john banks

No finance or trade in, how much to chip away as an initial bid and final target price?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Depends on teh dealer.

I know Rydales always have a huge mark up (look at sticker price and wash off least £1.5K straight away on a basic 318 ), but some others are closer to the mark.

Do a check on parkers and knock at least £500 quid off what it says plus get some mats\cd changer\ bluetooth kit thrown in. On the more expensive stuff I wouldn't be scared to push for £3k+.

brickboy

With no finance or trade-in I'd make a VERY sporting bid of at least 10% below the windscreen price ... as Ali says, be armed with the trade prices from Glass' or Parkers.

LG John

Work in percentages John. When looking at the price, say 'would you take 8% less than sticker for it?' On a £20k car that is a £1600 saving but to say 8% doesn't in his mind sound like much but saying 'can I have over one and half grand off' does. Obviously he'll still calculate it and realise that you want £1600 off but you have the edge as his first thought/reaction to your offer was one of, 'sounds reasonable' and he/she is human afterall so can be effected by such mind trickery.

Oh and see if he'll chuck in a free indicator stalk since these appear to be a rare and expensive extra

Patt@firstime

Not on them all mate

turboman786

I recently went to BMW and test drove a BMW M3, 02 plate..they wanted £30k for it, which was massively overpriced(privately these cars were available for £24k with better specs etc)

They were keen to seel, but would knock no more than £2k off, which I pointed out still left the car massively overpriced, but they were having noneof it...

I will never understand why anyone wants to buy an 'approved used bmw'.....mint bmw's are always for sale privately, often with warranties etc

Why pay £'000s more...for the coffee and cheesy sales pitch?

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

Start off by needing finance as they'll discount the car more due to the finance co kick back they'll receive. You can then "change your mind" at a later date & attempt try to push harder based on the cash deal. Alternatively take the finance & settle early (check T&C's for penalties & cooling off period.)

D

Deep Singh

John, I agree with turboman. If you don't have a trade in why buy from a BMW dealer? Only other reason is if you are buying a relatively rare car,which you are not. With the mark up you are losing £5k the minute you take the keys. Buy one private and get a good deal

Deep

TopBanana

Have you been drinking?

Darren 01

My freind is a BMW salesman, Easy job or what eh?

He says it is really hit and miss. sometimes there is thousands in a PX and other times they can make a loss!!! It is rare though.

Best to try it on with a really low price and work your way up until you both are in aggreament with the deal..

TopBanana

Why not find the book price on car, then add a reasonable margin for the dealer (4-5%?)

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

Ask to look at the V5 & try contacting the previous owner, it'll give you an insight into the history & if you're cheeky ask what they got for it.

D

LG John

No, Just a bit of mind games to gain a sligh upper hand when haggling. Human's are very prone to making instinctive gut decisions on things which is why if you present something differently to them to appear less severe you can gain an advantage.

mad555

iTrader: (1)

Not drinking??,then you've been watching/reading to much Derren Brown!!!

imlach

Only one flaw. Car dealers ain't human

LG John

Dang

john banks

I was looking at BMW approved used for warranty, consumer protection, and what I thought would be exemplary preparation.

The car we went to view was in very disappointing condition. There were several marked/inked areas of interior trim, the oil (despite being changed apparently 3000 miles ago at 11500 miles which was its only change in 3 years) looked like it had been in a heavily used turbo motor but this car didn't have a turbo, the headlights/bonnet were misaligned, front brake discs were worn, and the tyres were near due replacement with the shoulders quite worn. The paintwork had fine scratches and the nearside indicator lens was condensated.

At least I have something to compare any others I look at with...

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Just my own experience with BMW - went to look at a 330d Touring - possibly chopping in a 330Ci which was a year older.

The 2001 Touring had 27k miles on it and was the biggest piece of baggy rubbish I have driven. It had half the miles on it that the Coupe had and yet was worn and shiny, had baggy suspenders and was generally taxi like.

I actually said to the salesman that if it was not a main dealer I would be sure that they had clocked 100k miles off it what was worse is that he agreed

We then got into a last of the last shape 530d Touring Sport (so brimming with extras including those very bling alloys) with 20k miles on it and it was brilliant and immaculate. Eighteen months old and very sound car. Balance of warranty and full service package.

Prices

Wanted £22,000 for the rubbish 330 Touring

Wanted £25,000 for the 530d Sport

Offered £14,000 for the immaculate but 58,000m four year old 330Ci Sport (again with ALL the toys except TV and Nav).

Would not move on the trade in - so abandoned that idea.

Haggled for the 5 series - checked out other prices elsewhere and the best we could get by going back was £24,500 (although 18 months earlier it was a £38k car!!)...and a free boot protector.

Trout

ScoobySnack

Just went to a dealer for a BMW M3 Convertible 05 plate. Well specced (£54K new).......

Dealer gave me poor P/X on my trade in, but I expected that.... so was not deeply upset. However they would only move £1K on the original £47K price which was top whack anyway. So simple solution is I will not buy it.

