F30/31 340i values

[b14]

Bought an F31 340i this time last year and have done 9k miles in it. High spec 68 plate, only missing piece being Adaptive (which I don't miss). £30k it cost me from a dealer.

I love the car but idly thinking about replacing it - had a look on Autotrader and there are higher mile cars asking £30k+ these days from dealers. Have I lucked out and finally managed to buy a car that isn't a recipe for brutal depreciation?! My guess is that if I sold it now I should be able to get back v close to what I paid for it, looking at the spec and miles of mine vs what's on the market.

Interested to hear thoughts on how the 340i market is working at the moment?

[RUSSELLM]

Lots of newish second hand stuff fetching good money, post lockdown.

My 335D was an AUC at £19,300 17 months ago.

With the 13k miles I’ve added, the cheapest on AT for the same year car, is just under £20k.

They’ll no doubt come back down, in time.

[dasbimmerowner]

I got my 19 plate Shadow Ed F31 340i 10 months ago, that cost me just over £27k with a reasonable list of options (pro plus media/interior comfort/parking package etc). Given it's low mileage - picked up with just over 200 miles on the clock, and I've added less than 5k to that, dealers seem to have similar cars on forecourts for £32k-ish. I got £1500 off the car for taking out finance but cancelled it and paid it off within a few days (IIRC it cost me £9 to get £1500 off the car) hence the very competitive price. Once thing is for sure though, having watched the F31 340i market for months last year, prices asked by dealers have risen during the last 6 months or so. This time last year there was a glut of 340i's which I presume drove down prices as it's a relatively niche car (especially with it's £425 tax bill!), there's no where near as many on sale now and prices appear to reflect that. I did wonder if perhaps the price rises were in part due to the long lead times for the new M340i and some folk not wanting to wait?

Edited by dasbimmerowner on Monday 7th September 14:49

[RUSSELLM]

There’s an Audi TT RS at Audi/Leeds for £38,500

I had that on a watch list, and it was with them for £34k on 20th May this year

[james_zy]

Something doesn't seem to add up here with the used car market.

For prices to increase, there has to be an increase in demand or a decrease in supply. Neither seem to make sense with the current COVID situation.

Is it possible that given the margins on selling a brand new car are so thin, that dealers are fixing prices on used cars (sort of like a cartel)?

[JackReacher]

james_zy said:

Something doesn't seem to add up here with the used car market.

For prices to increase, there has to be an increase in demand or a decrease in supply. Neither seem to make sense with the current COVID situation.

Is it possible that given the margins on selling a brand new car are so thin, that dealers are fixing prices on used cars (sort of like a cartel)?

Well there is a lack of supply on new ones due to closed factories and reduced output, so that will play its part. But there are many other factors, some people are better off, some are driving less so can have a more powerful car etc.

[Chamon_Lee]

james_zy said:

Something doesn't seem to add up here with the used car market.

For prices to increase, there has to be an increase in demand or a decrease in supply. Neither seem to make sense with the current COVID situation.

Is it possible that given the margins on selling a brand new car are so thin, that dealers are fixing prices on used cars (sort of like a cartel)?

it does make sense if you think about it, more time at home, savings on travel for work, no lunch in city, no holidays taken so some spare cash and with added bordem and dreaming people are buying up.
It will come crashing down when people are told get your ass in the office (which they will). You only need to see marketplaces for smaller things to realize this is a st storm. Marketplaces are now starting to fill up with 1-5k bikes bought out of bordem and fantasy that it was a new perm thing to do, racing sim set ups etc.

Cars will be the same to some extent. Not to mention everytime I see a "fancy" car now I just think bouceback loan.

[acd80]

I'm in the market to change my current car and was looking at 340is' as well as 540is' - from what I've seen, it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility that BMW are restricting supply on the second hand market. I've seen a couple of 10/11 month old 540is' on the market for 40k when their list price (with options) is about 58 / 59k. The local garage to me was trying to push me hard into buying a new one - I pointed at the one that they had in stock and said there's no way I'm going to buy brand new (as I did with my current one from the same garage) when I get save 18 / 19k on a nearly new one with all the toys and less than 5k on the clock.

