Has the arse really fallen out of the used car market?!
Discussion
kieronj said:
Major service including new discs & pads. Fix parking sensors, faulty boot alarm, outside temp gauge, investigate under car rattle which was prop. £830
Prop-shaft. £400 for part rest labour. Total £780
The prop thing is common. BMW will only replace the entire prop to fix it - I got mine done free under warranty - but a good independant can replace the centre bearing which is what causes it and it wouldnt cost more than £200. Thats a saving of £600 on what you paid.Prop-shaft. £400 for part rest labour. Total £780
Pads - I fitted front pads to mine last weekend. It took an hour and the pads were £34+vat for Jurid pads. The pads I removed from the car, fitted by BMW themselves, were exactly the same Jurid pads. The part number was even the same.
Tyres, granted - infact mine are £500 a set as it's on 18's.
I service mine, and usually repair it, through a main dealer like yourself but some of that expenditure really is simply throwing money away.
I've had an Oil Service @ £140 and an Inspection 1 @ £210. Heater blower motor went, replaced for £330 by BMW. I've also had the cooling system done (Another E39 foible) for £400 inc the rad/thermostat/hoses etc and replaced the aux/aircon drive belts at £120 inc. And a wheel bearing for £99 inc.
Thats over 18 months. It's still not cheap but there is no need to pay £2k a service. No need AT ALL.
Its fantastic isnt it? 
Nothing "new" or large engined is immune and those thinking that pre-2001 cars are immune need to think again, they arent. Ferraris are crashing (esp the big 12 stuff, even worse than normal) Porsches are suffering, the once mighty 993 and 996TTs at £30-£35k? Not scare mongering either, I flipped open a copy of Top Marques a cpl of days ago and neerly fell over at the prices I was seeing!
Personally I fully expect to see 456GTMs and 550Ms bought at £20-£30k for reasonable examples within the next 12 months.
Nothing "new" or large engined is immune and those thinking that pre-2001 cars are immune need to think again, they arent. Ferraris are crashing (esp the big 12 stuff, even worse than normal) Porsches are suffering, the once mighty 993 and 996TTs at £30-£35k? Not scare mongering either, I flipped open a copy of Top Marques a cpl of days ago and neerly fell over at the prices I was seeing!
Personally I fully expect to see 456GTMs and 550Ms bought at £20-£30k for reasonable examples within the next 12 months.
[TW]Fox said:
Thats over 18 months. It's still not cheap but there is no need to pay £2k a service. No need AT ALL.
Indeed. If you're going to get a main dealer to do your servicing, then shop around! Get quotes in advance.DJC said:
Nothing "new" or large engined is immune and those thinking that pre-2001 cars are immune need to think again, they arent.
Whilst this is bad news for the value of my Mondeo, I now hold out hope that one day I'll be able to own something outrageous like an RS4 or an S8 without having to sell several limbs.I'm scared that we're looking at the beginning of the end for performance motoring in the UK. Someone should come up with a way to run the internal combustion engine on hydrogen, so we can keep our lovely engines.
DJC said:
Personally I fully expect to see 456GTMs and 550Ms bought at £20-£30k for reasonable examples within the next 12 months.
It's fine *buying* it at that price, as long as you can afford the price of *running* it. Edited by Witchfinder on Tuesday 29th July 17:45
gary11 said:
Jimboka said:
kieronj said:
Thing is, as others have already mentioned but it's seemingly been ignored, the original posters car is quite low spec or maybe more accurately not a very desirable spec. That's got as much to do with the low resale as anything else.
Petrol has gone up and increased a fill up on a 530i from £68 to £79. But for the average driver doing 15K miles a year thats only an extra £44 per month. The VED is just £200 extra on top per year.
Compare that to recent bills on my well maintained 90K 2003 E39 530i Touring of £2K. Service, discs, pads, prop shaft (common problem on E39s) and the £700 increase due to fuel and tax looks insignificant.
If people are budgeting such that an unexpected £700 bill on their car causes problems then I'm not sure a large BMW is a car they should have been considering in the first place and its those who I suspect are now looking for other cars hance the poor market for big cars.
But for anyone that can stomach the high maintenance costs of a 5 Series the E39 530i is a cracking car and by all accounts right now an absolute bargain.
