Variance in the prices of very similar BMW's?

LittleS

I've been thinking of buying a BMW Compact but can't quite get my head around why the prices are so varied:

Example One:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=461761

Example Two:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=370589

Example Three:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=483439

The cheapest looks great value by comparison but I would have thought it was priced about right and the others were overpriced.

Anyone any thoughts?

drdre

theres not that much difference.the cheapest one is because its private sale.and the others are expensive because they are dealers that want to make a huge profit.thats really it:D

LittleS

Would the garages seriously expect to get close to the asking price given the private sale is so much cheaper?

drdre

no the garage price is just a estimate price.then it will be haggled down by the buyer

colm_mcm

that private sale is quite cheap. an 02 should fetch at least €14,000 privately with that mileage. provided it's not been crashed by one of the 3 owners.

sk8board

Always always remember guys that all garage prices are there to be haggled with! (most of the time by more than you think)

As the americans say; Only a fool pays sticker!

colm_mcm

Americans say lots of things

bananarepublic

what kind of mileage can a bmw handle , are there not risks in buying cars with 90000 + miles or if its has a full bmw history can it go to 200000 or do things which (are quite expensive to repair I presume) fall off and need replacing plus the 100000 mark?

sk8board

some cars are better than others for heaping on the miles, but to be honest, if you keep the service intervals, any car should do big miles.

If you don't then ANY car will cause trouble, even the low mileage ones.

saw a woman once who was selling a Peugeot 306, 3 years old with only 20k miles, but she had NEVER got the car serviced! and it was completely shagged.

maidhc

colm_mcm wrote:

Americans say lots of things

Generally more than would be considered helpful!

sk8board wrote:

saw a woman once who was selling a Peugeot 306, 3 years old with only 20k miles, but she had NEVER got the car serviced! and it was completely shagged.

That is only one service it missed (ok 2 if you do it every 12 mths regardless of miles). Either way, unless the car burned its way through a sump of oil, it shouldn't result in it being shagged. Maybe a bit more wear in the engine, but that shouldn't mainfest itself for many years and miles.

Servicing is very important, but so is the manner and style in which the car was driven, the kind of roads it drove on, and the amount of work the car has seen. Anything can go wrong with a car at any age, and the likelihood of something going wrong statistically increases as the miles pile on. BMWs are no more reliable than any other mass market car.

sk8board

maidhc wrote:

That is only one service it missed (ok 2 if you do it every 12 mths regardless of miles). Either way, unless the car burned its way through a sump of oil, it shouldn't result in it being shagged. Maybe a bit more wear in the engine, but that shouldn't mainfest itself for many years and miles.

yeh, this car was started cold every morn, driven a short distance and stopped cold again. It burned through all the oil and was at the point of seizing the engine!!
The lady thought it was a dud car, and tried to sell it on. She thought because she did v.low miles that it didn't need servicing. ah well

Andrewf20

The garages are likely to throw in a warranty in the sale.

colm_mcm

and you'll have more comeback when you find out it's been clocked..

stifz

The beamers have different spec's the se model for example has velure seats, automatic, full black / wood trim etc.. the basic models have less..Also the 2ltr are v6's whereas the 1.8 are standard. also some have drums on the rear and the higher spec have disks all round.. hence the price difference. The compac's are cheaper again due to be less popular and harder to shift.. You'll definitley get more value in them than other of the range and mainly used by lady drivers you'll most likely get lower miles..

any car will generally do 200k ..within reason.. but yeah it won't do 200k without some replacement parts.. At 90k the disks and drums should be looked at. The ball joints and general suspension. Their chain instead timing belts as such so that should be okay. get it properly looked at.. stay clear of main dealers.. go to a local mechanic you trust.


I would'nt touch any of the above as they have too high miles for such an investment.. 02 should have 40-50k as average miles..

alias no.9

stifz wrote:

the 2ltr are v6's whereas the 1.8 are standard

The 320 is a 2.2l straight six not a 2l V6, BMW don't make any V6's and their badging has been decoupled from the engine size for quite some time.

stifz

sorry your right - no V6 but only the 6 cylinder inline. The 2.0ltr can be both 2ltr and 2.2 unbadged though.. As with the 520 being 2ltr but also 2.2 and the 523 being a 2.5.:eek: