Main dealer trade values

RobAMerc

Hi,
Can someone explain the system dealers use to value a p/x ?

I was talking to a dealer Saturday who said he'd have to send out an ALU or something with all the info on my car and then would value my car based on that.
Is this basically an online auction for my car amongst the dealers ?
Is it an arrangement some dealers have with others or is it a countrywide thing ?

On another note the nobs at Murphy & Gunn had me waiting for 45 mins before coming back and insulting me - I find it hard to believe the worst trade in value I got was from the main dealer when I was trading a BMW !

ninty9er

RobAMerc wrote: »

Hi,
Can someone explain the system dealers use to value a p/x ?

I was talking to a dealer Saturday who said he'd have to send out an ALU or something with all the info on my car and then would value my car based on that.
Is this basically an online auction for my car amongst the dealers ?
Is it an arrangement some dealers have with others or is it a countrywide thing ?

On another note the nobs at Murphy & Gunn had me waiting for 45 mins before coming back and insulting me - I find it hard to believe the worst trade in value I got was from the main dealer when I was trading a BMW !

If it was a BMW main dealer, you can be fairly sure they were bang on, everyone else is screwing themselves by not being au fait with the new values for these cars since July.

RobAMerc

ninty9er wrote: »

If it was a BMW main dealer, you can be fairly sure they were bang on, everyone else is screwing themselves by not being au fait with the new values for these cars since July.

I don't think so, every other one like mine is for sale at 30% - 40% more than they are offering me - including ones at BMW dealers.

ShadowHearth

well i think not your bmw problem. problem is with all ireland second hand market. Dealers dont whant second hand cars anymore, they can sell their own stock. So taking more - not an option. So get wrid of you nicely: they give you very bad deal, which you wount offer.

Id say this is very bad time to sell your own car, but its very good time to buy second hand car.

-Chris-

I don't know what an ALU is, but if they were 45 mins trying to get a value for your car you can bet they were ringing traders everywhere trying to get someone to put their hand up for your car. On that basis I'd expect the value is probably accurate.

Ignore cars on forecourts, it's not really relevant. Get your car valued with one or two other garages and then you'll know what it's worth.

ninty9er

RobAMerc wrote: »

I don't think so, every other one like mine is for sale at 30% - 40% more than they are offering me - including ones at BMW dealers.

What they offer and what they sell at are not at all linked. They have to cover the cost of servicing your car, bringing it to what they see as a saleable condition, and warranty which could be a factor of anywhere up to €2.5k on a recent BMW in top nick. Then add a margin and sales commission....plus as already mentioned, if they can't sell what they have, the price of stock is overvalued and the stickers are most likely to make them look a better prospect for an auditor evaluating whether or not they need to qualify their going concern status.

L-M

If you want to tell us what car you have and what value you got offered we could give an opinion on it, and if there value was correct, the reasons for it.
If not, try a few more dealers for prices.

RobAMerc

AudiChris wrote: »

Ignore cars on forecourts, it's not really relevant. Get your car valued with one or two other garages and then you'll know what it's worth.

My point was - I have had the car valued by at least 6 people at this stage - all of which were 3 - 4k better than the BMW dealer against cars of similar value ??

Why does the main dealer come out worse than any one else ?

L-M

RobAMerc wrote: »

My point was - I have had the car valued by at least 6 people at this stage - all of which were 3 - 4k better than the BMW dealer against cars of similar value ??

Why does the main dealer come out worse than any one else ?

It could be for many reasons,
They feel the car isn't selling well
Drops in vrt since July
Already having stock of your car
Not wanting another one etc. etc.

-Chris-

Depends on brands etc. too, Volvo & Landrover will give you more than Audi/BMW because their discount structure is bigger and allows for more maneuvering.

Other dealers may have incentives to sell cars, while BMW are doing quite well without incentives.

Limerick-Man's reasons all come into play too.

RobAMerc

Limerick-man wrote: »

It could be for many reasons,
They feel the car isn't selling well
Drops in vrt since July
Already having stock of your car
Not wanting another one etc. etc.

They don't have any other ones in stock - carzone and their own site reveal that.
My car (not current model admittedly )would have gone up significantly in July.

