What would be a good deal on this m3??

Originally Posted by chuck92103

40k max, with a written guarantee that the car was never wrecked, and have the check to make sure this car was not one of the ones with engine problems.

I heard some 03's had engine issues as well.

List price on a new base M3 is 46,

I would also check used M3 inventory in your area, here in San Diego, we have a lot of new and used on the market.

how do you check if the car is not the one with engine problem? Is it before certain month production?

First service is at 1200 miles.

Next service is at between 11 - 15,000 miles depending on how it is driven. Yes, some people have managed it earlier, it is based on amount of fuel burned.

Next service is another 11 - 15,000 miles, and so forth.

So 3 services in 22,000 - 45,000 miles would not be a problem (if near the upper limit, it would coming due).

As for engine problems, they have been fixed, and it doesn't look like this one ws withint the range, as it would have had the service action performend, and anyway would come with a 100K 6 year engine warranty.

And yes, some/many dealers do get a kickback on financing. But the lure of a quick profit is a very great one. Remember too, that the dealer is paying floor plan on th vehicle, that is, he is also buying it on an intrest only load, so as the month comes to a close, he is looking at some 3/4% payment on his cost of the car. That can be a powerful incentive to selling, not to mention making numbers (number of cars sold). New cars have the added advantage of potentiall increasing hold back (manufacturer kickback based on the number of cars sold that month).

Dealers make money on the financing. You could agree to a high priced loan to make the dealer happy and then pay it off after 2-3 months. The dealers get their cut of the deal in that period. I know this is not kosher since it is going to hurt the financing company but they do account for a few of these lossy transactions in their pricing models.

Why would that not be "kosher"? They still make $$ on the month(s) that you financed for, and if you want to pay it off that's your choice. As long as there is no prepayment penalty, I don't see how this is a problem.

thanks for all the great info!! At this moment I am still want to make it a cash deal. This might be a silly question, but do all bmw dealer take trade-in if so is there a restriction on the type of cars? (brand) I want to trade in a 02 WRX.

Originally Posted by silvscorp

thanks for all the great info!! At this moment I am still want to make it a cash deal. This might be a silly question, but do all bmw dealer take trade-in if so is there a restriction on the type of cars? (brand) I want to trade in a 02 WRX.

They'll take anything, but you will get reamed on valuation. I would assume they would say "that is not a car we could sell on the lot, so we would have to wholesale it". They will pass that hit, real or not, on to you.

Originally Posted by Pinecone

First service is at 1200 miles.

Next service is at between 11 - 15,000 miles depending on how it is driven. Yes, some people have managed it earlier, it is based on amount of fuel burned.

Next service is another 11 - 15,000 miles, and so forth.

So 3 services in 22,000 - 45,000 miles would not be a problem (if near the upper limit, it would coming due).

As for engine problems, they have been fixed, and it doesn't look like this one ws withint the range, as it would have had the service action performend, and anyway would come with a 100K 6 year engine warranty.

And yes, some/many dealers do get a kickback on financing. But the lure of a quick profit is a very great one. Remember too, that the dealer is paying floor plan on th vehicle, that is, he is also buying it on an intrest only load, so as the month comes to a close, he is looking at some 3/4% payment on his cost of the car. That can be a powerful incentive to selling, not to mention making numbers (number of cars sold). New cars have the added advantage of potentiall increasing hold back (manufacturer kickback based on the number of cars sold that month).

Pinecone:

As far as free maintenance goes.

Have you ever heard of anyone needing breaks before 50K miles under normal use?

I am sure they have a way check if the car has seen any track time buy looking at pads and rotors. So, we can't really expect them to pay for that.

Thanks

People who track their cars get pads and rotors replaced all the time. If you really abuse the brakes, they might tell you to not come back for that after a few sets though.

And yes, people go through front brakes (not breaks ) in under 50K all the time. The average for front pads overall is something like 35K miles.

This is a performance car, they actually expect you to drive it in a performance manner.

I do know of one person who had the brake system warranty voided, for using ATE Super Blue. But a) that dealer is a known problem dealer, and b) they do have a point, Super Blue is NOT a DOT approved fluid, so he was running non-street legal stuff. But othe dealers have had no problem flushing out Super Blue and not worrying about it.