Considering doing a thing

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/02/2020 at 11:17 • Filed to: None

My 335xi has been throwing boost leak codes when I floor it. I’ve suspected it’s had a boost leak for a while now, but when I asked the shop I’ve been going to since I moved to DC to check it out, they took it for a spin, decided it pulls well enough, and didn’t really inspect the charge piping etc any farther.

The stock turbo d iverter valve took a shit, so I had the shop !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and I also replaced the crappy stock plastic turbo outlet pipe with a metal one from VRSF. I have an upgraded VRSF intercooler and metal charge piping, but when I did my mods, this turbo outlet pipe wasn’t yet available. I’d been meaning to get one since they came out so the diverter valve was a good occasion to also do the turbo outlet.

I already have another shop in mind to investigate the boost leak. The shop I’ve been going to also gouges on oil changes because they do a bunch of inspections and write it as a “minor service” kinda deal which is way more than an oil change should cost so I was planning to ditch them for that reason as well.

BUT, yet another 335xi problem has me irked, and my wife has been frustrated that we’re barely using 2 cars since the DC area is still in “safer at home” mode and both of us are working from home for a good long while. Whenever I have to eventually go back to work in an office, the most I’ll have to do that is 3 days a week. She’s been itching to go down to 1 car so we can spend less money and save more for buying a house.

She has a leased Mazda CX-5, and the incentive lease we used when we got it over-inflated the residual value to keep the payments down, so if we were to try trading it in we’d be upside down. I knew this going into it but we didn’t foresee any situation where we’d want/need to get out of the lease early. Whoops.

So.

I floated the idea of finding a dealer with a used Kia Stinger GT2 rwd, that would take both our cars as a trade. My 335xi is paid off, so even if we get a crappy trade value on it, we could cover the upside-down amount of the CX-5 lease with the proceeds from the 335xi, and use the remaining 335xi equity towards a down payment on the Stinger. The Stinger is the perfect compromise between my and her priorities. It’s got the performance, styling, reliability and non-snobby brand for me, and the safety nannies, passenger and cargo room for her. It’s even got a power tailgate like her CX-5.

She was actually very excited by this idea, but I’m not sure the math will quite work out where we’re saving money. The lease payment on her CX-5 is $321. The only costs on my 335xi are insuring and fixing it. We’re paying $238.95/month on insurance for both cars (thanks, DC area) and I’m not sure how much we’d pay on insurance for both of us on just one Stinger. But let’s say we did a $25k loan on the Stinger at 3% for 60 months, that’s $449/month. So our insurance would need to go down by $128/month just to break even, and then we’d have 1 car instead of 2.

Yes, this would be a car we own instead of leasing hers, and it would most likely break less frequent ly than my 335xi, but the monthly costs don’t seem to look much different. Obviously if we borrow less than $25k, the monthly cost would go down, but I’m really not excited at the prospect of ending up in some kind of compromise-mobile just to lower the car spending by $100/month or something like that.

I dunno, we haven’t decided how actively if at all we’ll pursue this idea, but we’re thinking about it.

Hmmmm.

DISCUSSION (26)

Cash Rewards > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:20

Don't know what shop you've gone too, but there's a shop in Fairfax on Prosperity, near Mosaic District, that seems to be a very good indy bmw/Mercedes shop. Dinan authorized, lots of nice, older cars going in and out.

PyroHoltz f@h Oppo 261120 > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:31

Your plan is sound IMO.

Out of curiosity, how many miles on that bimmer? I’m hoping to avoid any catastrophic failures after just clicking 100k a bit ago, on mine .

DipodomysDeserti > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:39

“It’s got the... reliability and non-snobby brand for me”

-BMW driver

Kinja'd!!!

Textured Soy Protein > Cash Rewards
06/02/2020 at 11:49

Not going to name the shop I’m going to ditch because it’s actually owned by a high school friend’s family . But the new place I’m going to is S2 Dynamics here in Rockville.

Textured Soy Protein > DipodomysDeserti
06/02/2020 at 11:50

This may come as a shock but I drive a BMW in spite of its brand image, not because of it.

Textured Soy Protein > PyroHoltz f@h Oppo 261120
06/02/2020 at 11:51

The plan could be sound, if the math works out. There’s 67k miles on the 335xi. But if I were to guess, the boost leak is probably the result of a silicone coupler in my upgraded charge piping going bad or something like that, since all the pipes are metal and hopefully intact. If that’s the case, can’t blame it on BMW, but the shit stock diverter valve can definitely be blamed on BMW.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:52

That’s a good looking car.

Given the inflated residual value you took on the lease terms, if you ended early, yes, you’d be upside down. But even if you rode it out to the end of the lease term, wouldn’t they change the residual value to more accurately reflect reality?

You pay for the affordable lease if you traded it in now or pay for it at the end of the lease regardless, right?

