[B1N]

Hey guys, got rid of my 6 and in the market for a new car...thinking of either getting the new 6 in a few years after depreciation hits it hard again or even the next generation 3 coupe coming out in ~2 years...

in the mean time looking to just get a used 3 series coupe for cheap, how much should I expect to pay for it?...looking at the pre-owned sections of bmw websits shows them for around low ~30's for basic 328i coupe. Im not really looking for a fully loaded one either as I plan on modding it myself (changing rims/ body kit etc) so no point for me in paying more for say like the sports package etc..

anyways where would you guys suggest looking? ive only ever bought a certified used car through a dealer in the past so i am not sure what i should look out for it i do it through a private dealer/individual....should i even bother looking at importing one from the US aswell, i have no idea how to do that either.

thanks guys!

[picus]

So I just wrote a big long post then saw you were in GVA. The GVA market is not nearly as saturated as GTA right now. Here it looks like 3 series prices are a good 10-15% cheaper overall due to massive inventory. Honestly, if I were someone buying a 328/335i used right now I'd suggest looking in Ontario (or at least comparing), since it seems there are, literally, 10x the amount of cars. On Autotrader I show 299 335i coupes for sale right now in the GTA, vs 41 in the GVA.

RE: CPO, you will pay more from a dealer (in gta from a dealer with cpo expect to add 5k), you will rarely find them from private sellers, and it doesn't seem to add a huge premium tot he value.

As for US, vs the GTA at lease you'll save almost nothing on a 3 series. Example, a 2007 335i coupe in the GTA can be had for 30k, clean car, 70k ish km. In the US you may pay 26k, but with duty/etc, you'll be close on price regardless. It might be worth it vs prices in the GVA.

I'd check autotrader (dealers list there too), see what you see, compare to GTA, and see if it's worth staying local or shipping a car.

[B1N]

Originally Posted by picus

So I just wrote a big long post then saw you were in GVA. The GVA market is not nearly as saturated as GTA right now. Here it looks like 3 series prices are a good 10-15% cheaper overall due to massive inventory. Honestly, if I were someone buying a 328/335i used right now I'd suggest looking in Ontario (or at least comparing), since it seems there are, literally, 10x the amount of cars. On Autotrader I show 299 335i coupes for sale right now in the GTA, vs 41 in the GVA.

RE: CPO, you will pay more from a dealer (in gta from a dealer with cpo expect to add 5k), you will rarely find them from private sellers, and it doesn't seem to add a huge premium tot he value.

As for US, vs the GTA at lease you'll save almost nothing on a 3 series. Example, a 2007 335i coupe in the GTA can be had for 30k, clean car, 70k ish km. In the US you may pay 26k, but with duty/etc, you'll be close on price regardless. It might be worth it vs prices in the GVA.

I'd check autotrader (dealers list there too), see what you see, compare to GTA, and see if it's worth staying local or shipping a car.

thanks so much for your reply!...thats good to know its not really worth the hassle to import from US, i know it is alot of hassle but if its significantly cheaper it may be worth it, if its not i prefer to buy locally lol.

Yeah im actually quite surprised theres not too many in the GVR market, there are TONS of coupes on the road over here...problem with buying from gta would be being able to fly over to check it out/test drive and then of course shipping...out of curiousity approx how much would it be to ship car from GTA to GVR (incase i go this route)...

I'm hoping to find one around ~25k for a 2007 328 coupe...

ps. did a search before and saw your thread about selling your car, i would of bought it, such a good price and condition looked awesome!

[picus]

haha, thanks. I can't say for sure buying in the US wouldn't be worth it, I just don't think it likely would be given the low value of 07s now in Canada. Lots of people buy cars sight unseen (I bought my wifes Mini from a Mini dealer without seeing it). I think if it's a dealer CPO and you get a clean carfax odds are it's a pretty safe bet. Of course from a dealer remember their prices are crazy - like BMW toronto has coupe 328s for like 35k, which is nuts. I am sure there is room to haggle since they have like 15 on their lot, haha.

Cross country insured shipping is normally not more than ~$1500, so it adds to the cost but it almost seems like cars here are like 3-6k cheaper than the GVA :x I am pretty sure if you bought from a GTA dealer they would accommodate you on shipping for sure. If you have any friends in the GTA you could ask them to check out a car too. Of course buying in the GVA would be preferred but I seriously can't believe how many more cars there are for sale here.

edit; remember you can search for cpo's on bmw.ca, i just did and got 68 results for cpo 328s. most are over 30k but then again its all dealers...

[Me_Hi]

I think a west coast car would have less salt exposure and less KM compared to a TO car therefore the price difference.

[engotski]

I got my 07 premium sport package with 46,500 kms CPO from BMW store for $28,200 before taxes and extended warranty. Purchased 3 months ago.

None CPO I've seen go between 25-28k.

If you find one for 25k without dings and low mileage, it would be a pretty good deal.

Coupes hold their value better than sedans as I'm sure you know already

[picus]

Originally Posted by Me_Hi

I think a west coast car would have less salt exposure and less KM compared to a TO car therefore the price difference.

I think with these cars that doesn't really make a difference, at least in terms of price (who knows long term). I think the main factor for the cost diff is that there are, literally, 10x more available here.

[Andy M]

Originally Posted by picus

I think with these cars that doesn't really make a difference, at least in terms of price (who knows long term). I think the main factor for the cost diff is that there are, literally, 10x more available here.

