2005 BMW 330ci with performance package

[OneSmoothPickle]

Hi,

Could you guys tell me if this is a good deal?

I was able to bargain down from MSRP of $44970 for a 2005 BMW 330ci.

Titanium Silver
Performance Package
Xenons
Navigation

Dealer was offering $42500 and he said that he would throw in Lojac as well. That's almost 2500 off and as $695 theft recovery system for free. But what's catchy is my trade in of a 2003 Acura RSX-S with 31K miles. I bought the car for 22K and they were going to give me 14K for it. That's about a 8K hit over a two year time span. We were going back and forth for about a half hour. I wanted 14.5K and he was persistent at 14K. Do you guys think that his proposal is still worth it? Should I accept this deal. I am still going to propose that offer to other dealerships to see if they can do better. Thanks for your help.

 

[sly]

How did you determine the $14.5K price? If it's what your car wholesales for, you shouldn't have a tough time getting that prce from CarMax. If you really want the 330, why not offer to split the difference? Keep in mind that the $500 represents only a little over 1% of the 330 selling price.

 

[mousecrab]

It shouldn't take long to do a private sell on a RSX-S and since you're buying a new BMW (assume) you got lots of time to sell your RSX first. Unless you really want the 330 NOW or don't want to do a private sale. No sure about your area, in Toronto trade in for that type of car is usually $5000 to $6000 Canadian lower than doing private. But you get the tax of 15% back when doing trade in so the difference is still a good few thousands. Besides you're in Boston, right? why would you rush in to get a rear wheel drive in winter?

 

[Average Jae]

good point by mousecrab, maybe i'd wait out the winter in the fwd rsx-s, and pick up the car in the spring. you'll have to get snows on top of everything else which will run you anywhere btw $1000 for set of 16s (rim/ tires) to $13-1500 for a set of 17s.

maybe the dealer is giving you a deal on the zhp, because they know they'll get it back and more on the trade in. (from what i hear that's what they do, thus you should never mention a trade-in up front, until you acutally work out the pricing w/ the dealer first.)

what's the rsx-s blue book at?

 

[OneSmoothPickle]

From what I've heard most of the time cars go in between the fair to good status. 15,160 was listed for the value of my car for a good status according to KBB. I've also heard that RSX-s are a dime a dozen out here in Boston. So they're not easy to sell privately when anyone could go to a dealership and get a better deal.

 

[Average Jae]

go by another bmw dealership and work out a deal w/ them. you can see if the other dealer would match the first dealer's price. then bring up the trade in to see how much they'd sell it for.

also go swing by an audi dealership, and see how much you can get an s4 for. if you have time find out about a g35 also. at both dealers negotiate the price first, then find out about the trade in value. if any of them get near 14.5 or even 15k take that back to the original dealership. (the only reason i mention that is because both are pretty good competitors for bimmers.) and who knows, along the way, you might find a car that's better suited for you. and if anything, you'd get a nice test drive out of it.

also find out how much the acura dealership buy it back for. i know i'm listing bunch o things to do, but if i were dropping 40+k and trying to get an extra few hundred on the trade in, you bet i'll be all over town squeezing out the best deal possible.

05 is going to be an interesting year for the 3er, since the e90s will be coming. and say what you will about the looks, the specs on the car will rock! regular 330i specs will put zhp to shame let alone any e46. altho 10 extra horses shouldn't be the prime reason for picking up a zhp in the first place, having 260+ horses under the hood sure is tempting.

btw, welcome to the forum. say hi to everyone in the BMW Newbie forum we'll try to play nice

 

[sly]

The only true way of dtermining your wholesale value is to offer your car for sale at several dealerships and see what they are willing to give you. I'd take it to new car dealers as well as strictly used car dealers. Then you will really know what the actual wholesale value of your car is. It's the current market in your area and not KB or Edmunds that determines a car's wholesale value. Most dealers will make calls to other dealers in the area to see what your car has been retailing for, and then make you an offer.

