[mad_max]

Greetings everyone,

After owning three e46s, I got my self a 2004 Audi S4. That's a nice car but I miss the bimmers too much, so I'm looking to get my very first e90 in form of a 335i. I have been looking at private party cars mostly, but since lately I'm looking at some CPO cars to take advantage of the low APR financing by BMW. The financing is very important because this will be my first car loan having paid cash for all other cars I've bought in the past and most banks don't like to fiance so much for a first time auto loan.

I went to a dealership (or stealership) yesterday to checkout a car I came across on bmwusa.com certified car search. The price tag was $29K which looked high but they came down to $27.5 which I still thought was too high. The car was a crimson red with 44k miles, premium, sport & cold weather package. They got me approved for financing at 2.9APR for 60months with 5k down.

Now comes the good part- the finance manager tried to sell me a whole bag full of warranties, extended maintenance options on top of the 100k miles warranty that is offered with the CPO and then tried to get me to sign the deal straight away. When I told him no thank you the guy says the CPO cars have to come into dealerships for all services otherwise it'll void the warranty. And on top of that he tells me he will not be able to get the same financing option if I were to buy the car on another day. Anyways I backed out of the deal because I wanted to check the facts first.

My questions are,

Can't I take the car to an indy shop if it's under warranty? Can't I do things like oil changes my self?

Even on bmwusa.com CPO cars with 40-50k miles range in price from $25k to about $30k, what would be the realistic price to pay? KBB suggests $29K

Even though a car is CPOed are there things that I should watch out for?

Sorry for the long first post, and thanks in advance for the replies.

Max.

[Outlaw 06]

You were very smart to walk out of that dealership. They were full of s*** about the CPO servicing too. You're covered if you DIY as long as you comply with BMW's terms & conditions, service intervals, and use BMW recommended parts and fluids.

The dealer's "discounted" $27,500 price is way too much for a high mileage 335i. If you rely on KBB, Edmunds, etc., for used car pricing you will definitely overpay. I recommend getting a temporary subscription to "Galves Auto Price List" to determine the wholesale "trade-in" and "market ready" values of the car before making an offer. Galves is what wholesalers and dealers in the northeast use. Knowing the car's wholesale price will probably save you thousands of dollars when negotiating the final sale price. www.Galves.com

As a comparison, on 31 Dec 09 I bought a CPO'd Jet Black/Terra 2007 335i Sedan (E90) with 6-speed manual, ZSP-Sport Package (with Oil Cooler), ZPP-Premium Package, ZCW-Cold Weather Package, Comfort Access, and 27,200 miles. I paid just under $27,800* + tax, tag, title and doc fees. I also got 0.9% financing from BMW for 48 months (the sale price was actually $29k, but BMW made my first two payments).

I had no trade-in, so the dealer didn't play a shell game with the sale price.

The car's original 2007 invoice cost was $42k and the original MSRP was $45k.

The suggested CPO price was $31,995.

The car’s in-service date was 22 Nov 06, so I had 11 months of free maintenance and 35 months of warranty remaining.

The GALVES TRADE-IN VALUE was $22,800 and the GALVES MARKET READY VALUE was $24,250 on the E90 I bought. I estimated the value of the CPO at $2k, so the dealer probably had about $25k-$26k into the car.

I bought the car almost 8 months ago and 2007's have continued depreciating since then...

Good luck with your negotiations.

[mad_max]

Thanks a lot for all the information! Highly appreciated....

[mad_max]

This being my very first car loan, most banks were reluctant to finance me, plus I'm full time in Grad school doing my MBA, so my income is very limited. I have more than enough savings to pay off the loan and pay for college, but I want to build up my credit at the same time.

Considering all of this, one dealer got me approved at 1.9 financing with $5k down through BMW financing for a 2007 CPO car with 22k miles. Car is one of the best I've seen amongst the many CPO cars I checked out.

But they want 29k for it which I think is a bit on the high side, (Galves and Manheim prices are around $23,500) but I'm not in the best position to negotiate since they took a lot of trouble to push my loan through.

Has premium & sport packages, USB adapter and heated seats with a fresh set of tires. What do you think?

