BMW Approved Used Cars

[nammynake]

Hi guys, I am looking to buy an E46 M3, possibly the CS version. Looking at BMW AUC, their prices seem way above what Parkers guide are quoting. Obviously need to factor in the 12 month warranty, but Parkers says a 2005 CS is worth less than 12k, which is over 3k less than this:

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/details/0,,1156_...

How much discount would be possible through BMW AUC, or do they stick rigidly to their advertised prices?

[ArmaghMan]

My local BMW dealer will knock the £995 off immediately, before any real negotiations start.

[gaz1234]

2k over priced

[JNW1]

nammynake said:

Hi guys, I am looking to buy an E46 M3, possibly the CS version. Looking at BMW AUC, their prices seem way above what Parkers guide are quoting. Obviously need to factor in the 12 month warranty, but Parkers says a 2005 CS is worth less than 12k, which is over 3k less than this:

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/details/0,,1156_...

How much discount would be possible through BMW AUC, or do they stick rigidly to their advertised prices?

That car looks pricey IMO; nice colour combination and reasonable spec but not especially low mileage (although to be fair not excessively high either). If the car's relatively new in stock they may just be having a go to see what they can get for it; there aren't many CS's around so they may just be hoping they can tempt a buyer who's been having trouble finding one!

Being realistic I think the Parkers guide price is a bit low for a nice CS; I'd say for a car like the one in the advert you should be looking at around £12.5k from an independent and between £1k and £1.5k more than that from a main dealer. A main dealer will obviously give you a comprehensive 12 month warranty but in addition to that they should attend to anything right that needs doing (so I'd expect no service to be required for several thousand miles, 4 tyres with a decent amount of tread on them, no work imminent on things like the brakes, the alloys to be unmarked, the front spoiler to be repainted to get rid of the inevitable stone chips, the steering wheel to have been refurbished so it's not shiny, etc). If they'll do all that and sell you the car for £14k with a years tax and a tank of fuel that wouldn't be unreasonable IMO!

[Big E 118]

Similar spec to the one I sold last month but it does have 10k more miles. Mine went for around the asking price of this one (private sale) and there were a number of interested parties at that price.

I think you'll find good examples have a good of demand at the moment, they're never going to be an appreciating asset but are holding thier prices well.

AUC cars will always be a preference because of the warranty. IMO you'd be better off going to the dealer and offering to pay near list as long as they gave you a 2 year warranty and free MOT's, which they will do with a bit of pressing.

Just one thing to remember, BMW will offer you under Galss's price on trade in.

[pilchardthecat]

Big E 118 said:

Similar spec to the one I sold last month but it does have 10k more miles. Mine went for around the asking price of this one (private sale) and there were a number of interested parties at that price.

I think you'll find good examples have a good of demand at the moment, they're never going to be an appreciating asset but are holding thier prices well.

AUC cars will always be a preference because of the warranty. IMO you'd be better off going to the dealer and offering to pay near list as long as they gave you a 2 year warranty and free MOT's, which they will do with a bit of pressing.

Just one thing to remember, BMW will offer you under Galss's price on trade in.

Experience varies. Mine won't offer a 2 year warranty, will offer a good px (couldn't get more privately), but will be completely glacial on the sticker price.

[Big E 118]

pilchardthecat said:

Experience varies. Mine won't offer a 2 year warranty, will offer a good px (couldn't get more privately), but will be completely glacial on the sticker price.

That's interesting, I've always found BMW pretty inflexible on prices but willing to incentivise in other ways. I guess different groups run to different business models.

[sinizter]

Big E 118 said:

pilchardthecat said:

Experience varies. Mine won't offer a 2 year warranty, will offer a good px (couldn't get more privately), but will be completely glacial on the sticker price.

That's interesting, I've always found BMW pretty inflexible on prices but willing to incentivise in other ways. I guess different groups run to different business models.

Last time I bought one, they brought the car in from another dealership, so no movement on price, but got a reasonable bit off the extras + extra year warranty.

The one before that, a bit off the price, a bit more on the part ex and some off the extras too.

They are flexible to an extent.

[Great Pretender]

nammynake said:

Hi guys, I am looking to buy an E46 M3, possibly the CS version. Looking at BMW AUC, their prices seem way above what Parkers guide are quoting. Obviously need to factor in the 12 month warranty, but Parkers says a 2005 CS is worth less than 12k, which is over 3k less than this:

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/details/0,,1156_...

How much discount would be possible through BMW AUC, or do they stick rigidly to their advertised prices?

It's not just the warranty you're paying for (although it obviously doesn't cost BMW £1200); you're also paying for the (usually) rigorous preparation to a standard rarely apparent through the specialist and private routes.

Given the mileage, I don't think that car represents a particularly attractive propostion, but I wouldn't say it's a million miles off price-wise.

Edited by Great Pretender on Wednesday 7th March 11:34

[pilchardthecat]

Great Pretender said:

rigorous preparation

[sinizter]

pilchardthecat said:

Great Pretender said:

rigorous preparation

Have another

Although they will if you push for it. They will try to get away with as much as possible.

