So for those that had questions on how BMWFS handles a lease buy out in California, this is the process I went through.
The first thing you do get your payoff documents, this can be found on your BMWFS portal. You only need to print out the second page since that's the only form you actually fill out. If you decide to use your MSDS, this does NOT lower the price you paid for the car. I had 7 MSDS which I applied to the buyout, so the check I made for them has the Payoff Amount - MSDS = Check Amount. I didn't want to wait for them to refund me my MSDS as I was worried this would take a while and there is no point to get it refunded back.
So I purchased my car before my lease ended (like 1 year earlier), the discount given was the interest that you owed, for example if you had 3000 in interest for your entire 3 year lease and you bought your car on Year 2 of your 3 year lease, you get a 1000 dollar discount. There is no other discount given and no negotiations on the residual. My residual was very low, it was like $42,000.
BMWFS states if you have certified funds, it will speed up the process. I had a Cashiers Check made out to BMW FS and it took 3 weeks to process. I don't think that paying the extra $15 dollars for FedEx will make a difference. I mailed my forms and cashier check on March 4th with USPS Certified. I don't think it's worth getting it certified because to this DAY, my tracking number shows it's still not delivered LOL.
They wrote the bill of sale and and notarized it on March 31st. This was then sent to me via USPS snail mail and it arrived 2 days later. Arriving two days after they sending it out is pretty quick. What came was the Bill of Sale and the Title. You have 30 days from this date to get this titling done or else there is a penalty you will pay.
At this time, you have NOT paid the sale tax that you owe on your pay off amount. This tax rate varies based off of which city you live in not where you leased or purchased your car. For example I have different properties and Beverly Hills tax rate is 9.5% vs Pasadena tax rate is 10.25%, so titling the car in Beverly Hills is a few hundred less than if I titled it in Pasadena. This varies city by city so if I have multiple properties, check which one has the lowest tax rate and set that as the titling address.
I went to AAA and they do not charge a fee to do the title work, some other places charge like 40-50 dollars, and the DMV line takes forever. You can also do this on the DMV website but I chose to go to AAA because you will have to scan and send documents to the DMV and I don't want anything to be lost or misinterpreted. There is a 15 dollar title fee. If you have not renewed your plates, this is when it will be handled. I paid my plates prior to doing the buyout, so I didn't have to pay registration again.
So when the time comes to pay your sales tax, it will be the tax and the 15 dollar title fee.
After everything is said and done, you get a receipt with a "New Registration" with the Lien holder removed. Then you wait a month to get your title. Notify your insurance company to remove BMW as the lien holder.
Common Questions:
1) Did I need to send the car to get inspected prior to BMWFS selling it to me?
No, it was not needed.
2) What difference does it make if you purchase your car from a BMW dealership vs straight from BMW FS.
The dealer payoff is HIGHER than what BMWFS offers to you. The dealership's payoff amount was $5000 dollars more than what my BMWFS document stated. This is BEFORE tax as well. So the dealer I was working with advised me to purchase straight from BMWFS.
3) Can you still CPO?
You can CPO your lease buyout, however there is no point unless you really want unlimited mileage extended warranty. If you just purchase the 7 year Platinum warranty, you skip the 2-3K inspection for the "CPOing" of the car. Save yourself 2-3k and just buy the BMW Extended warranty. If your car is over 20K miles, you save 1K, if your car is over 20K miles, you pay 1K more.
BMW will warranty the car 7 years from the ORIGINAL in service date. If you bought your car on Jan 1 2020, BMW will only warranty it until Jan 1 2027. You will need to go through someone else to have something extended longer.
4) Does purchasing your lease and removing the Lein holder lower your insurance rate?
No, it doesn't make a difference. In the eyes of the insurance, the only difference is who they pay out.
I was talking with @kchan since he went through a lease buyout as well to get some insight on how it works.
I had a lot of questions for my lease buyout and there were unknowns. So I hope this helps you other Californian's out.
