Im surprised I even came back to post after the thorough bashing of my accord test-drive
Anyhow as much as I see some good qualities with cars I have test-driven there is still no other car that really hits ALL of the main points like my 335i. Yes, there are some things that I wish were different but I cannot find an adequate replacement. So here is my thinking:
Many people say that it is not wise to purchase after a lease, but I disagree to an extent. My 30 month lease expires next September with close to 50,000 miles on the ODO. My residual will be around $30,000 after they keep my deposit. I have been looking online at BMWs and other vehicles and this price seems lower than what I am seeing for like used BMWs. In fact, when my lease is up I could not find one that is optioned like mine for this price. My next point is that this car has been pretty flawless. I could see it lasting 200,000 miles. Its just making more sense to finance after my lease is up. With my track record I have wasted so much money trading cars in, etc. So the money Im losing converting from my lease to purchase is not really that big of a deal to me. I will actually be better off in the long run rather than getting into something new and starting this whole process over again.
If I decided to keep my car, I would most likely get the BMW performance upgrade or even DINAN. 20-30 more hp would make a big difference IMHO.
I am also patiently waiting for the 2 series to arrive. This could change my thinking as well, but I would most likely end up with similar or slightly lower payments and this is what I want to avoid. Purchasing my car after the lease is up will slash my monthly costs. The car is a depreciating asset anyhow, so I really don't see it negatively.Worst case scenario if I started having issues later on I could just sell it and it would have at least some equity.