Kev, actually it does make a difference. When I was living in Alberta, cars from Ontario or Quebec being sold in Alberta were worth less - people would avoid buying them and rather get a car locally. And yes, the issue was the salt, whether factual or not. It's like buying a refurbished electronic, in all honesty, the refurbished electronic is probably in better shape due to the fact that it was individually inspected and repaired as opposed to random sampling but the stigma of it being broken before still remains (and therefore the price drop).

[picus]

Hmm, weird. You wacky westerners.

[BavFan_08]

Originally Posted by Andy M

Kev, actually it does make a difference. When I was living in Alberta, cars from Ontario or Quebec being sold in Alberta were worth less - people would avoid buying them and rather get a car locally. And yes, the issue was the salt, whether factual or not. It's like buying a refurbished electronic, in all honesty, the refurbished electronic is probably in better shape due to the fact that it was individually inspected and repaired as opposed to random sampling but the stigma of it being broken before still remains (and therefore the price drop).

That is quite bizzare.

I know you're from Alberta, but I used to travel to Calgary, Edmonton quite often and yes the temperatures have been slightly milder over the past few years, but damn it still gets quite cold and icy...so I wouldn't think the 'salt' would matter...the only notable difference in weather would be the fact that in Toronto we tend to have humidity in the air, so our cold is "wet" cold...you guys have more "dry" cold it seems...nonetheless cold is cold....

[MOAB]

Originally Posted by BavFan_08

That is quite bizzare.

I know you're from Alberta, but I used to travel to Calgary, Edmonton quite often and yes the temperatures have been slightly milder over the past few years, but damn it still gets quite cold and icy...so I wouldn't think the 'salt' would matter...the only notable difference in weather would be the fact that in Toronto we tend to have humidity in the air, so our cold is "wet" cold...you guys have more "dry" cold it seems...nonetheless cold is cold....

They don't use salt on the roads in Calgary. It's some sort of crushed gravel mix - someone from Calgary can chime in.

[BavFan_08]

Originally Posted by MOAB

They don't use salt on the roads in Calgary. It's some sort of crushed gravel mix - someone from Calgary can chime in.

Interesting!!! In my travels there never noticed it!!! Thanks for the info.

[kol]

check vmrcanada.com - pretty accurate

fyi: there's a lot of room for negotiation on CPO cars at the dealer. I got 10%+ off the asking price 6 months ago. One of my cousins got 15% off on a E90 328 in QC

[E92LNGCGY]

Check Canadian Black Book value as well. It gives you a good idea on what you should pay and go from there.

From my understanding Calgary started using salt recently. Not sure though.

[BavFan_08]

Originally Posted by kol

check vmrcanada.com - pretty accurate

fyi: there's a lot of room for negotiation on CPO cars at the dealer. I got 10%+ off the asking price 6 months ago. One of my cousins got 15% off on a E90 328 in QC

Really??? At T&C, Parkview they wouldn't go lower then 5%...but I am not a patient negotiator...

[mcmastah]

I was able to get 14%-15% off at BMW Toronto

[Andy M]

Sorry to bring it off topic about the salt... Alberta doesn't use salt for a few reasons. One is that it accelerates the deterioration of infrastructure like bridges and pavement but the big reason is that when the temps drop below -10, salt isn't very effective. The mixture they use is rock chips and sand. The sand is dark and absorbs sunlight and that starts the melting process (as opposed to snow and ice which is white which reflects sunlight). When the water melts and then freezes, the rock chips will become embedded giving the ice some traction. I believe the mix has a bit of calcium chloride in it too (salt) but it's not a lot. Edmonton (and I believe Calgary) reuse the gravel and sand every year. They sweep it up and dump it into big stockpiles to be used the year after.

Anyway back to the topic...

Canadian Black Book value is the book value but that won't matter depending on the regions. It's just one number used for insurance. Kate Middleton's VW Golf sold for around $75k. Extreme example but there was a demand for it. No CPO dealership will sell for Black Book. One way to research the cost of something is to see what other people are selling it for on AutoTrader. That'll give you a good idea of the regional price of the car.

I know going to the States is a hassle but don't rule it out yet. A friend told me that some cars like an Aston Martin V8 Vanquish are going for around $60k to $70k CDN after import taxes in the US. The US has a much larger volume of cars in general and you can bargain for a lot more in the States due to competition.

[picus]

Yes, a CPO will definitely not go for black book, in fact, it will likely be ~10k over bb values. What I would do is find a car I like in the 29-33k range and start negotiating, this is in the GTA of course. Currently between Parkview and Toronto there are 15 (15!!) 328s on the lot, CPO'd.. that's a lot of inventory, so there is no way the prices are going to be very firm especially since they are solidly 15+% over private sale prices. I would personally be shocked if on an offlease 2007/8 cpo with under 70k, say list price 32k, you couldn't shave 5-7k off that.

To give you an example, my 2007 335i coupe with 73k and a CPO just went for under 30k, so all the dealers than have them listed for 44k are either selling to crazy people, or are taking significantly less on them.

[Andy M]

Good tips Kev.

Going to add onto that. A common line used is "I've got another guy who really wants to buy this. He's coming tonight to put money down!" (or something along those lines)

[d-burn]

For all of you claiming to buy CPO's for $5K-$7K off the listed price, can you advise what the original list price was vs. what you ended up negotiating to + paying. Also, how much work/time was involved in the negotiation to get that discount.

I'm in the market for a 335i soon, but the CPO dealer prices are laughable. If I could get 5-7 thousand off those asking prices though, it would at least make them competitive with private, with the benefit of CPO and financing.

E.g. Car listed for $37K and you got it for $31K?

Can't wait to hear your stories. I'm a negotiator, so no timidness there. It's good to know a realistic position when you start negotiations though.

Cheers