[Jeff J]

EDIT: I'm going to start over here. My original question really didn't get to the point. I'd rather put the whole story out there, as it's really quite shocking (at least to me)...

I ordered my new car at the end of December, and locked the lease rates at that time (just like anyone else who orders a car that will be leased, and just like I did on my last BMW). This included the available December incentives (750 loyalty, 1000 holiday credit) plus the $300 Ultimate Test Drive App credit, all as cap cost reductions. The 60 day lock would last until the end of February. I did nothing between my Dec lock and the car arriving in mid-Feburary. Since the residuals were better in Feb when the car arrived and the loyalty and cash incentives still totaled 1750, I told the dealership I wanted the Feb rates and incentives, which also included the $500 credit towards a the first month's payment. The salesman agreed, presumably with the buy-in of his sales manager and the finance guy, and the lease was written up with the Feb numbers and incentives. I signed it. The dealership signed it. I took the car home 2 days after it arrived at the dealership, still in mid-February.

Now 2 weeks after signing the lease and taking the car home, the dealership has called to say that BMWNA has rejected the lease contract because I was "cherry picking" the best bits and pieces of deals. They said I had to use the December residual because that's what was in effect when I locked my rates. They also said that I couldn't have the $500 first payment credit. They told me to return to the dealership and sign a revised lease! Now, I'm pretty sure that the dealership is the one who prepared the lease paperwork and accepted my terms (not me!), so they must have been aware of what they were accepting - it was all in writing via email before we ever got to writing up the contract. There's no way I could have forced them into something they didn't want to do. They've been in business for years, and obviously have leased hundreds of cars that had to be ordered, so they should know how this works.

Here's where it gets really weird...

Somehow despite all of this talk about the residuals being different, the revised lease they proposed had zero change in monthly payment. The only change it showed a reduction of the first month's payment credit from $500 down to $300. My only explanation is that they thought the Test Drive App bonus of $300 was applied as 1st month's payment reduction, and they wanted to show that instead of Feb's $500 Turnkey Lease credit. Perhaps they forgot that they already applied the Test Drive credit to my cap cost reduction. Who knows. Again, no change in residual or payment, so it still shows the Feb numbers. Every line is identical except for the piece where they show the first month's payment credit.

I told them that my original lease contract seemed perfectly valid to me, as it was signed by both me and them, and I had no intention of paying one penny more to anyone than what was shown on the contract I already held. So what do they do? They cut me a check for $200 from their account to cover the difference in the two contracts. Perhaps I was stupid, but in the interest of keeping the peace with the dealership, today I went ahead and signed this new contract. It doesn't change my terms, or out of pocket expense ($200 difference in a credit from BMWNA or $200 check in my pocket makes no difference to me - heck, I've now got $200 in my bank that I didn't have yesterday).

Honestly, I might have been OK with them taking away the $300 Test Drive credit, keeping all of the Feb incentives (including the $500 Turnkey payment credit), and increasing my payment by $10 (or whatever) to account for that $300 difference in cap cost. At least that would have combined all of the incentives from a given month and ignored everything else from a prior month. I wouldn't have liked it, but would at least have understood, if they'd tried to roll everything back to December numbers (which would be about a $35 change in payment). Again, that would have combined everything from one month and ignored everything from the other month. What I've ended up with seems to be a bastardization of terms that have never existed anywhere to my knowledge. But this is what they've proposed - presumably with BMWNA's blessing.

This is by far the strangest car purchase experience I've ever had. It seems to me that a contract is a contract, and once signed is valid and binding. If BMWNA has a problem with what the dealership did, that's between them and the dealership, and isn't my problem. The dealership has now agreed to these terms twice (and today it was the head finance guy and the sales manager watching and countersigning, for whatever that's worth). It's got to be their problem if something is wrong at this point. Of course, I'm hoping that this is done and put to bed.

But back to my original question that might help others: Has BMWNA changed their policy such that you only get the rates in effect when you order, lock, and submit a credit app, even if those rates change for the better between that time and when the car actually arrives? If so, that explains BMWNA's attempt at involvement. If not, then the dealership is clearly trying to pull something, but I can't figure out what, since if anything this new deal hurts them more.

[lax555]

You can either take the rate you locked or the current rate available when you sign the lease. I am not sure you can "relock" - ie lock December, relock in February and then sign lease in March/April.

[kromix]

curious about this as well....

Do you actually have to order a car to lock in rates or can u lock in a rate for 60 days and lease on the 50th day wether it's a car on the lot or an order??

What are the requirements to actually initiate a lock?

[Jeff J]

Kromix - Yes, I'm pretty sure you have to order a car to lock rates. You can do the same with interest rates if you're going to buy and finance instead of lease. The purpose of the lock is to protect you against rates going up while the car is being built and shipped. The side effect (at least in the past) was that if rates actually go down before you sign a contract (i.e. when the car finally shows up), you get the benefit of the new, lower rate.

[Dan_335i]

Consult a lawyer lol sue there ass and make money

[F30form]

Speaking from a Financial Services company, that is a terrible idea. They are a huge organization and unless you have solid ground, will counter sue you into the ground after they win the original suit. Worst advice ever.

[F30form]

Additionally, rates are locked in when you order a vehicle. You can only qualify for the rates that are avail at that time. So most likely it was dealer confusion that caused this.

[Jeff J]

Originally Posted by F30form

Additionally, rates are locked in when you order a vehicle. You can only qualify for the rates that are avail at that time. So most likely it was dealer confusion that caused this.

In other words, you're saying BMW's policy on rates has changed in the last couple of years? Because my previous car was locked at one set of numbers and then leased with the then-current (better) set once the car arrived.

If so, fine. Nonetheless, a contract is still a contract. If the dealer screwed it up and signed it, it should be their problem. Conversely, if I screwed it up and signed it, we all know it would definitely have been my problem, right?

I have no plans to sue, of course. The revised contract has the exact same numbers as the first, so there's absolutely no reason to do that.

In the end, I've walked away happy here, so long as this really is over now.

[ssedha]

From what I have understood, the rates are locked in; however if there are better rates available, then you fill out another credit application and then your credit gets pulled again and the new credit app should have the new numbers on it. Unless of course all the dealers told me something completely wrong...