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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 The Psychology of buying a new car... |
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09-27-2012, 05:19 PM | #1 |
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The Psychology of buying a new car...
So, I have gone and done it again...
Knowing that I am burning 20% of my cash just by ordering new and knowing that if I spec the car of my dreams I will be burning a further 25-30% of my cash I have still spent a fortune and ordered a factory special. Why do I do it? The last car was my first ever PCP deal. I specced a wonderful 59 reg car for my other half. I was loathe to let it go to the dealer at what I considered 60% of its worth (even ignoring the additional toys) as seen on Autotrader and through HonestJohn, etc. So we bought it. Now I have specced a car even more extreme, if that was possible, and know already I will have to find the money to keep it in 3 years time. Residual value should matter, and it does a little, but for me I want to feel that She and I are getting into something very, very special each time I open the door. The car as theatre, if you like. How do you evaluate your purchase position? Sam |
09-27-2012, 05:44 PM | #2 |
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Interesting topic, will come back to it tomorrow, as I've also bought a car after the initial 3-year period, after speccing to my taste.
This time around I've gone for a nearly new car, to get the first year depreciation hit out of the way, over £20k worth of it, on a 6k mile car. I've done it before on an expensive BMW model and it feels so much better than the 'new' lower value BMW. Plus I drive around in a much better car. I won't buy new again, done it 3 times and each time it hurts too much. HighlandPete |
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09-27-2012, 05:53 PM | #3 | |
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It was your comment on the other thread that made me consider the topic in the first place
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09-28-2012, 05:08 AM | #4 |
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It's classic head vs heart, isn't it? The head is fully aware that HighlandPete speaks the truth - you save a fortune buying nearly-new and suffer very little downside. But the heart has a limited understanding of financial prudence.
Dubious maths that can be used to justify ordering new includes the following: If you get the spec you really want, it's more likely that you will keep the car for longer (as did the OP, by buying at the end of the PCP). If you keep a new car for 5+ years the maths looks less bad. I imagine I will also keep my car at the end of the 3 years, but will wait and see. Sometimes you can't get anywhere near the spec you want unless you order new. This was true for me - try finding a manual 535i MSport touring... Discounts on new are attainable. BMW lower than some, but still 12 or 13% helps a bit. Cheers, Richard. |
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09-28-2012, 11:18 AM | #5 |
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There is nothing like getting the new car, particularly when you have added options to make it as you want it. Great to drive away in the "new car". I've bought several new cars myself, and had new company cars, which did feel better, as I wasn't paying the direct bill. But new cars are the biggest money pits, even if we can afford to purchase them. It never sits well with me, as I know it is more pence per mile, for virtually the same car as a nearly new one. Warranty, no issues with additional running cost all sit well, and running a car in, has its attraction.
When I bought the used E39 540i touring it was loaded to virtually the specification I'd have specified new, so very pleased the original owner had paid the depreciation bill. In my case, at over £1 a mile over its mileage. When buying the E91 330d I did try to get a nearly new example, but they were so rare back in 2006 that only one had the right sort of specification, but the dealer wouldn't move on price. After doing the math a new car worked out virtually as cheap, a 5% discount, cheaper finance, full 3-years in warranty, etc. Plus a new car was to the exact specification I was after. All for about £10 a month more over 3-years. I had it on a lease purchase deal and intended to trade at 3-years. Or if times were different (as they were in 2009 with car prices) I could buy it and run it on if I so desired. Prices and finance deals were stupid in 2009, so I bought it, rather than pay virtually £100 a month more for a repeat of the same car, mine had only 35k miles on the clock, so more years of use and an amortising of the depreciation