BMW dealer doesn't want to make a sale!!!!

So I took my '01 330i to the dealer to get my 30k service. While I was waiting, I decided to stroll through the lot to see what was going on. My car has been annoying me to hell with some rattles in the interior, so its possible that I may be looking. I found a sweet '01 540i with the M package. I was bored, so I test drove it and fell in love. That V-8 is a beast. Just what my 330 is lacking. So we did the numbers, and the dealer said he'd give me $20k for a trade. He wouldn't budge more than $500 on it. I just paid $27k for my car in Sept 04. Whats up with that? Resale is why I bought this car. Well, maybe that and a few other reasons... But that is how I legitimized it to myself. I got gouged on my lat car, and Grand Prix. That thing lost 70% of its value in 3 years!
Edmunds says $20,500 for trade in, $26,900 for retail. Whats up with the huge difference?? I know, brakes, tires, service, blah blah blah, but $6400 worth?

Just some random thoughts, but damn, I really wanted that 540i. That is a nice ride.

Stop whining and buy that 540i....you *know* you want it!

Regards,
Bob

Whatever dude. Don't twist my arm, I have a very weak mind when it comes to impulsive buys. Kind of like the $250 remote control with a color screen on it that I bought last week, just because it was cool. I want that car bad, but I'm not gonna be able to sleep at night knowing that my 330 cost me $9000 to drive for 9 months.

Originally Posted by mschupp

Whatever dude. Don't twist my arm, I have a very weak mind when it comes to impulsive buys. Kind of like the $250 remote control with a color screen on it that I bought last week, just because it was cool. I want that car bad, but I'm not gonna be able to sleep at night knowing that my 330 cost me $9000 to drive for 9 months.

(And the Devil`s Advocate steps in....)
Yeah, but if you made the move, at least you`d be driving something *you really like*, vs. something *you really don`t like*....it`s a night & day difference between those two cars....(Hold your arm out, Son.... :-)

Regards,
Bob

noooooooo. I love my 330. I just hate the rattles, and they make me want to drive it off a cliff sometimes. But then I whip through an on-ramp to the highway at 50mph and realize that I love this car, too. Thats the only thing I didn't get to do on the test drive because it was raining....

Originally Posted by mschupp

me Thats the only thing I didn't get to do on the test drive because it was raining....

Well....you *could* be doing 540s in your 540....(there`s just something SO poetic about that....)

Regards,
Bob

Sounds like your dealer is in the ballpark. Edmunds says there's a $6,400 diff between trade-in and retail, so the short answer is that must be normal. I'm sure a dealer who feels like it could spend the time explaining it and justifying all the expenses they deal with, not to mention a little profit, which after all, is what they're there for. As far as the $20,000 trade-in offer +/- $500, I'm always amazed at the attitude of some people when it comes to large purchase like that...If you want the M5 and it will make you happy, why let a few hundred dollars be a deal breaker. If it's the several thousand dollar diff between trade-in and retail that's bugging you, you just have to decide if it's worth it to you to get what you want, but don't hold it against the dealer. It's the way of the world...he makes his offer, you can take it or not.

This is what happens when you buy a car and want to trade it in 9 months later - if you turned around the very next day and wanted to trade it in then it would be even worse. Trade-in value has always been that way because the dealer isn't really buying the car - he is looking to resell it at a profit, and if he can't then he won't buy it - that is why he won't budge.

If you want to get more for your car, then sell it yourself to a private party and use that money on the M5. You will probably very quickly learn why most people trade in their cars though - selling a car themselves is usually a hassle most people don't want to deal with.

CPO costs a couple thousand dollars, and they have to be able to auction the thing off. More to the point, you're trying to trade your E46 immediately after the release of a brand new body style.

You're trading your car in too soon i bet you still havent paid off the interest on the loan.

Sell yours privately and then go for the 540?

Originally Posted by Adventure Rider

This is what happens when you buy a car and want to trade it in 9 months later - if you turned around the very next day and wanted to trade it in then it would be even worse. Trade-in value has always been that way because the dealer isn't really buying the car - he is looking to resell it at a profit, and if he can't then he won't buy it - that is why he won't budge.

