Buying used from a BMW dealer...your best way to establish price...

[chenry]

I've bought my fair share of BMWs over the years....some new some used...that said looking for input regarding approaches to negotiating a fair and reasonable purchase price on a used M3 from a BMW dealer

Thank you

ps-if this is in the wrong section....sorry

[BavarianFanatic]

It's not different than buying any other car, new or used. The number one rule is be ready to get up and walk away. "Fair and reasonable" varies widely depending on the market and the availability of cars. If they have ten of them on the lot, you're in luck. If they only have one and it's the only one within 100 miles, well...

[chenry]

thank you - I should have been more clear with my post - its not so much the negotiation as it is establishing a fair asking price for the vehicle...but so many factors (days on the lot, was it a trade, was it a dealer car, is it CPO) I guess this may just be a silly question - I've traditionally waited for a car to be on the lot for at least 30 days then gone straight to the used car manager with the stock number of the car - and simply asked "what are you in the car for and what do you need out of it today ...to move it"

Typically we get down to the bottom line pretty quick - but that said just curios if others have a worthwhile approach that they will share

Thanks again

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by chenry

thank you - I should have been more clear with my post - its not so much the negotiation as it is establishing a fair asking price for the vehicle...but so many factors (days on the lot, was it a trade, was it a dealer car, is it CPO) I guess this may just be a silly question - I've traditionally waited for a car to be on the lot for at least 30 days then gone straight to the used car manager with the stock number of the car - and simply asked "what are you in the car for and what do you need out of it today ...to move it"

Typically we get down to the bottom line pretty quick - but that said just curios if others have a worthwhile approach that they will share

Thanks again

Ah, OK. I use the same approach. The longer it sits on the lot, the more payments they're making to the bank, and the more overhead in general they're expending. I've also had great success the other way on a car that just showed up. I use the argument that they're able to do a quick flip without a single draft to the bank and essentially no overhead expense. It's a "quick flip", so they're often more flexible than you'd guess.

It sounds like you already have a solid understanding of the basics. The number one thing to nail down is how saturated the market is. Of the others available, how long have THEY been on the lots? If he just rolled his out for $70k, but there are three others like it in town for $65k, and they've all been on the market for 2 months, that's a pretty easy argument. But, as you've noted, there are a million different nuances that can affect the "value". If there aren't many others out there, then all bets are off. At that point it's a game to see how long he's willing to hold out and gamble that he'll get the big payday he's shooting for. At the end of the day, only you can determine what you're comfortable with.