Anyone for a private p/x and cash for an M3

J

john banks

Went to look at another approved used at another dealer. This one was top money - ie Glass's guide dealer price whereas the last one was a few thousand below.

The age of this one was a year older, but the condition was also barely average.

Starting to think that buying new is the only way to get a new car. I suppose they do depreciate so much because they are so much less desirable when they get into the state I'm seeing a lot of used cars in.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

BMW approved cars usually come in two catorgories :

thrashed wrecks or mint examples. Unfortunately the dealers never seem to price them differetly!

For example we looked at a 330cs which although below average mileage had seen a hard life (probably a London car), and had bodywork to match, unfortunately we only ever viewed it at dusk so never noticed and put the car on hold. Upon proper final inspection the car clearly had chips away and dent master at it a few times, plus some other stuff mechanically on test drive came apparent.

So turned we the car down, and immediately the dealer suddenly "popped" up with an identical car with lower miles, 6months newer, better condition and at the same price. Asked why it was the at same price the Salesman couldn't answer the question (a saleman who can't answer a question on prices - that is a new one on me ). Bottom line was he was pushing a bag of bolts to somebody at top dollar price in hope some clueless numpty would buy it.

On the other hand we bought a mint 1 year old average miles 325 touring all specced up (leather, cd changer etc). For less than another dealer who was pedalling same spec 318s and 320s with more miles. And we also bought a brand new fully loaded 330 with the sports pack for only a grand more than what some dealers were pedelling 2nd hand.

So you really do have a hunt on your hands tbh as the cars and prices vary so wildy. But there are a few good deals floating about if your prepared to hunt about.

john banks

Found a six month old BMW AUC with 4000 miles locally. Went to look at it expecting it to be pristine.

What a joke! Seats and interior were marked, one side skirt needed repainting, one alloy was kerbed, the driver's door edge had obviously been repeatedly opened into something and really needed painting. There were also several other few inch long noticeable scratches that I can't see polishing out.

I considered negotiating the price down, but didn't bother, why should I pay top money for a six month old car that won't be on its original paint or will look shabby?

Found the first example that was in good condition at an independent, but it was yellow and just out of warranty.... best they could offer was something that would cover up to £2k per claim.

Also had a look at a few Mercedes alternatives at independents and they were also a bit shabby around the edges. But the warranty situation was the same. I wouldn't want to pay to fix an engine with an excessive cylinder and turbo count out of my own pocket unless I'd taken the risk and tuned it to stupid horsepower. Dealer laughed and told me that M-B engines don't blow up.... PMSL.

Scooby engines are easy, if I completely and utterly fruitcaked my present engine and sent swarf through every single part and trashed the turbo I could probably still fix it for about £3-4k. That is a risk you can take. German stuff...

john banks

All I want is something not-too-flash and not-too-chav that is pretty quick or very quick if it is a Scoob replacement, doesn't depreciate like a stone (or has already done a lot of it) that I can warranty properly and buy a nice example of. It needs to stop and corner properly as well. Ride quality and refinement would be nice as well. The budget is generous but I just can't find my next car!!!

If only they did a 2.5 Legacy turbo in the UK

It might be I'll need to cook my own or just get a new STI.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Oh yes they do

Just had to get a MB ML-class Cdi rebuilt with a new block after it destroyed a piston.



Obviously no decent beamers in your neck of the woods. How about a Monaro - not too flash, maybe a potential brick with deprication....but it's on my list of potential next cars - haven't driven one yet though which so can't say if they are any good

john banks

The one I saw at Vauxhall was in the cafe (!) and they never got back to me about a test drive. Also the boot was small as half of it was the raised fuel tank.

The other laugh whilst out shopping was a Titanium X Mondeo 2.2 TDCI on 05 plate. Very nice interior. The laugh was the price, £16k on a new price of £22-23k. The real laugh was checking Broadspeed back home that you can get a UK dealer supplied one brand new for the same figure. On typical resale values in 3 yrs it appeared to be 41% retained value (higher because a diesel). However, if you recalc with the discount it was more like 57% which actually made it a reasonable buy I thought. Not getting one, but an interesting discovery on the discount vs resale thing.

Gav

I got £3500 knocked of my new BM a year ago

you dont ask you dont get!!!!

gav..

john banks

Which model Gav?

Tilly

they can do it on most peeps, I work for a finance company doing contract hire but we also do outright purchases and part exs etc and you'd be amazed at just how much the dealers have motors marked up, believe me you can get some hellish discounts, the way to do it if you're going privately through a dealer although I dont recommend it is to walk in with a deposit, 500 quid is all it takes but that way he/she knows you're not f*cking him/her about when you try haggling them down but the best advice I can give to any of you.... Is try a finance broker like ourselves and let us get you a price and also try yourself, it wont cause you any harm or cost you anything to do it so why not? it could save you quite a few quid. You have to bare in mind, one customer wont make much difference to a dealer so why should they give you the privilege of high discounts when you wont have another car off them for years if at all? So they sell at retail if poss.