costs over a longer period. I've run it on, until details of the new F30/31 cars was fully understood. But when I priced up a F31 touring I was well above £40k for a 328i 4-cylinder BMW. So back to thinking 'nearly used', as around £45k for a decent new 3-series touring is madness in my mind. Also, when will decent F31 cars be in the market place? Examples with the sort of specification I'd really want as a used car? These latest cars are going to be all over the place (in my view) with the lines theme, and limited trim options across the lines at that. I've also tried 5-series cars and the real reason for not going back to the five was a bigger car and the cost issue, buying not running. I bulk at £55k plus for a decent specced motor. So I've had my eye on the BMW used site on a regular basis, watching the market. When the 535i I'd been watching for several months came forward at a decent price, I jumped. It is a superb spec', nothing missing from my wish list, in fact better than I could have hoped for. OK, not my first choice of colour, but being brave has got me a car that looks class, and 'is' class, to look at and to drive. To get virtually all the bells and whistles for money that wouldn't buy a decent specced new 3-series, puts a smile on the face. The best bit is that first year depreciation, which is the killer for running expensive cars, was not my problem. Depreciation over the mileage was about £4 per mile. Plus to me the car is like a new car, looks mint, drive like a new car. It is so much more car for the money than I'd have specified, makes the money pit feel far less of a waste. BMW 535i M-sport Touring Build Specification Sophisto Grey II Interior: Cinnamon Brown Dakota leather Year: July 2011 Less than 6,000 miles Additional equipment: Adaptive Drive Comfort Access DAB digital radio Elec Fr Seats + Driver Memory Heated front seats Ext. mirrors - folding. auto dimming Fineline Anthracite wood Head-up Display Internet Loudspeaker system - BMW Business Media package - BMW Professional Mobile application preparation Panoramic glass sunroof Reversing Assist camera Roof rails. black Speed limit display Sport automatic transmission Sun protection glass Surround-view Tailgate operation. automatic Telephone USB audio interface Visibility package The above.... or an F31 3-series 328i touring with less kit and a much bigger purchase price. I know what makes me feel right 'in the mind' and in the driver's seat. HighlandPete Last edited by HighlandPete; 09-28-2012 at 11:23 AM.. |
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09-28-2012, 03:40 PM | #6 |
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I have just followed Highland Pete's example, indeed it was his recent experience that motivated me to trawl the AUC website, resulting in the car of my dreams; a I year old 640i cabriolet with just 1275 miles on the clock.
I had long been hankering for a convertible and having had extended test drives in the Audi A5, MB E-Class and BMWs 640i and 640d, the F12 640i was the clear winner, by a considerable margin, closely followed by the 640d, then the A5 and the E-Class in a distant third place. Anyway, back to depreciation; on every occasion that my £54k F10 535d was appraised as a trade-in, the depreciation exactly matched the number of months since purchase in multiples of £1k. In other words, at 18 months it had dropped £18k, 22 months, £22k and at 2 years MB Inverness offered me a miserable £29.2k against an E-Class. So, feeling somewhat dispirited about the whole business, I decided to put it on hold indefinitely, until...... I found the 640i. Well, if I thought £1k per month was bad, that's peanuts to the 6'er; it's dropped £34k in just 1 year - almost £3k per month!!!!! So, deal done with John Cooper BMW, Tunbridge Wells (£30k for my F10) and I'm now back in Scotland having covered over 600 miles and averaged 33mpg. OK, that's yet to be verified by a brim-to-brim check, but to say that I'm impressed and extremely happy would be something of an understatement, especially as the F12 is in my originally preferred colour and it's got all the toys I want. I now also feel a lot happier about the depreciation issue. Only downside is that I had a stone flicked into the windscreen on the M25 and what started off as a multi pointed star, is now a 9" crack. I have windscreen cover on my LV insurance policy, but I don't know what hassle I'm going to face in getting it replaced as I have HUD and I think it's special screen - too tired to worry about it now though. I'll post a picture when I've given it a thorough clean and polish. |
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09-28-2012, 03:54 PM | #7 |
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Well done Jon, bet you have a wide smile, even with the mishap.