[playalistic]

Rigorous preparation in BMW dealer land = a bosnian rub down with a dirty cloth.

[daz4m]

pilchardthecat said:

This chap has probably bought more BMW's than you've had hot dinners so don't be so quick to laugh.

[Raify]

My car passed its 'rigorous preparation' with non OEM tyres and fake wheels...

[pilchardthecat]

daz4m said:

pilchardthecat said:

This chap has probably bought more BMW's than you've had hot dinners so don't be so quick to laugh.

Well i can only go on my own experience (only 5 i'm afraid, from 4 different dealers) and not one of them was "rigorously prepared" .... in fact two of them were damaged during these preparations.

[baz1985]

I had an AUC car with an Inspection 2 performed.....without the oil & oil filter being changed!

[eztiger]

My rigorous inspection missed :

- chipped windscreen
- damaged wing mirror housing
- corroded door sill trims
- more internal rattles than a babies toy
- water ingress / condensation in a side indicator repeater
- wonky rear washer
- Omission of the MOT advisory sheet regarding a buckled wheel. Still no idea if they actually fixed it or not, seems fine so I guess they have..

Even worse this car was advertised via the AUC at one dealer and then transported up to my local dealer when I bought it. So two dealers actually had the car pass through their hands for sale in this state.

AUC = nice for the warranty. In all other regards treat it as sceptically as you would any other purchase perhaps more so.

[Great Pretender]

sinizter said:

pilchardthecat said:

Great Pretender said:

rigorous preparation

Have another

Although they will if you push for it. They will try to get away with as much as possible.

Note the caveat 'usually'.

And of course they [dealers] will try and scrimp - they are businesses. It's in their interest to save money. Still with me?

Good. What you both have missed is that BMW (like most premium main agents) have a strict set criteria by which their used cars must be sold by - a sort of test if you like. Any car sold by a main dealer must meet that criteria (and you as the customer are entiteld to see the criteria which it is measured against). If it doesn't meet this, the customer is entitled to have the car rectified until it does at no additional cost. That way, the risk of buying a used car is largely passed to the dealer (fair wear and tear notwithstanding) who makes the decision (in the case of a part-ex for example) whether to retail the car based on its condition and required prep, or throw it to the auctions. From my experience, this critera - ergo level of preparation - is generally* far higher than that normally performed by independant sellers.

If you've bought a car from a main dealer with faults which fall outside the remit of fair wear and tear, then more fool you for not doing anything about it. Yes you may well have to 'push' for it, but we're all adults aren't we? We all posess the power of speach and the ability to challenge concepts which do not conform to norms do we not? So what's the problem?

In summary therefore, my original point was that you wouldn't necessarily get the same standard of car (or at least a car by which the same strict standards apply) outside the dealer network, and I speak as someone with plenty of expereince of this.

*with the exception of one episode (not a BMW dealer) which I subsequently learnt from and have never made the same mistake again.

[Great Pretender]

pilchardthecat said:

Well i can only go on my own experience (only 5 i'm afraid, from 4 different dealers) and not one of them was "rigorously prepared" .... in fact two of them were damaged during these preparations.

And what did you do about it other than complain on here?

[pilchardthecat]

Great Pretender said:

sinizter said:

pilchardthecat said:

Great Pretender said:

rigorous preparation

Have another

Although they will if you push for it. They will try to get away with as much as possible.

Note the caveat 'usually'.

And of course they [dealers] will try and scrimp - they are businesses. It's in their interest to save money. Still with me?

Good. What you both have missed is that BMW (like most premium main agents) have a strict set criteria by which their used cars must be sold by - a sort of test if you like. Any car sold by a main dealer must meet that criteria (and you as the customer are entiteld to see the criteria which it is measured against). If it doesn't meet this, the customer is entitled to have the car rectified until it does at no additional cost. That way, the risk of buying a used car is largely passed to the dealer (fair wear and tear notwithstanding) who makes the decision (in the case of a part-ex for example) whether to retail the car based on its condition and required prep, or throw it to the auctions. From my experience, this critera - ergo level of preparation - is generally* far higher than that normally performed by independant sellers.

If you've bought a car from a main dealer with faults which fall outside the remit of fair wear and tear, then more fool you for not doing anything about it. Yes you may well have to 'push' for it, but we're all adults aren't we? We all posess the power of speach and the ability to challenge concepts which do not conform to norms do we not? So what's the problem?

In summary therefore, my original point was that you wouldn't necessarily get the same standard of car (or at least a car by which the same strict standards apply) outside the dealer network, and I speak as someone with plenty of expereince of this.

*with the exception of one episode (not a BMW dealer) which I subsequently learnt from and have never made the same mistake again.

Not "usually" in my experience.

I agree that they will (usually) rectify something if you spot it quickly enough (ie within about 2 days) but they will not notice these things themselves and correct them in advance - they try and "get away with it"....or worse

One example - my 1 series was dinged during preparation. I noticed that it had a cracked number plate and number plate holder when i got home after picking it up. At first they denied doing it and said that i must have done it after collection, and tried to make me pay for it. So i went in to remonstrate with them.... at which point they magically produced the new set on number plates which they already had.