the brand. But if you enjoy the open road, the BMW is one of the best daily drivers they make.

I've taken the BMW to a few of the Northern VA dealerships and they fall WAY short to the service you encounter from Lexus. Lexus is a gold standard of above and beyond service experiences. No appointment necessary, open from 5am-11pm, 365 days per year. They have a free cafeteria, sports room with large screen TV, internet room with computers, a lounge or you can take a free loaner and come back when their done with your car.

Good luck.

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

Zilpo — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:35:06 GMT

FretlessMayhem wrote:
Anyone have one of these new Lexus'? The BMW dealership here is pathetic, and the worse customer service experience I've ever had. They've angered me enough to file with the BBB as well as complain to their corporate office.

As such, I don't even want to pay them interest. I have 2.9 financing on my current car, but I'm thinking about dealing it for a new Lexus so I never have to set foot inside the BMW dealership again.

Thoughts? Anyone have experiences with Lexus vehicles?

Wow brotha I hear what you are saying. I have a 2008 bmw 328 i but had a lexus is 350 2008 prior. The lexus dealership in Lexington KY treat you great. But with the Lexus you hardly ever have to go to the dealership because they don't break down often. I love the way my BMW drives but I hate going to the dealership because they screw every customer they have. It sucks and I will never Owen another BMW as long as I live due to the way the dealerships treat us. Lexus is the way to go. They want to retain a customer not screw them all....

Re: Thinking of trading 2008 BMW 328i for 2009 Lexus IS350

Epcot — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 22:58:48 GMT

Welcome to the forum Zilpo.
Did you know you were replying to a 4 year old thread?