Cheers comrades,

As a reasonably intelligent adult possessing (IMO) stellar skills in the art of personal finance management, I still find myself needing to rely on the expertise found among you to clarify the below;

• What is MINI "select" financing?
• Is it affiliated with BMWFS?
• Are BMW Loayalty benefits offered to MINI buyers (this is my 3rd MINI)
• And lastly, what benefit (if any) is there if I currently have (2) vehicles financed with BMWFS?

My new 2007 MC is to arrive mid-April, this will be the 5th vehicle I have ordered with BMW AG. I've not disscussed finance options with my (MINI) dealer since I haven't decided against paying cash up front. However if I'm "entitled" to any kind of special financing/discounts/etc. via BMWFS/MINIFS I may like to chose that route instead.

Alright then, thanks in advance for your feedback!

Cheers,

 

Ask your MA. I would doubt any special deals. Do you belong to credit union? Their rates are usually better.

 

Looks like a modified lease.
LINK

--edit--

The program on the U.K. website looks like a modified lease. The U.S. version looks like MINI finances the car for lower payments up front, with a balloon payment at the end, which you have to pay or re-finance.

Pretty stupid IMHO, and geared for people who couldn't afford the car in the first place.

 

Thanks for the tip!

Indeed I do belong to a CU. However BMWFS offers the best money factor on leases with the highest residual (they're banking on you returing the car so they can re-sell it!) Therefore BMWFS is the best choice on a lease - for loans a 3rd party lender (i.e. Credit Union) is better. I'm just wondering if MINIFS is BMWFS. Hmmm....

Cheers,

 

True. However for people like me who really want the car but still have reservations with a "first year production", a lease is a great non-obligatory option. If the car proves to be a POS, I can simply walk away after a few months.... (I was REALLY dissapointed with my 2002)

Thanks for your feedback!

 

I don't see how you can walk away from it in the first few months, via the "select" financing. It still seems to be a loan.

 

yes, it seems that way - thanks for the link. Clearly I overlooked this on the MINIUSA page. Interesting option indeed - not sure how smart it would be for some. Hmmm...

 

Leasing a car is like a rental for a set number of months. You loose the ability utilize the lemon laws in most if not all states. You are stuck with the car and attempting to return it will result in a major case of being upside-down in a lease.

 

Agreed... But I've had great success with leasing (via BMWFS) and in CA lemmon laws apply regardless of financing. If I like a car well enough, I'll simply purchase it for the residual at the lease end.... What I meant is, for me I might lease a "first year production" and if it turns out to be a dissapointment then at the end of the term I can simply hand it back to BMW/MINI and walk away.... Thanks for the feedback!

 

The real question is do you want to change cars every three or four years. However, I bought my 2003 MCS and will realize a 10-13K trade in whereas a lease would be virtually zero. I have leased Audi A6s as well as BMW 325s and found the MINI to retain its value about as high as my 1978 VW Chocolate Brown convertible.