Car pricing

[thebullettrain]

I’ve seen a number of used BMWs that I like, clearly I’m just buying the one. But I’m trying to gauge the sale price and seeing lots of differences.

Car 1 - dealer price £71k, Motorway buy price £63.5k
Car 2 - dealer price 58k, Motorway buy price £44k

Sarcastic answers aside, the spread is pretty large. Has anyone here bought an expensive used car and what level of discount are you getting, and am I wrong to use Motorway to gauge pricing?

[Dingu]

thebullettrain said:

am I wrong to use Motorway to gauge pricing?

Yes in the same way you wouldn’t place an offer on a house based on what one of those buy any house quickly for cash companies value it at.

[The Rotrex Kid]

Dingu said:

thebullettrain said:

am I wrong to use Motorway to gauge pricing?

Yes in the same way you wouldn’t place an offer on a house based on what one of those buy any house quickly for cash companies value it at.

Yeah this.

Feel free to post up the links, I’ll see what CAP values them at in relation.

[Al U]

thebullettrain said:

I’ve seen a number of used BMWs that I like, clearly I’m just buying the one. But I’m trying to gauge the sale price and seeing lots of differences.

Car 1 - dealer price £71k, Motorway buy price £63.5k
Car 2 - dealer price 58k, Motorway buy price £44k

Sarcastic answers aside, the spread is pretty large. Has anyone here bought an expensive used car and what level of discount are you getting, and am I wrong to use Motorway to gauge pricing?

A lot of people on here will say don't use WBAC, motorway etc. as a benchmark for what a car is worth. However as an average consumer that's the only real benchmark that you have easy access to. I also do this, as it gives me a better idea of what the "trade value" of the car is and how much margin the dealer is making on it. It also gives me the starting number for what I can expect the value to go down from when it comes to sell the car. So if it's worth £20k today on WBAC, 2 years and 15k miles later it might be worth £16k.

I spoke to a BMW dealer who bought my car from me and were quite transparent that they would retail it for between 10%-15% more than what they paid me for it. This was a good thing for them as my car needed no money spending on it in terms of prep and it sold within a week of listing.

When I bought my BMW from a dealer in 2020, I spoke to a few different dealers and none of them would move on the price they had it listed at.

Another thing to do when gauging pricing is to save cars on autotrader/ebay etc. and see how long they take to sell. If a car is listed for £70k and sells in a week against one that's up for £75k and has been for sale for 6 months then that probably gives you an idea of how well priced it is. OK you don't know if it sold for £70k exactly but you get an idea of what other buyers are willing to pay at the moment etc.

[Wilmslowboy]

Car 1 - dealer price £71k, Motorway buy price £63.5k

This sounds about right, the dealer plans to make about 10% to 12% margin.


"Gross profit margin at the Car Dealer Top 100 company increased to 12.8 per cent versus 2020’s 11.1 per cent."


https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/strong-use...

[thebullettrain]

The Rotrex Kid said:

Dingu said:

thebullettrain said:

am I wrong to use Motorway to gauge pricing?

Yes in the same way you wouldn’t place an offer on a house based on what one of those buy any house quickly for cash companies value it at.

Yeah this.

Feel free to post up the links, I’ll see what CAP values them at in relation.

Thank you

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13433181


https://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/vehicle/202202182699655...

[The Rotrex Kid]

First



Second



Both taken a battering this month on live pricing but prices fairly against CAP retail (no adjustment for options) but the first one is closest on price IMO.

[The Rotrex Kid]

Motorway offers are obviously ‘we don’t actually want it but here’s an offer’ price.

[thebullettrain]

The Rotrex Kid said:

First



Second



Both taken a battering this month on live pricing but prices fairly against CAP retail (no adjustment for options) but the first one is closest on price IMO.

Thank you, so I’m looking at that retail price right? It does seem the pricing this month has tumbled. It also explains why one similar to the first was on for 74k

[The Rotrex Kid]

Yes the retail price is the one for you. The three trade prices tell you the spread of what a dealer may have paid for it.

I’d say that due to the age/spec/model they probably paid at the higher end, maybe more depending on how long they’ve been in stock.

[thebullettrain]

The Rotrex Kid said:

Yes the retail price is the one for you. The three trade prices tell you the spread of what a dealer may have paid for it.

I’d say that due to the age/spec/model they probably paid at the higher end, maybe more depending on how long they’ve been in stock.

Much obliged and it does make sense. The top end was with fancy paint!

[The Rotrex Kid]

HTH. That 850i is a beauty.

Lovely spec too