CompactLuxuryFan > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:53

I would guess your 335 is already depreciated enough that it won’t make financial sense to get rid of it no matter how you slice things. Maybe if you got rid of it and just kept the CX-5?

Since you’ve got more of an ‘enthusiast’ spec, going with a private party sale is critical but c ould be tough in current times. I got out of my 335 in January and was able to get top dollar because it was Le Mans Blue over Saddle Brown and manual.

Anyway, if you trade into a Stinger you won’t be saving money. I’m thinking you have to live out the CX-5 lease or get somebody to take it over.

dogisbadob > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:56

Keep in mind that Kia’s 10-year warranty only applies to new, not used (otherwise it’s only 5/60k)

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:58

Kia Stinger GT 2 AWD? That’s all I need to hear.

Do it, sound financial decisions be dammed

Arrivederci > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:59

How much time is left on the CX5 lease?

If the amount you’d be upside down equals the remaining payments owed (or is less), I think that might help your decision.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 11:59

I think that's in jest, as DD also owns a Bimmer.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 12:01

Why not just sell the Bimmer and ride out the lease? I don't think breaking a lease is ever a win... That's how they're designed, of course.

Textured Soy Protein > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
06/02/2020 at 12:10

I want rwd not awd. The rwd is a good couple hundred pounds lighter and has a torsen LSD. The awd has an open rear diff except on the GT-S which was a limited run thing. Hell, rwd in general is scarce, like at least 80% of the ones I’m seeing out there are awd.

Textured Soy Protein > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
06/02/2020 at 12:13

We could, but I would be bored with the CX-5 as my only car. That’s not to say I wouldn’t deal with it for a while since we’re driving so little anyway, but meh.

My wife’s past 2 cars before the CX-5 we got out of the leases early with no penalty. They were a 2013 Civic and a 2016 Impreza. Each of them we traded in early because they had enough equity in them that the trade value was higher than the payoff. But those leases were structured with residual values in the 53-56% range and the residual on the CX-5 is 60%.

I still have to see what the payoff is vs projected trade value right now but I’m assuming that 60% residual vs. Mazda’s steeper depreciation than Honda or Subaru will put it a bit upside down.

Textured Soy Protein > Arrivederci
06/02/2020 at 12:14

It goes thru August next year. I need to find out what the payoff is and look up possible trade values.

Textured Soy Protein > CompactLuxuryFan
06/02/2020 at 12:16

Yeah, there’s a certain logic to selling the 335xi and riding out the CX-5. It wouldn’t really impact monthly spending much other than not having to insure the 335xi but it would cash out whatever current equity it has vs hanging on to it while it keeps depreciating. It’s just I’m very meh about only having access to a CX-5 for driving. It’s fine. But I’d be bored.

Textured Soy Protein > VincentMalamute-Kim
06/02/2020 at 12:18

The overly high residual would only come into play at the end of the lease if we wanted to buy the car. Otherwise we’d just turn it in and move on to the next thing.

Textured Soy Protein > dogisbadob
06/02/2020 at 12:21

Yeah ideally I’d try to find a CPO but it’s hard when so many Stingers are awd and I much prefer the rwd. My brother bought a CPO Sportage earlier this year before rona hit and the dealer tried to sell him a “full wrap” extended warranty that was directly thru Kia where it would effectively extend the bumper-to-bumper to a similar length as if it were a new car. It’s not the cheapest but if I could haggle on something like that I’d consider it.

Wobbles the Mind > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 12:42

I f you two are looking to get into a home sooner rather than later , then you’ll want to avoid having any car payments at the time you shop. That will give you better rates, less money down, and higher mortgage qualifications . Otherwise, you would need the Stinger to insure at less than $114 per month to essentially breakeven on your monthly spending , but having that loan will impact your home financing options.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 12:48

Eventually you’d have to pay up or keep kicking the can down the road forever. Which you could do.

QCGoose > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 13:08

I have nothing to add other than I LOVE the Stinger. Seeing them on the road is still a treat for me and IMO they definitely have presence; they nailed the design and proportions .

Bonus for going RWD.

Textured Soy Protein > VincentMalamute-Kim
06/02/2020 at 13:30

We’ve been leasing cars for my wife because the safety nannies are very important to her, and as those features are relatively new it was cheaper for us to lease non-luxury new cars vs try to find something used . Now that they’ve been around for a while, her next car will probably be something used so we can get off the lease merry go-round.

Textured Soy Protein > Wobbles the Mind
06/02/2020 at 14:14

I know there are a million factors that affect home financing but I’m somewhat helped by my >800 credit score.

sony1492 > Textured Soy Protein
06/02/2020 at 15:59

Its worth sticking with what you’ve got if your sure your turbos won’t need to be replaced by the time the lease is up. If theres the prospect of several thousand in repairs on a car worth 10k or less then get out of it while you can

Textured Soy Protein > sony1492
06/02/2020 at 16:49

My 335xi is an N55 so the single turbo is much less likely to fail than the failure-prone N54 twin turbos.