Everyone is fine, but a question...

"HoustonRunner" (houstonrunner)
06/19/2018 at 10:32 • Filed to: None

If you read my last post you know I’m turning in a BMW 328 at the end of it’s lease* in about a week. Or that is what I was planning to do.

My wife was driving it home from work last night and got into an accident - she is ok, and it wasn’t her fault.

But now I have a busted BMW that is supposed to go back in less than three weeks.

The * above was to denote this isn’t really a lease, it is a BMW Owners Choice, which works the same except the payments are really loan payments, and there is a lump payoff at the end if you keep the vehicle. So if I keep the vehicle past July 7 I owe BMW FS $31k.

My insurance is USAA, and it wasn’t her fault, so I’m not too worried about being out any additional money, but this is definitely going to be a headache.

To top it all off I was being a bit cute with the turn in - the vehicle registration expires at the end of June 2018, but the turn in date is July 7. You can’t turn in a vehicle that isn’t registered, but I wasn’t about to pay registration for a year on a vehicle I have for 7 days. So I had an appointment to turn it in 27-June (just due to schedules) while it still had an active registration.

Now I’m not sure how that part will work - I can’t renew the registration without a vehicle inspection, and I clearly can’t do that until it is repaired.

Ugh. Again, my wife and the person who hit her are both fine, and that is most important. But the paperwork would have been easier if the car was totaled....

Anyone with experience in this have suggestions?

DISCUSSION (8)

Chariotoflove > HoustonRunner
06/19/2018 at 10:51

And I don’t suppose you can turn it in damaged. Oh well, at least you have USAA. Maybe talk to them and see if they can get you into a shop that will fix it up in short order and get you back on your time table?

WilliamsSW > HoustonRunner
06/19/2018 at 10:54

I don’t know about Owners Choice, but with a regular lease, BMW has a grace period after lease expiry so you can turn it in late.

Also, you can probably extend the lease a month or two at the same monthly rate - Lexus was MORE then happy to offer me that before I turned my last car in.

I would call BMW financial and tell them, see what your options are.

Another possibility is to see what penalty they will hit you with for turning in the damaged car - if the insurance payout offsets that, maybe you can just unload it on June 27 as planned? ?

Glad everyone is ok - that’s the important thing. Good luck!

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > HoustonRunner
06/19/2018 at 10:55

I feel like there was a Jalopnik article about this in the last couple of years. IIRC you have options but you’ll need to contact the dealer and see what they want to do. In some cases they’d rather just deal with it themselves.

Ahh yes. Here it is https://jalopnik.com/what-to-do-if-your-leased-car-gets-damaged-1788862827

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > HoustonRunner
06/19/2018 at 10:57

I’d imagine that BMW Financial is familiar with this situation and has an answer for you.

That being said, the easiest solution would be if the dealer had a body shop or partnered with one. Take it to their shop, turn in the car while it’s in their possession and in the process of being repaired, so long as that’s kosher with your insurance co

HoustonRunner > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
06/19/2018 at 11:03

Great link, thank you!

Milky > HoustonRunner
06/19/2018 at 11:05

Just out of curiosity why wouldn’t a vehicle missing its bumper cover pass inspection? Everything else looks fine in this pic.

-Detroit resident

HoustonRunner > Milky
06/19/2018 at 11:09

Reasonable point - right now the bumper is still hanging on. I don’t plan on doing anything until the insurance company has looked at it though.

Monkey B > HoustonRunner
06/19/2018 at 15:03

it’d be fixed in a week. Also, use the dealers body shop if they have one and they’ll likely work with you on the turn in if it’s still in there...especially if getting into another one.