I am also trading against a car that would certainly not be a popular seller at the moment - and the one they have is far from the cheapest advertised, it's also been with them for quite a while.

What I did note was -

a) He seemed genuinely shocked I knew the value of my car. And seemed miffed I had talked to other dealers rather than just turning up taking the price he offered and doing the deal !

b) He seemed more shocked I knew 4*4's were not selling at all.

c) He was less than impressed when I mentioned within earshot of another customer that my car had lost over 50% of its value within 2 years and I wouldn't be taking the sort of depreciation BMW suffered with again ! ( I know that was a bit cruel but I had just been insulted ).

Btw - while my car was not forecourt clean on the day - it is immaculate with FBMWSH - and needs nothing spent on it.

L-M

RobAMerc wrote: »

They don't have any other ones in stock - carzone and their own site reveal that.
My car (not current model admittedly )would have gone up significantly in July.

I am also trading against a car that would certainly not be a popular seller at the moment - and the one they have is far from the cheapest advertised, it's also been with them for quite a while.

What I did note was -

a) He seemed genuinely shocked I knew the value of my car. And seemed miffed I had talked to other dealers rather than just turning up taking the price he offered and doing the deal !

b) He seemed more shocked I knew 4*4's were not selling at all.

c) He was less than impressed when I mentioned within earshot of another customer that my car had lost over 50% of its value within 2 years and I wouldn't be taking the sort of depreciation BMW suffered with again ! ( I know that was a bit cruel but I had just been insulted ).

Btw - while my car was not forecourt clean on the day - it is immaculate with FBMWSH - and needs nothing spent on it.

What car is it?

-Chris-

BMW garage with a 4x4 that doesn't sell? Rob's looking at an X3! They should be dying to get rid of that...


Are you happy with the offers you got from the non-BMW dealers, or were they off the mark too?
Post the details of your car here Rob and see if there's any opinions on how/why it's being valued low.

copacetic

RobAMerc wrote: »

They don't have any other ones in stock - carzone and their own site reveal that.
My car (not current model admittedly )would have gone up significantly in July.

I am also trading against a car that would certainly not be a popular seller at the moment - and the one they have is far from the cheapest advertised, it's also been with them for quite a while.

What I did note was -

a) He seemed genuinely shocked I knew the value of my car. And seemed miffed I had talked to other dealers rather than just turning up taking the price he offered and doing the deal !

b) He seemed more shocked I knew 4*4's were not selling at all.

c) He was less than impressed when I mentioned within earshot of another customer that my car had lost over 50% of its value within 2 years and I wouldn't be taking the sort of depreciation BMW suffered with again ! ( I know that was a bit cruel but I had just been insulted ).

Btw - while my car was not forecourt clean on the day - it is immaculate with FBMWSH - and needs nothing spent on it.

that your car would have gone up doesn't mean much, the entire market has been affected by the drops in newer models. Your car is likely a lot less sellable than it was a year ago?

However I think your main issue is probably that the stealers are trying to take your car in at what they say are current market prices but trying to sell you a car way above current market prices.

Have had similar experiences myself, I don't mind taking the hit on my car. However only if they are taking the hit on their car which few of them seem keen to do even still.

copacetic

AudiChris wrote: »

BMW garage with a 4x4 that doesn't sell? Rob's looking at an X3! They should be dying to get rid of that...


Are you happy with the offers you got from the non-BMW dealers, or were they off the mark too?
Post the details of your car here Rob and see if there's any opinions on how/why it's being valued low.

X5s aren't selling either. Some interesting price drops appearing from private sellers at the moment. Few 07 Q7s
around also with price drops starting to appear.

RobAMerc

Yea, As Chris said, I am looking to buy and X3 2.5i petrol( for my sins ) - I got offered a good deal on another, but to be fair the one at the BMW dealer while €1500 dearer is a much nicer car, ( well relatively )

Below is my car - I have advertised it @ 19k this week only as I think I am going to do some sort of deal on it this week with another car I saw if it doesn't go privately.

What I am disgusted about is the way the dealer is offering me 3k less than anyone else.

BTW - 19k is 50% of what we paid for it in October 06 and it was cheap then !

