Quote:
Originally Posted by Greekca
So, I dug out my lease and this is what it says regarding who is permitted to operate the car. This is a California lease signed in March 2016.
"Section 21. Vehicle Use.
I agree not to use (or permit others to use) the Vehicle: (a) in any way that violates the law or the terms of my insurance policy or this Lease; (b) to transport goods or people for hire, lease or rental to others; (c) outside the state where it was first titled for more than 30 days without your prior written consent; or (d) outside the United States, except for less than 30 days in Canada. I will not allow an uninsured person to operate the Vehicle at any time, or allow any third party, other than my spouse, to operate the Vehicle without written permission from you. I will not physically change the Vehicle's body or interior in any way unless I first get your written consent."
To me, that sounded like to have someone other than your spouse operate the car you called BMW and went through some process to get written permission from them. I was expecting something like a credit check and insurance verification.
Going to call again and explain a different way and see if I get a different response.
Edit: I called again and received a similar response. To add a non-spousal driver to the lease you have to go through the assumption process to essentially add the other person to the lease as a co-signor. Important to go over the reason for the assumption with BMW prior to starting the process to make sure it isn't processed as a typical assumption process where the other person would be assuming the entire lease. Same fees apply sadly.
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To me this goes under the heading "It's better to ask forgiveness than permission."
Not that it couldn't happen, but I've never heard of anyone having issues with a leased car because a non spouse drove it. Think about it. BMW service people, valets, car wash attendants all would drive the car on occasion. You not calling BMW to get permission then. I really don't think it's an issue unless your GF is not listed on your policy and has no auto insurance. How would BMW even know or care? Now you may have gotten yourself in a bad position by calling them multiple times. You specifically could have an issue, but even then it would have to be a weirdly specific incident where BMW would care.
The rule looks to try and prevent someone from qualifying for a lease and then giving the car to a third party to use all the time as their personal car.