Buyinig a new car - Every dealer seems to have the same price

Meteor67

I am in process of buying a new BMW and visited a couple of dealers. Although we didn't get into the final negotiations, I have the impression that the price is everywhere the same, basically the list price. Waiting times plus/minus 6 months!

Is there a point of negotiating at all or am I missing something? What's your experience?

Thanks for sharing!

Buddy Bubs

Limited supply, pay it or someone else will. You can try negotiate or try buy something in stock but it's tricky at the moment. I looked at a few EVs back last summer, no room for negotiation on any of them.

bazz26

I don't think BMW dealers have the number of buyers lined up if you don't want it on certain models that they have been giving the perception of recently. A lot of folks cancelled orders after getting pissed off with delivery dates being pushed out as well as frequent price increases and lower specs due to part shortages. Hard to blame them really.

What model are you trying to buy OP? Discounts are certainly harder to come by on new cars these days but if you don't try you certainly won't get.

Meteor67

@bazz26: I am considering the X1. Looks great and ticks all the boxes.

bazz26

I know someone who got one back in Jan or Feb, think it's the plug in hybrid version. SUVs wouldn't be my cup of tea but the person seems very happy with it. No idea how much they paid for it though as I only bump into them occasionally.

CrowdedHouse

The problem with the X1 at the moment is they can't be got.

I was at a dealer last week and I got a glance at an order list for X1's a mile long and only a handful had a production slot.

He said he couldn't give me a price that he could stand over because at the moment no idea when it would arrive

Huge demand and production difficulties apparently

goochy

If you are willing to travel , say you might get a good deal. Like Aherns in kerry are likely to want to deal with people outside of their own county more as not a big catchment area. Kearys in cork sell alot of cars and seem to do good deals

whippet

my experience with BMW dealers is that the list price is the list price and there is little or no movement - however trade in prices can vary wildly. In 2020 when trading in a Kodiaq against a 330e there was a difference in €5k between the dealers I approached on the trade in value.

Last year when I went in to a couple of dealers there was about €3k in difference between them on the trade in.

Lead times are finger in the air stuff mind you - when ordering last Nov was given a Feb date, that is now 'hopefully' in May

Lurching

My old man ordered a new X5 back at the start of August 2022.

They told him it'd be in at end of Feb, and latest now is that it'll be in during May - but no confidence on that.

BMW won't provide new stock cars to the dealers, so any new car that's in the showroom is a cancelled order. They don't seem to mind cancelled orders though. €1,000 deposit on an order, which is fully refundable.

R.O.R

I ordered an X1 at the start of November last year, and if we're lucky it will arrive in August or September.

By the time I'd placed the order all the allocation for Q1 & Q2 was already sold.

DubDani

Just ordered a X1 in the North. When calling around different dealers I was told that generally speaking delivery time was going to be about 9 months, i.e. early 2024. But luckily for us one dealer had a cancelled X1 production slot available that would lead to a June delivery. Unfortunately no movement on price at all. Managed to negotiate a discounted servicing plan and got a few accessories thrown in for free (Rubber Mats, Boot Mat etc.) and signed the paperwork on the day.

Meteor67

Hi there,

Thanks for your comments. After having some more chats with dealers I can confirm most of above. No room for negotiations, little or no flexibility, take it or leave it.

One dealer offered me a cancelation slot.

But, in saying all this, it looks like the next car won't be an X1. One important box won't be ticked from it. So, I have my eye now on a GLA. But this can change again.

However, reading an article from Germany over the weekend, it looks like prices are going down, or better said discounts are creeping in again. Supply is stabilising, interest rates are up and short term dealer registrations are increasing etc. So I might hold off. No sure though.

Cheers

Peregrinus

Why would you expect dealers to have different prices for the same car? They are all buying from the same manufacturer, and they are all running similar businesses with similar cost structures and overheads.

It doesn't follow that there is no scope for negotiation. Sometimes there is (though, for the reasons pointed out above by others, right now, not so much). But even when there is scope for negotiation, there will be broadly similar scope across all the dealers.

Obviously there will be some variation depending on how good you yourself are at negotiation and how unskilled or inexperienced is the individual salesman with whom you are dealing. But these considerations don't help you to prefer one dealership over another.

(Mostly what builds up customer loyalty to/preference for a dealership is service levels, and how good they are at sorting out problems and issues after the sale has been made. That's where new car dealers compete with one another, more than on price.)

bbari

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120414267#Comment_120414267

Perhaps its a good thing that you weren't able to get it. LCI facelift of X5 is in production at the moment. Call around and you may get the facelift model in July.