I'm doing absolutely no travelling at the moment so I'm not putting much mileage on my current 5 series so I can afford to wait until the new year. They'll be releasing the hidden glut of cars by then....

[BFleming]

[redacted]

[mr sagman]

I have studied the 340 Touring market very closely for the last 8-10 months and can honestly say now is the ideal time to get maximum money for your car.. There is literally no F31 340 for less than 26-27 K when I last checked (yesterday) 3-4 months ago there were at least 5-6 on the AUC / Autotrader / Ebay but they all sold pronto once lockdown eased July/Aug, I have seen 3-4 sell within a day around the 29-31K mark.. These cars would have sat for ages a few months ago at these prices... You will get strong money now I guarantee as the F31 is very popular at the minute, My mate spotted a grey / red leather on AUC and nice spec and it sold same day and dealer said he had 15-20 calls for it over 2 days.

[b14]

BFleming said:

Sorry to be the person to burst your bubble, but no, you haven't lucked out. You'll be a private seller, and private buyers won't spend £30k on a private purchase. They pay more for more security/warranty/finance options/comeback. You might find that someone who will, but in my experience it's a long wait for that buyer - and it'll be a hard sell. Maybe find a comparable one for sale privately, get a trade in offer, or a WBAC quote to get an idea of the true value. But it's not what a dealer has a comparable car up for.

Don't worry, no bubble burst in reality. I wouldn't buy a £30k car privately unless there was a significant discount to reflect additional risk.

It's a great car and I love it, but under no illusion of it being a modern classic. Kind of why I started the thread - I'd have expected to have lost 8-10k on it so far but seems to be holding value way better than I'd imagined it would, to date.

[mr sagman]

[redacted]

[Smuler]

Thread made me curious,
WBAC was a poor 19.5k
I’ve no doubt could shift for more on A Trader.;)
These cars need high specification inmho

[CSLchappie]

I've just been browsing Autotrader for my missus next car, I've still got my old 340i touring listed as my current car and its private sale value, according to Autotrader, is almost £2k more than they valued it 12 months ago.

[Pizzaeatingking]

Just ran mine through WBAC out of curiosity, 2018/26k and it's coming back at £23k ish. I've lost £10k - £11k over that time, I'm alright with that. Although I have no plans to sell, it does everything too well for me as a daily.

At the time I was in the opposite situation to the post above. I always said I'd never buy new but I looked at used but they were more than a new car at the time, bonkers.

[SBN]

Just purchased a car during lockdown... sold mine at the start, lived without for a bit and then when i needed to go back to the office instead of working from home i needed to go out and get a car.

What a issue that was, used cars were selling very quickly unseen which makes buyers (some of them) a bit desperate and therefore dealers stand firm on pricing... it has gone crazy, mainly driven by people fantasising or not wanting to use public transport etc. It may come down but at present WBAC is offering nearly what i paid for my new one at present.

[Pistonheader101]

They are brilliant m lite cars - Have a bit of a cult following.

[Wills2]

james_zy said:

Something doesn't seem to add up here with the used car market.

For prices to increase, there has to be an increase in demand or a decrease in supply. Neither seem to make sense with the current COVID situation.

It makes perfect sense, strong demand for used cars and a new market that has been closed for months = less used cars hence the price rise.

There is an increase in demand and decrease in supply, the market doesn't make things up it just reflects reality.

[Wills2]

Pistonheader101 said:

They are brilliant m lite cars - Have a bit of a cult following.

It's not an M lite just a normal BMW?

[interstellar]

Wills2 said:

james_zy said:

Something doesn't seem to add up here with the used car market.

For prices to increase, there has to be an increase in demand or a decrease in supply. Neither seem to make sense with the current COVID situation.

It makes perfect sense, strong demand for used cars and a new market that has been closed for months = less used cars hence the price rise.

There is an increase in demand and decrease in supply, the market doesn't make things up it just reflects reality.

There is a also a shortage of supply. The lease companies extended a lot of leases for customers to stay in their current 1/2/3 year old cars and cancelled their new car order as the factories were closed. There are now far less 1/2/3 year old cars hitting the market which usually end up on franchise dealer forecourts.

These cars will trickle back over the next year or so as a lot of customers were given 3/6/9/12 month extension options.