[Outlaw 06]

Originally Posted by mad_max

This being my very first car loan, most banks were reluctant to finance me, plus I'm full time in Grad school doing my MBA, so my income is very limited. I have more than enough savings to pay off the loan and pay for college, but I want to build up my credit at the same time.

Considering all of this, one dealer got me approved at 1.9 financing with $5k down through BMW financing for a 2007 CPO car with 22k miles. Car is one of the best I've seen amongst the many CPO cars I checked out.

But they want 29k for it which I think is a bit on the high side, (Galves and Manheim prices are around $23,500) but I'm not in the best position to negotiate since they took a lot of trouble to push my loan through.

Has premium & sport packages, USB adapter and heated seats with a fresh set of tires. What do you think?

The dealer probably has about $25k into that car, so I think a sale price of somewhere around $27.5k would be a fair deal (BEFORE discussing any trade-in on your S4). The 1.9% financing is a decent rate on a used car right now, so I guess you have to ask yourself if it's really worth haggling over the extra $1,500 dealer profit? (Keep in mind that E90 335i CPO's with ZSP and 6MT aren't that easy to find either.)

Make sure you check Galves for the trade-in value of your S4 before letting the BMW dealer steal it from you as part of the transaction.

Good luck.

[nal13]

If you decide to pull the trigger, I would sell your S4 privately. I got 5K more for my old car on the private market then the dealer was offering me on trade in. Good luck

[mad_max]

Thanks to you both - TJDiCandido and nal13. I'm not trading in the Audi. I need to sell it because I'de rather take that money and invest than rolling it onto the next car.

[Doback]

odd situation, my name is also max and i'm also in the market right now for an e90 335i manual (also a college student, the chances...).

Candido I just had a question specifically for you, I have been on galves before and know how to use it but how to you cut the dealers down that much? when i try to even mention galves they start running their mouths at 100 miles per second and seem to back down from the sale?! maybe i'm just an idiot and have no idea how to approach it. any help?

btw looking for ANY e90 335i manual sports pkg under 45k miles and no more than 28K for any reason. of course though i'm very much so trying to get the best possible deal i can.

p.s. sorry i don't mean to hijack your thread max!

[mad_max]

No worries Max... By the way the car I'm looking at is an automatic (the s4 is a 6sp but I want an automatic this time) - while on the market I've seen manual cars go for less compared to automatics. It's maybe because the 335i is not a hardcore racer like the M3, and most people who buy it are mostly average buyers looking for the top of the line 3 series and not mostly car enthusiasts.

I've seen cars with 40k-50k mileage and CPO advertised around $27K-$28K.

PS: My dealer pretended that he does not even know about Galves...

[Doback]

yeah i'm seeing the same costs and my dealer is doing the same exact thing.

I just want to know how to get them from that scared, not knowing about such low costs to being able to atleast work out some sort of a deal. Now this in no way means I'm severely low balling the dealer don't get me wrong here, the dealer isn't even really willing to work. I can work them down 500 and 1000 but once I try for Galves numbers or what Candido did, I'm turned away instantly.

Guess I have to learn how to haggle better.

[Outlaw 06]

Originally Posted by Doback

odd situation, my name is also max and i'm also in the market right now for an e90 335i manual (also a college student, the chances...).

Candido I just had a question specifically for you, I have been on galves before and know how to use it but how to you cut the dealers down that much? when i try to even mention galves they start running their mouths at 100 miles per second and seem to back down from the sale?! maybe i'm just an idiot and have no idea how to approach it. any help?

btw looking for ANY e90 335i manual sports pkg under 45k miles and no more than 28K for any reason. of course though i'm very much so trying to get the best possible deal i can.

p.s. sorry i don't mean to hijack your thread max!

I'm not sure what you mean by "cut the dealers down that much"? You're definitely not getting a used BMW for anywhere near the Galves "Trade-in" or "Market Ready" prices. ESPECIALLY NOT A CPO. However, start with the "Market Ready" price and work up from there adding $ for CPO (estimated $2k for a 335i), $ for dealer overhead and a fair dealer profit (estimated at about 10%). Your final sale price should be no more than that. If a dealer won't take your reasonable offer, then find a different dealer who will.

[Doback]

thanks for the help yeah i'm going around 10% guess i'm just dealing with stubborn dealers no problem tho. i'll keep you posted as to what i get.