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You've read here that BMW is selling cars at Honda prices and that's not just sticker-to-sticker, but monthly-payment-to-monthly-payment.

Here are the facts, courtesy of research help from Unhaggle. You can lease – not purchase – a brand new 2015 BMW 328i sedan over 48 months for a slightly smaller monthly payment as you can buy a 2015 Honda Accord Touring CVT sedan over 60 months - $615 for the Bimmer, $632 for the Honda.

True, the BMW wears a sticker price $10,000 larger than the Honda ($42,300 versus $32,250). But car-shopping Canadians focus on the payment first, everything else next – including make and model. Everything starts with the payment. Everything.

Related: The smart way to buy a car

Car makers and their dealers know this. Usually they promote a monthly payment not the sticker price, though lately we've seen the emergence of ads for bi-monthly and even weekly payments. An ad screaming $99 a week looks sexier, more appealing than one announcing $396 a month, no?

We also know, thanks to J.D. Power and Associates, that 59 per cent of new buyers finance their purchase, at an average of $570 a month. Another 23 per cent pay about $490 a month to lease a ride. And nearly seven of 10 new car loans stretch out for 72 months or longer.

So you can rent a BMW for 48 months and then face more payments for a new ride. Or you can buy an Accord over five years and if you're happy, continue to drive payment-free for the next decade or so. We say decade, because the research shows that a new car today will deliver 15-20 years of reliable service.

Unhaggle CEO Andrew Tai says no one should be surprised to see premium car makers like BMW offer low lease payments in a low-interest-rate world – especially as the premium brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz have moved some models down-market, selling cars and trucks priced in the mid-$30,000-range or lower, incentives included. Low lease payments are what Tai calls an "alternative" to loan payment terms that can stretch as long as 96 months now.

Low lease payments, he points out, "have been an especially important tactic to draw in new customers." Especially so as BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz have set about chasing high-volume sales around the globe. This year, BMW, Audi and Merc will combined to sell more than six million new vehicles – more than mainstream brands such as Nissan and Mazda.

The record should show that this is not merely a BMW-versus-Honda phenomenon, either. As the Unhaggle analysis shows, the shopper looking at a 2015 Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI quattro might want to mull the $709 lease payment for 48 months against 60 monthly finance payments of $712 for a 2015 Nissan Murano SV.

Or the $491 lease payment (45 months) on a Mercedes CLA 250 against a $518 monthly payment (60 months) on a 2015 Mazda3 GT-SKY with automatic gearbox. If it's a family hauler you want, a 2015 Infiniti QX60 wears a lease payment of $697 (48 months) or you can buy a 2015 Toyota Sienna LE minivan with room for seven and all-wheel drive for a loan payment of $745 over 60 months.

In short, the monthly price to lease a luxury car is now about the same as the monthly outlay to purchase a mainstream ride. Both will come with many premium features, equal or better safety and reliability, and the same functionality – at times better in the mainstream ride.

Call this the mainstream versus luxury conundrum: to buy or lease.

Deals of the Week consulted with www.unhaggle.com, Car Help Canada, www.carcostcanada.com, and other sources on these offers. As usual, pricing information here is subject to change and dealer discounts vary, so consult your dealer for all the final details, including expiry dates for all offers.

Honda

2015 Honda Accord Sedan Touring CVT

  • MSRP: $32,350
  • Freight, dealer prep, air conditioning tax: $1,830
  • Dealer discount (estimated): $1,464
  • Factory discount: $2,000 (manufacturer incentive)
  • Taxable subtotal: $30,716
  • Total price with 13 per cent HST: $34,709.08
  • The factory incentive is not available with 0.99 per cent financing for 48 or 60 months, 1.99 per cent for 84 months, a 0.99 per cent lease rate for 48 months or a 1.99 per cent lease rate for 60 months.

BMW

2015 BMW 3 Series 328i Sedan

  • MSRP: $42,300
  • Freight, dealer prep, fees and air conditioning tax: $2,230
  • Dealer discount (estimated): $2,185
  • Factory discount: $1,500 (manufacturer incentive)
  • Factory discount: $1,000 (loyalty incentive)
  • Taxable subtotal: $40,845
  • Total price with 13 per cent HST: $46,154.85
  • The $1,500 factory incentive, and of course any dealer incentive, are available with 1.9 per cent financing for 48 or 60 months, 4.99 per cent for 84 months. The same is true for a 1.9 per cent lease rate for 48 months.

Audi

2015 Audi Q5 2.0 TFSI Quattro Progressiv Tiptronic

  • MSRP: $44,900
  • Freight, dealer prep, AC tax: $2,230
  • Dealer discount (estimated): $2,092
  • Factory discount: $1,250 (manufacturer incentive)
  • Factory discount: $750 (loyalty incentive)
  • Taxable subtotal: $43,038
  • Total price with 13 per cent HST: $48,632.94
  • The factory incentives cannot be combined with a 2.9 per cent finance rate for 48 or 60 months, or 3.9 per cent for 84 months - or a 3.4 per cent lease rate for 48 months.

Nissan

2015 Nissan Murano SV

  • MSRP: $33,998
  • Freight, PDI, AC tax: $1,885
  • Dealer discount (estimated): $1,593
  • Factory discount: $0 (manufacturer incentive)
  • Taxable subtotal: $34,290
  • Total price with 13 per cent HST: $38,747.70
  • Nissan is offering 3.9 per cent financing for 48 or 60 months or 4.49 per cent for 84 months - or a lease rate of 3.79 per cent for 48 months, 3.99 per cent for 60 months.

Pricing information source:

and

. Calculations based on Ontario customers. Please note that while the information above is accurate at the time of publication, incentives are given at the discretion of individual dealers, and may be changed or discontinued at any time. Where noted, "dealer discounts" are negotiated with the customer on a case-by-case basis. Unhaggle Savings are actual discounts received by Unhaggle customers.

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