645 Values / Best time to buy

[isv]

Hi,

I've been tempted for ages and now that values appear to be falling I want to treat myself to a 645 (or possibly 630) coupe. I'm trying to get a handle on what I should be looking to pay. I want a 2005 or newer coupe auto with < 40,000 miles budget has to be well below £20k (£15k would be ideal)

A couple of BMW dealers I looked in had different responses when I enquired. One has a Jan 2005 645 with 36k miles asking £23999 and without much pushing said they'd take £5k off with no part-ex. Another dealer has one of a similar age with only 28k miles asking £21k and they wont budge below £20k. Both dealers claimed they were losing money on the cars. I called a small independent dealer with a late 2004 car with 38k miles - asking £19999 and they said they'd take £16k cash. Next I called a private seller (asking £24k for a 40k mile car!) and he got abusive when I suggested he'd need to revise the price to compete with dealers. I didn't bother calling any other private sellers after that... All of the cars above seemed to be loaded with options (inc. pro sat nav which I don't need).

Then, for comparison, I visited www.wewillbuyyourcar.com to try and get a feel for bottom trade valuation - they will offer £12765 for a 36k Jan 2005 car with sat nav in pristine condition. I guess their values must be based on CAP and they then bid below bottom book in order to get a profit when they resale a car back to the trade? Either way, it made me wonder if current trade/auction prices are way below the prices dealers offered? I'm happy to buy from auction and wonder if anyone has a feel for what current auction prices are for 645s? I'm in no rush, what do you think will happen to values in early 2009?

Alan.

[isv]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate your insight. What do you think an 05/54 645 Auto < 40k will fetch at auction currently? I've been offered one for £19k from a BMW dealer is that a good deal?

[isv]

pgilc1 said:

Aeroresh said:

You also have to consider that although such cars can be had relatively cheaply, they will still continue to depreciate and a horendous rate until they are pretty much worthless.

Today's £20k 645i will be worth £10k trade next year and so on.

Yes and no. I would imagine one will be worth £5K in three years time, so thats £15K over three years, or £5K per year, which isnt out of the way.

The trick would be to buy it and drive it, rather than try to buy on a whim and sell in a year.

My 535d Sport was £23K in June, but i'd say trade price is now about £15K. This is only an issue if i flog it now - i plan to keep it for a few years so it will even out to hopefully something more reasonable.

Perhaps the best approach might be to buy from a BMW dealer after all and get them to put a strong GFV on a PCP?... that way I can hopefully protect myself against any powerdive in residuals over the next few years (I probably wont want to keep it for more than a couple of years anyway).

BTW - talking of values... my missus has asked if she can have a 730D for the school run We called in a BMW dealer on the weekend and she saw a 06 plate 730D that was up for £19.5k and the dealer (who spotted the opportunity pretty quickly) offered it to her for £16.5k. That's a hell of a lot of car/gadgets for the money - and (as the salesman explained to her ) - that's not far off what her current 2.0 diesel Golf cost me. Certainly has got me thinking...!

[isv]

pgilc1 said:

isv said:

pgilc1 said:

Aeroresh said:

You also have to consider that although such cars can be had relatively cheaply, they will still continue to depreciate and a horendous rate until they are pretty much worthless.

Today's £20k 645i will be worth £10k trade next year and so on.

Yes and no. I would imagine one will be worth £5K in three years time, so thats £15K over three years, or £5K per year, which isnt out of the way.

The trick would be to buy it and drive it, rather than try to buy on a whim and sell in a year.

My 535d Sport was £23K in June, but i'd say trade price is now about £15K. This is only an issue if i flog it now - i plan to keep it for a few years so it will even out to hopefully something more reasonable.

Perhaps the best approach might be to buy from a BMW dealer after all and get them to put a strong GFV on a PCP?... that way I can hopefully protect myself against any powerdive in residuals over the next few years (I probably wont want to keep it for more than a couple of years anyway).

BTW - talking of values... my missus has asked if she can have a 730D for the school run We called in a BMW dealer on the weekend and she saw a 06 plate 730D that was up for £19.5k and the dealer (who spotted the opportunity pretty quickly) offered it to her for £16.5k. That's a hell of a lot of car/gadgets for the money - and (as the salesman explained to her ) - that's not far off what her current 2.0 diesel Golf cost me. Certainly has got me thinking...!

I had seen 06 730ds for around 18K on AUC, but at £16.5K thats an amazing bargain. I bought my 05 535d back in June, but i would have bought a 730d over it all day long at that price. Wow!

There seems to be quite a few AUC 730Ds on 06 (or newer) for < £20k.

This one has an asking price of £16.9k with 21k miles - that's before any haggling:
http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/car_details/0,,1...

[isv]

Certainly dropping... cheapest 06 730D with lowish miles now £15k from a dealer before haggling (and it is a SE):

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/BMW+...

Edited by isv on Tuesday 4th November 00:06