I came back home from Preston with 31.7mpg on my touring and it seems to be giving just over 30 mpg as an average, but also to be verified for accuracy. The petrol engines are a peach IMO, so smooth and vibration free, compared to the 6-pot diesels. Enjoy! HighlandPete |
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09-28-2012, 05:24 PM | #8 | |
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I'll PM you the full specs, lest I get accused of polluting the 5 forum with too much 6 nonsense! In my post I forgot to mention that, like you, I don't think I'll ever buy new again - the only difference between my 1 year old 640i and a factory fresh one is 1300 miles on the clock and 2 years warranty as opposed to 3. Simply staggering how much these cars depreciate. Jon |
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09-28-2012, 07:05 PM | #9 |
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All very interesting posts so far, any others?
I drove from Manchester home to Hampshire on Wednesday and averaged 65.7 mpg. I did a steady 56 in the rush hour traffic and kept up with the traffic rather than hold it up. The 520d is an amazing car. I did 242 miles on a quarter of a tank. Wow. Sam |
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09-30-2012, 12:55 PM | #10 | |
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My car is a company lease but I would never buy new for myself or wife with my own money. Enjoy your cars guys!
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August 2012 F10 520d SE sport automatic, Jet Black, Oyster\Black Leather, light ash wood trim, Professional media/ navigation, mobile apps, Internet, DAB radio.
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09-30-2012, 03:52 PM | #11 |
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The way I buy is off the BMW management or staff car list. I got my F11 525 4cyl. in exactly the spec I wanted after a bit of shopping around the dealers. Full price was £50k, I got a 4 month old model with 4000 miles on the clock for £34k. I fact, I was offered two - one with 3000 miles but in a different color to what I wanted, and for exactly the same price.
If you go to the right dealer, they will look at the daily BMW list and get it for you before you'll ever see it on the used BMW website. Much better way to do it in my view. Forrester |
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10-02-2012, 07:17 AM | #12 | |
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Please could you post the name of who you consider to be a "right" dealer? |
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10-03-2012, 12:23 PM | #13 |
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The one I found to be the best was Haliwell Jones in Southport. As the salesman explained to me, they are one of the smallest dealers but are much higher in the overall sales volume than their size would indicate. They do a lot of internet sales because they are so small and out of the way - it's a good method of getting in the money and they seem to sell a lot from the BMW list rather than thier own stock.
From the dealers point of view, selling a car for the BMW sales list is great: they don't have to have the car on the forecourt depreciating for months; all they have to do is valet it, do a pre-delivery check and take your cash. The dealship gets its 20% (or whatever), the salesman gets his points and you get a car pretty close to what you want. The only thing is that you have to decide fast when you get a call - the cars don't seem to hang around for long and you have to make up your mind pretty much on the spot. For me, the things I had to have was the visibility package, a dark color (blue black or dark grey) and the 4 cyl. 2 liter diesel. And that's exactly what I got and I'm very pleased with it. |
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10-04-2012, 01:46 PM | #14 | |
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10-04-2012, 04:34 PM | #15 |
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November last year was when it was manufactured. Bought it in April well before the Olympics, but interestingly, BMW itself was buying up demonstrators from the dealers about that time. There really seemed to be a shortage and I 'lost' four intended/possible purchases that I'd marked out from the approved website over one weekend. I guess BMW found that they had a shortfall for the Games. That's what the dealer said was going on at any rate. And that's when I found about the BMW list.
The BMW list is where the dealers get a lot of their used stock anyway - you can tell by the YC reg if you look on the approved BMW site and look at the reg numbers. Any YC ref has been registered by BMW and not the dealer and so it means its come from the list (so I'm told). All I can say is that mine was and is absolutely perfect with no problems whatsoever. I really, truely could not have said whether the car was new or not apart from looking at the clock. But I'd agree about there being possible problems with an ex-Olympic car that's been used to crawl about London with some athletes/games officials who don't care about it. Though I didn't think there were many 5 series used - I think it was all 1 and 3 series. |
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10-04-2012, 05:37 PM | #16 |
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My 535i was a BMW UK registered car, YC plate.