I agree that leather is desirable, but satnav/tv/phone etc. are liabilities which should put off more buyers than they attract. They will be the things that are bound to pack up & cost thousands to repair!OP said:
530i Sport. Silver. Alcantara. Manual. Rain sensor. (think this is the only option as Sport spec is high). 73k miles. Immaculate. FBMWSH. Inspection 2 was the last service done.
Most would prefer the steptronic rather than manual, most look for leather and its devoid of options. I'm not seeing satnav, TV, phone, electric memory, heated seats, voice control etc. etc.Petrol has gone up and increased a fill up on a 530i from £68 to £79. But for the average driver doing 15K miles a year thats only an extra £44 per month. The VED is just £200 extra on top per year.
Compare that to recent bills on my well maintained 90K 2003 E39 530i Touring of £2K. Service, discs, pads, prop shaft (common problem on E39s) and the £700 increase due to fuel and tax looks insignificant.
If people are budgeting such that an unexpected £700 bill on their car causes problems then I'm not sure a large BMW is a car they should have been considering in the first place and its those who I suspect are now looking for other cars hance the poor market for big cars.
But for anyone that can stomach the high maintenance costs of a 5 Series the E39 530i is a cracking car and by all accounts right now an absolute bargain.
Edited by gary11 on Monday 28th July 22:10
I would suggest a 10 year old beemer is a great car. But the same car with 10 year old gadgetry would be a joke!. Like a 70s car with 7'' turntable in the dash!
[TW]Fox said:
Tyres, granted - infact mine are £500 a set as it's on 18's.
I've had an Oil Service @ £140 and an Inspection 1 @ £210. Heater blower motor went, replaced for £330 by BMW. I've also had the cooling system done (Another E39 foible) for £400 inc the rad/thermostat/hoses etc and replaced the aux/aircon drive belts at £120 inc. And a wheel bearing for £99 inc.
Thats over 18 months. It's still not cheap but there is no need to pay £2k a service. No need AT ALL.
You've just listed over £1800 of work that you spent at the dealer or independant.... I've had an Oil Service @ £140 and an Inspection 1 @ £210. Heater blower motor went, replaced for £330 by BMW. I've also had the cooling system done (Another E39 foible) for £400 inc the rad/thermostat/hoses etc and replaced the aux/aircon drive belts at £120 inc. And a wheel bearing for £99 inc.
Thats over 18 months. It's still not cheap but there is no need to pay £2k a service. No need AT ALL.
Isn't that close to £2K? Mine wasn't for a single service either but three seperate visits. Tyres I get from Micheldever for what its worth - never a dealers since the last quote I got from Mercedes.Regardless of specifics point is 5 Series are an expensive car to run and I think we can agree with that and end the discussion.
DJC said:
Its fantastic isnt it?
Nothing "new" or large engined is immune and those thinking that pre-2001 cars are immune need to think again, they arent. Ferraris are crashing (esp the big 12 stuff, even worse than normal) Porsches are suffering, the once mighty 993 and 996TTs at £30-£35k? Not scare mongering either, I flipped open a copy of Top Marques a cpl of days ago and neerly fell over at the prices I was seeing!
Personally I fully expect to see 456GTMs and 550Ms bought at £20-£30k for reasonable examples within the next 12 months.
I realise pre 2001 cars are not immune, nothing is but the fuss kicked up over the current swinging taxes and the sneaky way it was implemented has the publics attention....for now. I expect the pre 2001 prices will rise but nothing like group G etcNothing "new" or large engined is immune and those thinking that pre-2001 cars are immune need to think again, they arent. Ferraris are crashing (esp the big 12 stuff, even worse than normal) Porsches are suffering, the once mighty 993 and 996TTs at £30-£35k? Not scare mongering either, I flipped open a copy of Top Marques a cpl of days ago and neerly fell over at the prices I was seeing!
Personally I fully expect to see 456GTMs and 550Ms bought at £20-£30k for reasonable examples within the next 12 months.
I thought I copped it when I sold our '06 LandRover Defender 90 Td5 for 14.5k to local dealer - having bought it for 15.8k exactly a year ago. But reading some of the depreciation on this thread I got away quite lightly !
I'll be off to BCA auctions again when I'm due to make a change....
I'll be off to BCA auctions again when I'm due to make a change....
