beldredge

After scanning Autotrader for months, checking out the market for used 530xi's, I found a very appealing one in California. I live in Colorado, so I'm going through a broker to make the "out-of-state" purchase easier.

Since there's not a huge market yet for the relatively new xi's, it's hard to guage what a fair price is, so I was hoping to get your thoughts.

Here it is:

2006 530xi sedan
Silver/Black leather
Premium, Sport, Cold, Premium Sound, Nav, HU Display, Satellite radio, PDC, manual trannie
MSRP new was $58,840.

It has about 8k miles and was a "BMW Exec" car. Not a CPO, but obviously lots of warranty left.

The broker has quoted me $49,500 - which includes shipping it to me in Denver. So, figuring $800-$1,000 for that shipping, and the car is costing me around $48,500 or so.

It's not a huge discount, being a used car, but my sense is that the E60's are holding their value very well. And, at the end of the day, it is probably somewhere around $8k discount off the street price for such a car. About 15% for less than a year and 8k miles? That's how I'm looking at it anyway.

So, it seems to me it's not some killer deal, but a very fair one. I was gonna wait a while to let the used market on these develop more, but the manual trannie is making me want to jump on this one.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

rodneyremington

I can only share with you my experience with buying cars sight unseen or from out of state. I've regretted it. At the least, spend a couple hundred on a round trip ticket on a saturday, go and look at the car, and be prepared to walk away if it doesn't look good. It's worth the money to see it before buying it. I just bought a Porsche sight unseen, and wish I hadn't.

In this particular case, why would an exec car with so little miles not be certified preowned. I assume there is a reason why.

TexaZ3

Not a very big discount I would say. I would think you can get a new one with same options for $52-54 K from the right dealer.

beldredge

Not necessarily disagreeing with you that it's not a big discount, but a new one identically equipped like this has a dealer invoice of $55,475. How would I get it for $52-54k? I figured a good deal on such a car would be $56-$57k.

That's how I figured a savings of about $8k over a new one.

And I am asking if they'll certify it for that price. I assume the actual cost to the dealership is not very high, or shouldn't be, so if they refused that, I would certainly be a little suspicious.

And, as far as the "sight unseen," I'm pretty comfortable with having the broker inspecting it and vouching for the condition.

Thanks for all the input.

C's Bimmer

That's not correct. I just purchased a 2007 530xi (see my options below on my sig). I paid $59K and change. MSRP was around $63K, almost the cost of getting a 550i with half the options. I paid $1500 above invoice for my car, which is a good deal based on what I've seen and read on this forum. $48K doesn't sound like a bad deal, but I do think it's smart to check out what you're buying for that amount of money. Afterall, if you can afford this car, what's the cost of paying for a plane ticket to jump on a 2 hour flight to check out your investment. Don't buy blind. Go look at it. Or, just buy a new one! I love my 2007!

beldredge

Thanks for the input - I agree; based on what I've seen and read, $1,500 over invoice does seem like a good deal, so a good price for the car I'm looking at, new, would be about $57k. So, like I said, about 15% "discount" for the 8,000 miles on it. Seems fair, if nothing else. There's a lot of listings out there where dealers are just discounting $2-3k off what a new one would cost. Of course, they may not actually get that, but I know the dealers here in Denver are pretty stubborn on the E60 pricing. If they certify it, I'll probably do the deal.

But I hear you on the "buying blind" thing. Perhaps I'm putting too much trust in the broker to do the due diligence.

Ash530

beldredge - I think your deal is fair. I do think taking a trip out to California to inspect the car is a really good idea. Here is a scenario that you might want to consider: The broker inspects the car and it looks good to him. Does that mean it will look good to you? Everyone's version of what looks good is different. Another one is, the broker looks over the car and ships it out, during transit the car gets damaged, something minor, like a scratch or gouge in the paint. Without you looking the car over yourself everyone can claim to not have seen it. Then what. I don't want to burst your bubble, but $48k is alot of money, to trust someone else.

Besides if you fly out you can always drive it back home. It would be a great way to get to know your new toy!

C's Bimmer

Keep us posted on what you to decide to do...

beldredge

Just a quick update. The dealer did not want to certify the car, unless I paid $2k for the CPO. I understand there is some cost to the dealer to certify it, but this seems fairly ridiculous. He has come down a little on the price. Not much, but every bit helps.

But I got to thinking last night. A lot of the options on this particular car have a "cool" factor to me, but I truly care little about them, such as the navigation, HU display, PDC and Satellite radio.

So, the $49k price for this used car, as equipped, may be a fair deal, but I'm thinking I could probably order a new 2007 530xi, equipped less than this one, but still well-equipped for my needs, for just a couple grand more than this used one.

Then I'd have no concerns over the condition of this one, have a full warranty, and get to pick the exact color I want (even though I do like the silver/black of the used one).

It sounds like some have paid $800-$1,000 over invoice, which sounds pretty aggressive, but perhaps $1,500 over is very doable?