Why Now Is The Time To Grab A Bargain Exec
Traders are ignoring ex-fleet execs - so get your RWD mid-size barge bargains now
With CAP recently downgrading trade prices across the board by 1.4 per cent, and some executive cars suffering as much as an 8 per cent drop, PH caught up with a couple of industry bods to find out what's afoot.
After the financial woes of 2008 it seems that some fleet operators - who of course feed the used market with a lot of cars - decided to alter their usual policy of running cars for three years/60,000 miles and extended this to four years/80,000 miles (...more in some cases). These cars have now made their way onto the used market, but trade buyers aren't so keen to buy.
Steve Carman, a director at the Vehicle Remarketing Association explained what's happening: 'Prices are generally being pegged-back and demand is down. Trade buyers are acquiring fewer cars at auction and are being very choosey about what they want on their forecourts - it's not uncommon for four- or five-year-old executive cars like 3 and 5 Series BMWs with 100,000 miles on the clock to get no bids. Lower-spec cars especially have been suffering because of course the traders know they have a better chance of moving higher mileage cars if they're better-equipped.'
However, if you're interested then you might want to act sooner rather than later, because according to Chris Crowe, Chief Editor of the CAP Black Book, the early signs are that August is bucking the trend of recent months. 'There was a big slow-down between April and June, but the signs are that the market adjustment for August will actually be significantly less than the earlier summer months. Values have continued to fall, and cars like 5-Series BMWs and E-Class Mercedes Benz's have taken a big hit. Smaller cars though are doing well as more buyers are chasing less stock.'
So it looks like if you're in the market for a three-year-old executive car on low-ish miles, then you might find it harder to find these cars than usual, and if you want something small and on low miles you can expect to pay a premium.
However, if a bit of used rear-wheel-drive action is your bag and you're not put off by slightly high miles there should be bargains to be had.
:drool:
But I cant imagine putting up with the hateful 320d engine for much more than 5000 miles anyway!
BOT the auctions Ive been to with these sort of cars up for sale have seen cars with a low starting price get bid up to and hammered beyond the higher starting prices of similar cars that end up attracting no bids; that's probably just an unusual facet of auctions?? Would be interested to hear from a regular trader, but from what I have seen on two particular cars (one my first 330coupe) cars like this in the early to mid teens range end up on a indie dealer forecourt for £1200 to £1600 over the hammer price, so its hardly a lucrative market. As per the original article, there are some nice mid range cars out there, and a lot of company drivers who take care of vehicles, so a careful choice could net you a £40k car 2 or 3 years old for early to mid teens; just be wary of the cost of run flat tyres on new beemers; circa £1300 for 4, and many other service items are priced 'imaginatively' by BMW!!
Be lucky
Steve
My car listed at £41k new with all options, 38k miles with full dealer service history later, I was offered £12k by a dealer and told it was too old for him to sell at 3yrs old and he'd throw it straight into the auctions and as long as he got the £12k back he'd be happy.
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