 

[OneSmoothPickle]

I like your point mousecrab. What I have to consider is the value that my RSX-S might drop from now until the end of February when the snow stops falling. I've been to several BMW dealerships, infiniti dealerships, and i've also checked out the acura TL. I decided that the 330ci is the car that i want. I didn't consider an S4. I like the 330ci better actually. Out of all the BMW dealerships, 14.5 was the best that i got. I was offered 13K once. I like coupes over sedans. I know the e90 should be coming out next year for the sedan. I woner when they'll make a coupe. Do you know what the starting price would be for the e90s?

 

[OneSmoothPickle]

I went to Acura to try to sell my car. They said that 2003 RSX-s are a dime a dozen. Plus there is an extra incentive for selling the car at the dealership where you want to buy the car. Since the value of the car you're trading in would be tax deductible on the car that you're gonna buy.

 

[MrElussive]

I think you should take the offer of $14K. It is only $500 below KBB's value (Condition set as "Good", the most real-world number) and it still seems very reasonable. The thing that hurts your car's resale a little bit is that it's only two years old, but has 31K miles (US average is 12K miles per year).
The price of the 330Ci is fair and the price of the trade-in is fair. If this is the car that you want, I think you should go for it.

 

[OneSmoothPickle]

Thanks Mr.Elussive and everyone else for your help. I just came back from BMW Norwell, MA. The salesman by the name of Adam gave me the best deal. An offer I couldn't refuse. I signed a deal today. 15K for my RSX-S. 42K for the 2005 330ci. That includes LOJAC, performance package, xenons, and navigation. To me, this seems too good to be true. He was saying that they will be making 200 bucks off this deal. That's what he says not sure if I believe it. But Adam was one of the best salesman that I've dealt with. Honest and straight to the point. If any of you are plannign on buying a BMW in Massachusetts, I suggest you buy from him.

 

[Average Jae]

hey there you go. i forgot you were looking at a coupe, and not a sedan.. makes perfect sense that you don't want a s4 and don't want to wait out for e90. esp since coupe is close to a year off. (i just added that in, because i was weighing those cars when i was making my decision last year. s4 was just a bit out of reach..)

sounds like you got a much better deal! now go shop for snows.

 

[Krafty04]

You wouldn't belive what the dealers can do.

Looked at an 02 540i with premium pkg and "M" sport suspension. Booked at $40k, sticker said, $38,999. Wife got offered $27k for her car, 04 325i, 11k miles, with xenons, prem. pkg. (which we paid $27,400 for), then everytime we got up out of the chairs he lowered the price $500. We quit when he hit $35k for the 540 and gave him my cell #. They called again today to call them back. This is crazy, where is the bottom? Payments keep dropping. We see.

 

[sly]

You wouldn't belive what the dealers can do.

Looked at an 02 540i with premium pkg and "M" sport suspension. Booked at $40k, sticker said, $38,999. Wife got offered $27k for her car, 04 325i, 11k miles, with xenons, prem. pkg. (which we paid $27,400 for), then everytime we got up out of the chairs he lowered the price $500. We quit when he hit $35k for the 540 and gave him my cell #. They called again today to call them back. This is crazy, where is the bottom? Payments keep dropping. We see.

I can't imagine that your car is worth more than $23K, so the deaaler must be really anxious to move that 540. You better really check that car out very thoroughly, examine its repair history, and by all means get an extended warranty.

 

[codex57]

He was saying that they will be making 200 bucks off this deal.

It's possible. It's sorta well known that salespeople get at least $200 for a car they sell if the profit wasn't enough to kick in a % commission. When salespeople do that, they go for volume. You can make a decent living that way.

As for a great deal on a used car, there's always the possibility that the dealer doesn't like it taking up real estate on his lot (and paying the insurance and junk) as well as the possibility that the dealer royally screwed the previous owner of that car if it was traded in. But hey, I know tons of rich people (like my uncle) who could be offered $10K or more less than their car is worth on a trade in and not know they're being screwed. Or maybe they know and just don't care, cuz the $10K is not worth the hassle to them of selling the car somewhere else.