7 series depreciation and Twickenham dealer

[Jules Sunley]

Hi all, looking to upgrade my X5 and came across Blackstone Motors in Twickenham/Feltham area SW London.

Loads of nice stock, and looking at other cars they have there are loads of 7 series at what seem amazingly good prices for quite new with low mileage.

2 questions, does anyone have any experience with this dealer before I arrange a visit after lockdown eased and also does anyone know why 7 series depreciation is so massive as why would anyone buy a new one when 2-3 year old models are so much cheaper?

Thanks in advance

[Kickstart]

Don’t know the dealer but 7 series were super cheap to lease because the S class Merc was so popular- business partner had one at £499pm for 3 years with 3 months down

[jonwm]

For some reason the bigger BMW's seem to depreciate terribly considering the spec and original rrp.

I was looking last year to opt out of the company car and 7's and 5's a few years old were the same as 1's and 3's near enough.

Considering the new purchase price I have always had them on my radar for when I opt out in 2 years (post covid still having the same job obviously)

[Deep Thought]

Ridiculously heavily discounted when new, lots of ex-demo dealer cars about.

My wifes boss bought himself a less than a year old 7 series diesel for around £36K - and that was a dealer franchise car.

They go due south from there.

Latest cars are viewed as ugly and not particularly good. S Class runs rings around it.

Also massive exec saloons are very much out of favour with the car buying public.

Most people would find it hard to justify the size of a 7 series over a 5 series.

[Jules Sunley]

Thanks all, appreciated. Looking at some of the tech in the 7 series (rear screens and tablet) I'd better not show the kids or they'll be harassing me to get a 7

[Deep Thought]

Jules Sunley said:

Thanks all, appreciated. Looking at some of the tech in the 7 series (rear screens and tablet) I'd better not show the kids or they'll be harassing me to get a 7

If you can buy them after the first year or twos depreciation they will probably depreciate in a reasonably linear fashion from there.

If you are buying a reasonably fresh one it might be worth checking Approved Used cars for the extended BMW warranty. Sometimes they arent that much more expensive.

[Wills2]

I recently sold my G11 740d Xdrive with 55,000 miles at 3.5 years old WBAC offered £23,500 it was sold via SOR at a local dealer for £25,995 sold with 3 weeks.

Hopefully that's a guide for the OP, they are fabulous cars and utter bargains far better than a 3 or 5 IMHO and I've had them all.

[Jag_NE]

They look like stunning value at a year old or less, mid 30’s for a lovely car. I have a 5er and at a year old it isn’t an awful lot more to get the 7er. I must admit though, it doesn’t have quite the flagship properties in the Bmw range as the S does in Mercedes. To me it just seems like a better 5er whereas the the gap between the E and S class in terms of quality seems much greater.

[Wills2]

5 and 7 are chalk and cheese once you've owned them both the 5 feels a big step down, everything in the 7 just feels more luxurious better put together leather everywhere the 4 comfort seats, air suspension etc.

Before I had the 7 I would have agreed but not now, the E and S seem much closer to me.

[talksthetorque]

Has the 6 Series GC stopped people stretching to the 7 perhaps?

[raspy]

Nobody pays anywhere close to list price on 7 series cars. Hence, you need to consider depreciation from the normal discounted price rather than using the list price, to get a more accurate picture of how much the price has actually fallen when viewing used models.

I was looking at a brand new BMW 745e and carwow shows a list price of £78.5k and in terms of offers from dealers, this was the best offer;

Cash price: £63.2k (19.5% discount off list)
PCP price: £53.2k (32.2% discount off list) 2.9% APR

Even looking at Audi A8 55 TFSI Quattro Tiptronic S Line Comfort+Sound, Automatic, Petrol - list price of £80k

Cash price: £63.1k (21.0% discount off list)
PCP price: £54.2k (32.1% discount off list) 0.0% APR

If you're going to spend 35k on a used 7 series, and intend to keep it for many years, you might as well get a brand new one on finance and get the full factory warranty, imho.

[Jules Sunley]

Thanks all, some really interesting info shared. Makes you wonder why new they list as they do when such big discounts available. Cheers

[Deep Thought]

raspy said:

Nobody pays anywhere close to list price on 7 series cars. Hence, you need to consider depreciation from the normal discounted price rather than using the list price, to get a more accurate picture of how much the price has actually fallen when viewing used models.

I was looking at a brand new BMW 745e and carwow shows a list price of £78.5k and in terms of offers from dealers, this was the best offer;

Cash price: £63.2k (19.5% discount off list)
PCP price: £53.2k (32.2% discount off list) 2.9% APR

Even looking at Audi A8 55 TFSI Quattro Tiptronic S Line Comfort+Sound, Automatic, Petrol - list price of £80k

Cash price: £63.1k (21.0% discount off list)
PCP price: £54.2k (32.1% discount off list) 0.0% APR

If you're going to spend 35k on a used 7 series, and intend to keep it for many years, you might as well get a brand new one on finance and get the full factory warranty, imho.

New 7 series 730d M Sport after discount is around £52K. Used, they can be had for around £38K at a year old - it seems a bit crazy to spend over £1,000 a month on depreciation for that first year, given it levels out after that?

The other plus side would be that a year old one would be last of the old model, so you wouldnt have to come out and look at that grille on the new one every day....

[bad company]

Deep Thought said:

New 7 series 730d M Sport after discount is around £52K. Used, they can be had for around £38K at a year old - it seems a bit crazy to spend over £1,000 a month on depreciation for that first year, given it levels out after that?

The other plus side would be that a year old one would be last of the old model, so you wouldnt have to come out and look at that grille on the new one every day....

Jeeez, that’s ugly.

[raspy]

Deep Thought said:

New 7 series 730d M Sport after discount is around £52K. Used, they can be had for around £38K at a year old - it seems a bit crazy to spend over £1,000 a month on depreciation for that first year, given it levels out after that?

The other plus side would be that a year old one would be last of the old model, so you wouldnt have to come out and look at that grille on the new one every day....

But that's the old model that is a year old, it all depends whether someone wants the latest model, features, tech etc.

Each to their own, I actually like the new shape with the big grille. The reason they made it so big was in response to feedback from customers in China, where they sell 50% of all 7 series globally a year.

I suspect given the near universal dislike of the giant grille in this country, depreciation will be even more with the new model than ever before.

[Deep Thought]

raspy said:

But that's the old model that is a year old, it all depends whether someone wants the latest model, features, tech etc.

Each to their own, I actually like the new shape with the big grille. The reason they made it so big was in response to feedback from customers in China, where they sell 50% of all 7 series globally a year.

I suspect given the near universal dislike of the giant grille in this country, depreciation will be even more with the new model than ever before.

All the more reason not to buy new then surely? Given that it looks like the first year of ownership on a brand new one is going to cost around £15,000?

raspy said:

If you're going to spend 35k on a used 7 series, and intend to keep it for many years, you might as well get a brand new one on finance and get the full factory warranty, imho.