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/BMW/320/cabrio/1113195/

L-M

RobAMerc wrote: »

Yea, As Chris said, I am looking to buy and X3 2.5i petrol( for my sins ) - I got offered a good deal on another, but to be fair the one at the BMW dealer while €1500 dearer is a much nicer car, ( well relatively )

Below is my car - I have advertised it @ 19k this week only as I think I am going to do some sort of deal on it this week with another car I saw if it doesn't go privately.

What I am disgusted about is the way the dealer is offering me 3k less than anyone else.

BTW - 19k is 50% of what we paid for it in October 06 and it was cheap then !

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/BMW/320/cabrio/1113195/

Ok your car seems very reasonably priced compared to others of that year and compared to newer years. The only reason that i can thinkt that they want to have a big margin on it is that is you look out your window you will see it's raining (it is here anyway) and it rains alot. As well we are coming up to winter months so they could be looking at it on their forecourt for a long time. Also the fact that it's 2.2 petrol and everyone seems to be going for the cheaper, more ecomonical diesel versions. Just my two cents

ninty9er

I'd say it's the drop top too. If it had a hard top it'd probably be a lot easier to re-sell. That said it appears a fine car. Go elsewhere/ consider another marque (considering the comment about depreciation for the other customer's benefit....I'd have done the same:D)

So they're only offering €16k for it??

the mind boggles

Just one thing to change in your ad maybe....what black is it exactly, because in a niche market there are people that won't even call if it's not the exact colour they want.

Owen

I'd say Limerick-man is on the money here, in all likelihood, the dealers giving the poorer prices are being realistic in their planning - basing their value on the fact that your car will be with them well into 2009 at this point. It's been a dismal summer, convertible sales have been poor, and we're heading into the last quarter of the year, so no one is going to buy a cabrio now either. It'll be March/April of next year when the Cabrio market returns, and that's what they're preparing for I'd imagine.

In your own private sale, you have the car photographed well, and the spec is detailed to a fault. Your pricing is keen, but the market is slow at the moment. Your success with your private sale will be a huge indicator as to how accurate or not the various Dealers have been when pricing your 3.

RobAMerc

Limerick-man wrote: »

Ok your car seems very reasonably priced compared to others of that year and compared to newer years. The only reason that i can thinkt that they want to have a big margin on it is that is you look out your window you will see it's raining (it is here anyway) and it rains alot. As well we are coming up to winter months so they could be looking at it on their forecourt for a long time. Also the fact that it's 2.2 petrol and everyone seems to be going for the cheaper, more ecomonical diesel versions. Just my two cents

Some of the reasons you give me are quite valid and I realize that - but they are valid for all dealers. ( Why anyone would want a diesel convertible is beyond me )

My problem is why are the BMW franchise offering me so much less for it than anyone else ?

I was also hoping someone else was going to be able to explain the ALU or whatever thing was ( Or just BS by the dealer )

-Chris-

Would you bring it to another BMW dealer and see if it's all BMW dealers undervaluing your car or just this one?

RobAMerc

ninty9er wrote: »

So they're only offering €16k for it??

No - I am going to let it go for 19k, which is less than most dealers offered me for it, as I will do alot better than 10% I reckon buying the exact car I want private or in the UK.

gabgab

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055354978

First post in this thread, sorry I do not know how to link it the nicer way,

If buying in the UK, PLEASE, PLEASE, get the car checked out by a person with specialist knowledge both mechanically and in terms of bodywork,

And again, a car is WORTH what somebody is willing to pay for it, that is it.

L-M

RobAMerc wrote: »

I was also hoping someone else was going to be able to explain the ALU or whatever thing was ( Or just BS by the dealer )

Unless you mis heard the salesperson in what they were saying, and unless it's abreviated for some sort of auction house etc, but i can't say i've ever heard of it. A bit of googling reveals nothing either.

keepherlit

Most dealers use an independant car guide. Guide prices are given based on market research and varying spec, milage etc.., The guide is a trade only service. it gives them a true representation on what cars are fetching on the forecourts throughout the country. They pay a sub to get this up to date info. On the other hand they might know an indy who is looking for a specific car and can guarantee shifting it. They also have to factor in that they will be offering a warranty with car and their name stands over it. many factors leading to many values im afraid. shop around!

-Chris-

Most dealers use that guide as a triple-check only. By and large it's not a hell of a lot of use.