As said earlier mainly the arse has fallen out however for my mums car we are going to sell soon we are going to do well 2000 w reg 1.25 lx fiesta with only 30k miles still worth like 2k maybe more now due to tax going up and we only payed 4350 around 5 years with it holding its value remarkably well. Also as dad is going to opt out of company car scheme and buy a used saab 9-5 aero, ST220 etc he is going to get a bargin so for our family at least the economic crisis has helped us although for most people it is a period of gloom especialy if you have just brough a Porsche Cayenne Turbo or even worse a Maybach lol.
Witchfinder said:
[TW]Fox said:
Thats over 18 months. It's still not cheap but there is no need to pay £2k a service. No need AT ALL.
Indeed. If you're going to get a main dealer to do your servicing, then shop around! Get quotes in advance.DJC said:
Nothing "new" or large engined is immune and those thinking that pre-2001 cars are immune need to think again, they arent.
Whilst this is bad news for the value of my Mondeo, I now hold out hope that one day I'll be able to own something outrageous like an RS4 or an S8 without having to sell several limbs.I'm scared that we're looking at the beginning of the end for performance motoring in the UK. Someone should come up with a way to run the internal combustion engine on hydrogen, so we can keep our lovely engines.
DJC said:
Personally I fully expect to see 456GTMs and 550Ms bought at £20-£30k for reasonable examples within the next 12 months.
It's fine *buying* it at that price, as long as you can afford the price of *running* it. Edited by Witchfinder on Tuesday 29th July 17:45
456 and 550s will be a few years yet before they slip down and even then i cant see them going below £40K. those that do however will be utterly shagged, not necessarily thrashed but in need of desperate tlc, engine out, gearbox etc etc. things like cambelt changes will not be completed at the regular intervals and the cars will start to change hands frequently in later years.
at the moment i am seriously watching 996 prices.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 29th July 19:32
pablo said:
There is a good article in Octane this month about the 355 and the DB7.
Both now "affordable" (Forza288 have a 355 gtb for £38K with FSH etc) but the article says people buying them now can just about afford one thus they are not paying for all the servicing and major work isnt being carried out thus the market for good ones is still demanding high prices.
Worth a shot i reckon though if you have £50K, buy one of under £40K and pay a bit to get it clean and tidy and you have the last good looking Ferrari and a hoot to drive.
It's tempting to plug in now but I think the market fall is down to people thinking "if I wait 6 months I'm safer and will get the car cheaper".Both now "affordable" (Forza288 have a 355 gtb for £38K with FSH etc) but the article says people buying them now can just about afford one thus they are not paying for all the servicing and major work isnt being carried out thus the market for good ones is still demanding high prices.
Worth a shot i reckon though if you have £50K, buy one of under £40K and pay a bit to get it clean and tidy and you have the last good looking Ferrari and a hoot to drive.
It's like buying shares on the way down - no one can call the bottom that well and looking at the way things are: I'd bet that prices in 6 months time make today look pretty high.
Also the 'just about afford' brigade are looking to fuel, mortgage, heating and food bills now so they will not be able to catch the fall. The number of people with £50 to play with on a toy car just went <--- that-a-way --->
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Well bloke over road offered 2k for it about 2 weeks ago but mum was not ready to sell and the engine on it is fine and it has had new brakes like 2000 mile ago so is in tip top shape no rust etc. And my dad gives it a good blast every couple of weeks or so for about an hour to "blast out the cobwebs" and to try and avoid these problems occuring it is a sellers market for small cheap economical cars at the moment and a buyers market for everything else.
greggy50 said:
...it is a sellers market for small cheap economical cars at the moment...
No it isn't.They just aren't the catastrophe that big cars presently are.
The extra knock that a small old car has suffered can be measured in terms of a couple of hundred quid, rather than the several thousands that have been wiped off the value of the posh stuff.
Edited by Pat H on Tuesday 29th July 19:58
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Yes would agree with that would put up for around 2k settle for around 1800 as examples above show dealers are trying to sell similar models for near enough 3k so feel someone will snap it up when we come to sell especialy due to the condition it is in and the excelent history.anonymous said:
[redacted]
No dealer I know (myself included) would ask £3k for that car not unless you like looking at it!! The market is tough on all cars, I have got Clios, Corsas etc all waiting for homes.The reason you would get a sensible price is purely down to the fact there are a lot of private punters who would feel happier buying a car whos ownership is as your mums direct from the source.
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