Long-term Model S rental/very short-term lease/other solution?

[IAmKai]

So, I have a BMW i3 right now. The lease ends in just about 5 weeks. I'm an evening-of-3/31/16 reservationist and a California resident. When I made my reservation, I didn't think I'd getting a 3 until mid-to-late 2018. I figured I could buy something used for a year or so, then sell it when I get my 3. Now, unless the production timeline takes a big hit, I'm fairly confident I'll have the option to get one within the next 6 months or so.

I've seen plenty of lease takeovers, but none are ever sub-12 months. The problem with buying something used in the mean time is taking such a big sales tax hit for such short term usage. I could buy the car, somehow sell it for the same price and still lose $4,000.

What I would appreciate would be some options that I might not be aware of in terms of something in the mean time. There's the standard long-term rental from a normal rental car company option, but I highly value HOV lane access (130 mile roundtrip commute of which 99% is freeway driving). Does anyone know of some kind of long-term Model S rental that's not so exorbitant as paying the $100+/day rates on Turo? I'm willing to pay some kind of premium on such an odd situation, but $3k+ a month is obviously too much.

Would appreciate any advice anyone has. Thanks!

 

[GasKilla]

So, I have a BMW i3 right now. The lease ends in just about 5 weeks. I'm an evening-of-3/31/16 reservationist and a California resident. When I made my reservation, I didn't think I'd getting a 3 until mid-to-late 2018. I figured I could buy something used for a year or so, then sell it when I get my 3. Now, unless the production timeline takes a big hit, I'm fairly confident I'll have the option to get one within the next 6 months or so.

I've seen plenty of lease takeovers, but none are ever sub-12 months. The problem with buying something used in the mean time is taking such a big sales tax hit for such short term usage. I could buy the car, somehow sell it for the same price and still lose $4,000.

What I would appreciate would be some options that I might not be aware of in terms of something in the mean time. There's the standard long-term rental from a normal rental car company option, but I highly value HOV lane access (130 mile roundtrip commute of which 99% is freeway driving). Does anyone know of some kind of long-term Model S rental that's not so exorbitant as paying the $100+/day rates on Turo? I'm willing to pay some kind of premium on such an odd situation, but $3k+ a month is obviously too much.

Would appreciate any advice anyone has. Thanks!

Have you asked BMW if you can extend your lease for another 6 months? Or go month to month? When I leased my Leaf they offered lease extensions without me asking.

 

[IAmKai]

Have you asked BMW if you can extend your lease for another 6 months? Or go month to month? When I leased my Leaf they offered lease extensions without me asking.

Wow. That's a pretty good idea. Some quick Googling shows BMW may offer at least a couple of months - possibly more. Thanks!

 

[jbcarioca]

Given your location you might contact some of the Turo owners of older Tesla or other BEV about a long term rental. That might get you down to a tolerable pain. Clearly a flexible extension of your i3 lease might be the simplest and maybe cheapest option.

I checked on a three month rental of an older S at a different location and ended out at $1,000 per month. Some Turo owners will do that, especially for rentals outside peak season for them.

 

[IAmKai]

Given your location you might contact some of the Turo owners of older Tesla or other BEV about a long term rental. That might get you down to a tolerable pain. Clearly a flexible extension of your i3 lease might be the simplest and maybe cheapest option.

I checked on a three month rental of an older S at a different location and ended out at $1,000 per month. Some Turo owners will do that, especially for rentals outside peak season for them.

Ah, I'll try that. I had thought about it, but figured it was a losing battle to get them down that low. I'll give it a go. Thanks!

 

[jbcarioca]

Ah, I'll try that. I had thought about it, but figured it was a losing battle to get them down that low. I'll give it a go. Thanks!

Not a sure thing at all, but there are a handful of older MS60 floating around the LA area. I'll bet BMW extension ends out working the best.
Please keep us posted. Quite a few people are encountering analogous problems as M3 production becomes a reality.