If you want to get more for your car, then sell it yourself to a private party and use that money on the M5. You will probably very quickly learn why most people trade in their cars though - selling a car themselves is usually a hassle most people don't want to deal with.

Selling a car on your own is easy and I thought only dealers spouted crap about how hard it is.

I've sold 3 cars private party in the last 4 years. Place an ad on carsoup/auto trader and wait. Maybe it will take a month (my 03 Protege took 1 month) or two (my Stanza) or 3 (my 01 Jetta) but if you're patient you can sell it and make thousands more than a trade-in. I'll never get why people will walk away from 2-3-4k...or why they'd let something as evil and slimey as a dealership make 5-6k profit on a car).

Originally Posted by blueguydotcom

Selling a car on your own is easy and I thought only dealers spouted crap about how hard it is.

I've sold 3 cars private party in the last 4 years. Place an ad on carsoup/auto trader and wait. Maybe it will take a month (my 03 Protege took 1 month) or two (my Stanza) or 3 (my 01 Jetta) but if you're patient you can sell it and make thousands more than a trade-in. I'll never get why people will walk away from 2-3-4k...or why they'd let something as evil and slimey as a dealership make 5-6k profit on a car).

I second blueguy here - 3 cars sold private party in the past 4 years - the longest was about 6 weeks. I don't know what dealers would have offered as trade in because I never gave them a chance. Based on comparison of wholesale values versus retail - I'd guess that on the conservative side I sold for $2500 over (Miata) to about $4500 over (Audi A4).

Also, if you're buying a replacement car from the dealer at which you're trading your other car in, you open yourself up to a whole host of financial gimmicks and potential sleezy practices that walking in with no trade can avoid - especially when things get heated.

Originally Posted by blueguydotcom

Selling a car on your own is easy and I thought only dealers spouted crap about how hard it is.

I've sold 3 cars private party in the last 4 years. Place an ad on carsoup/auto trader and wait. Maybe it will take a month (my 03 Protege took 1 month) or two (my Stanza) or 3 (my 01 Jetta) but if you're patient you can sell it and make thousands more than a trade-in. I'll never get why people will walk away from 2-3-4k...or why they'd let something as evil and slimey as a dealership make 5-6k profit on a car).

Convenience and certainty. It takes a month to sell--sometimes there's no desire to wait that long, or no desire to spend teh time with potential customers, and so forth. Example--after my wife and I had a baby, we bought a station wagon. Had to get rid of her Honda Civic. Well, we could hve put an ad in the paper, or autotrder, or whatever, but then it's calls at weird times, and test drives, and so forth. It was a lot easier to sell it to car max for a terrible price, and not have the hassle. If the timing were different, I might go through the hassle. But it wasn't. Anyway, we got the $7k for sure, with no fuss. Probably cost us $2-3k that way, but that's life.

Overall, though, the $9k you're talking about consists of a lot of dealer spread. They are paying you below the actual value and hoping to sell above the actual value, so they can make a profit and cover their costs and risk. And, yeah, the car has gone down in value in a year, especially since it's the next model year already.

Have you checked to see what Carmax would give you for it? Fast sale and painless... www.carmax.com

Originally Posted by Tanning machine

Convenience and certainty. It takes a month to sell--sometimes there's no desire to wait that long, or no desire to spend teh time with potential customers, and so forth. Example--after my wife and I had a baby, we bought a station wagon. Had to get rid of her Honda Civic. Well, we could hve put an ad in the paper, or autotrder, or whatever, but then it's calls at weird times, and test drives, and so forth. It was a lot easier to sell it to car max for a terrible price, and not have the hassle. If the timing were different, I might go through the hassle. But it wasn't. Anyway, we got the $7k for sure, with no fuss. Probably cost us $2-3k that way, but that's life.

Overall, though, the $9k you're talking about consists of a lot of dealer spread. They are paying you below the actual value and hoping to sell above the actual value, so they can make a profit and cover their costs and risk. And, yeah, the car has gone down in value in a year, especially since it's the next model year already.

Email and cell phone numbers...best ways to avoid calls. Also it's easy to be selective but then again my cars are manuals always so the buyers tend to always be enthusiasts.