The car was advertised on the BMW AUC site over the months, at two different dealers, first at Bury St Edmunds then at Luton. But the dealer who bought it from BMW in September, didn't believe it ever left BMW UK, certainly never covered more than a handful of miles. Bought and delivered from BMW. I was buying from the Preston dealer before they even had it on their site. It was still using the PDF file prepared for/by the Luton garage. It appears BMW do advertise their stock around the dealers, I suppose if you want a test drive they ship them out to the linked garage. HighlandPete |
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10-05-2012, 07:50 AM | #17 |
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There's a interesting thread on what exactly constitutes a management car here http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=506035
I've always thought that BMW had a lot of 'managers', so I suspect there's a good bit more going on than meets the eye. But I would think that you aren't going to get many 5 series MSport cars on contract hire. On the BMW list, the way that it works is that BMW post 'new' cars to the list in the morning, usually first thing. Dealers can then reserve them for a couple of hours at no charge and if they don't commit, the car becomes free again. So a dealer can reserve a car for you, but you have to agree to buy it (+ deposit) within a short period - no thinking about it over the weekend. And clearly, they can get a car on their own account as well. I would guess that with your 535, the car did actually go to the dealer - I don't think BMW produce the pics, it's done by the dealer - and he couldn't shift it, so it went back on the list for another dealer to pick up. Also, its interesting what you say about the smoothness of the 6 cyl petrol over the diesel. Totally agree with you there, my old 6-cyl petrol really was so smooth and accelerated like a hot knife going through butter. The 4 cyl. diesel is actually faster than my 6-cyl. petrol was, but it feels quite different - its definitely a diesel. That's indicated by the fuel figures - I really do get twice the mpg (50mpg on local runs) out of the 218bhp diesel than I did out of the straight 6. I still sometimes miss the straight 6 purr though ... |
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10-06-2012, 04:28 PM | #18 | |
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BTW, if you look at a lot of the BMW cars they use the same backdrop for the pictures, so where are they taken? .... BMW I'd suggest, as the dealers won't have that common backdrop, will they? HighlandPete |
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10-07-2012, 03:57 PM | #19 |
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Yes, I think you are right. Looking at the AUC site, it seems that nearly all (if not all) of the YC,YH, YK cars have the same backdrop and other regs (i.e realer registered ones) have different ones. I didn't get a pic of my car becuse it was new on the list and I'd agreed to buy it immediately.
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10-07-2012, 05:06 PM | #20 |
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""Knowing that I am burning 20% of my cash just by ordering new and knowing that if I spec the car of my dreams I will be burning a further 25-30% ""
hey sam, i find my self in exactly in the same boat as you, 1st it was the E60, now the F10, both i purchased to personal spec from factory, at the time of collecting the motors i have this adrenalin, and excitment phase which i go through, but after a few months, i sit back and feel a bit upset thinking about the percentage i will loose, LOL, but i guess the sadness goes away when i get in the car and drive it- anyway i think the 3rd time round i might get a bit wiser... lets hope!! |
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10-24-2012, 02:11 PM | #21 |
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Im in the same boat guys, my bmw needs replacing , Ive had it nearly 5 years and its time to go, spec'ing a 330d F31 to 44k sounds daft , should get it for 40k but i keep looking at the second hand 535d's and think i could get one for 36k after xmas. its a motorway mile muncher which i will keep for 5 years. The 535d makes more sense but in reality i'm not sure which I prefer. The new car case is fantastic, its my creation as such, tailored for me and I will keep it for 5 years. A tough one for sure and no doubt a deal will sway it.
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10-24-2012, 06:55 PM | #22 |
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So today was our day - the new F10 came home. Utterly beautiful.
The exterior, the interior, the technology, the smell... Utterly beautiful and exactly as specified. This day was the reason I chose new. The thrill of the day, the thrill of all updated technology, and the thrill of knowing this awesome beautiful object has been created just for us and absolutely no-one else. So was today worth the cost? Yes, the car is for my wife and she has had a fantastic day. Heart beats head in this case... Sam |
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