"New" Pricing for 700 Miles & Repaired Front Air Dam

[plasar]

Hi 1Addicts, I'm hopefully about to join your ranks if I can find a 135i Convertible 6-speed that works out for me.

I found one. Everything started out cool when the salesperson told me I could have it for $500 over invoice (I was going to ask for just that from the $46,730 invoice price). Then he mentioned it had 700 miles rather than the 7 miles listed on the web site. Um, OK...

Then the sales manager calls (I asked to have the sales manager confirm the pricing offered b4 I fly to pick up the car) and he says that the car has a very slightly damaged front air dam that he is going to have repaired.

It seems the car was originally ordered by the General Manager, then it was taken to a golf tournment, and now after returning from golf, it has the dam(n) damage.

The sales manager now says he'll give it for $200 over invoice.

So I would love to hear everyone's thoughts:

* how much over/under invoice should I get because of the mileage/damage?
* can a dealer really sell 700 mile car as a new car?

Cheers in advance!

[Angry3]

Originally Posted by plasar

Hi 1Addicts, I'm hopefully about to join your ranks if I can find a 135i Convertible 6-speed that works out for me.

I found one. Everything started out cool when the salesperson told me I could have it for $500 over invoice (I was going to ask for just that from the $46,730 invoice price). Then he mentioned it had 700 miles rather than the 7 miles listed on the web site. Um, OK...

Then the sales manager calls (I asked to have the sales manager confirm the pricing offered b4 I fly to pick up the car) and he says that the car has a very slightly damaged front air dam that he is going to have repaired.

It seems the car was originally ordered by the General Manager, then it was taken to a golf tournment, and now after returning from golf, it has the dam(n) damage.

The sales manager now says he'll give it for $200 over invoice.

So I would love to hear everyone's thoughts:

* how much over/under invoice should I get because of the mileage/damage?
* can a dealer really sell 700 mile car as a new car?

Cheers in advance!

My experience with cars like this is that that dealers generally won't give you enough of a discount to make one worth considering. BMW has either rolled back or done away with their demo program (that gave dealers help to move demos or cars used by dealer staff), and the dealer probably isn't hard up enough to take a big loss to move it. Typically dealers will deduct the standard lease rate for miles from the price (.20 or so), which only drops the price by a few hundred dollars. For me, that's nowhere near enough to make me want a car that a sales manager has possibly beaten the crap out of during break in. As far as the damage goes, that's a red flag to me that the car wasn't driven carefully, and any time you have paintwork done (however minor) it creates potential issues on resale.

Oh, and to answer the second question, yes the car can be sold as new since it hasn't been titled.

Unless you want/need the car right now, you're better off ordering a fresh car for $500 over invoice. You can offer them $2-$3K below, which is what it would take for me to consider this kind of deal, but they're almost certainly going to reject it and just wait for an impulse buyer that could care less how many miles are on their new car.

Hope that helps, GL.

[singular]

Originally Posted by Angry3

My experience with cars like this is that that dealers generally won't give you enough of a discount to make one worth considering. BMW has either rolled back or done away with their demo program (that gave dealers help to move demos or cars used by dealer staff), and the dealer probably isn't hard up enough to take a big loss to move it. Typically dealers will deduct the standard lease rate for miles from the price (.20 or so), which only drops the price by a few hundred dollars. For me, that's nowhere near enough to make me want a car that a sales manager has possibly beaten the crap out of during break in. As far as the damage goes, that's a red flag to me that the car wasn't driven carefully, and any time you have paintwork done (however minor) it creates potential issues on resale.

Oh, and to answer the second question, yes the car can be sold as new since it hasn't been titled.

Unless you want/need the car right now, you're better off ordering a fresh car for $500 over invoice. You can offer them $2-$3K below, which is what it would take for me to consider this kind of deal, but they're almost certainly going to reject it and just wait for an impulse buyer that could care less how many miles are on their new car.

Hope that helps, GL.

+1. Custom order for invoice + $500.

I did just that in the SF Bay Area. There are a ton of dealers in the area.

Just curious - which dealership is offering you this "deal"?

[plasar]

Thx for the feedback Angry3 and Singular.

In a perfect world, I'd order a car, and do Euro delivery, but I just came back to San Fran from Hong Kong, and I need a car to drive ASAP.

It's BMW of Dallas.

[Papa13]

I wouldn't take it unless it was 500 under invoice. I just got mine for 300 over invoice with 4 miles on it. 700 miles is unacceptable. It's used IMO

[wmo168]

Originally Posted by plasar

Thx for the feedback Angry3 and Singular.

In a perfect world, I'd order a car, and do Euro delivery, but I just came back to San Fran from Hong Kong, and I need a car to drive ASAP.

It's BMW of Dallas.

Oh you just come back from Hong Kong? 你好嗎 I am chinese too

[plasar]

... it's now down to $1K under invoice. That's pretty fair I think and it seems that there are soooooo few 6-speed manual 135i convertibles. I think the whole world has gone automatic!

I agree Papa13, this car feels used to me too at close to 1K miles, but like I said, I need a ride "tout de suite". I hope the new car smell is still there.

Nice to meet you wmo168. Hong Kong is a great city, and China is a great country, but some how I never bonded. I didn't travel around or explore too much.

And in terms of cars, they have the best cars in HK - every weekend, it seems that there were at least 2 or 3 Ferraris parked on Hollywood Road thru Lan Kwai Fong. And we're talking the hi end ones - 599s and 612s. But the roads to drive them are much better here in Cali. The probably never got out of 3rd gear in HK.

Thanks to all for the tips.

[plasar]

I'll just update this post a final time with a scan of the sticker... really appreciate everyone's feedback in this post and others... stoked to be an "owning" member of 1Addicts!

After 6 months now, regarding options, I would have:

+ added Park Distance,
- removed the premium radio (and upgraded aftermarket, like with DynAudio and McIntosh), and

+++ recommend Dinan Stage 2 as soon possible (got it @ 2 months).

==========

[FJUNO78]

You can currently order a 1er the EXACT way you want it, for below invoice with the $1500 holiday rebate.

Given the mileage and the repair work, the most I would offer is $4000 under invoice. Even then, I would have to love the way the car was optioned out.

Also, if you ordered the car, would you get all of those options and the same colors? If not, I think it would make zero sense to take one that was loaded up with things you may not want.

[jabwind51]

plasar,

to ease your mind of the new car smell: i drove 700 miles in europe middle of october and the car still smelled as new as it could be when i dropped it off at port. even at 12,000 miles i have seen m3's still smell new.

also, i have a sweater sitting in my closet that i didn't wash and IT still smells like a new car for over a month! (don't ask)

in general, i would still order a new one, but if you simply can't wait, go for it!

[plasar]

Sorry to confuse everyone: I bought the car in May 2009 and have had it for 6 months now. Everything's great!

I just wanted to paste my window sticker in this post for posterity and give a little feedback about options.

Again, thx tons for the feedback.

[hockeymutt]

yea dont take anything under invoice i got 3 grand under invoice on a brand new 135 coupe with 3 miles on it