Value of second-hand BMWs plummets 50pc - Sindo

Do-more

By Louise McBride

Sunday November 16 2008

IT is known to stand the test of time -- but don't expect the sale price of the Beemer to do the same.

Dealers have seen the value of second-hand cars plummet by an average of 25 per cent over the past six to 11 months, but some cars -- including a number of BMW models -- have freefalled by as much as 50 per cent.

The BMW X5 has "got a hammering", according to Pat White, managing director of White Bishop Cars in Dublin. "Today, you'll only get €42,000 for a 2006 BMW X5. A year ago, you could have sold one for €80,000."

Last February, a 2005 BMW 520i Auto sold for €27,500, according to Merrion Fleet Management in Dublin, compared to €17,000 today -- 38 per cent less.

Other second-hand cars stuck in reverse are the Toyota Avensis, where 4-door 2005 models have seen their value fall by about a third since February, according to Merrion, and the Volkswagen Golf. A 5-door 2004 Golf would have sold for €11,200 last February, compared to €8,250 today.

"The impact of the recession on car values has been exasperated by the difficulties people are experiencing getting credit," said David Wilkinson, sales director with Merrion Fleet Management. Last week, Irish Life & Permanent said its consumer finance book -- largely made up of car finance -- was affected by the slowdown in the car market.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/value-of-secondhand-bmws-plummets-50pc-1541382.html

Anan1

Do-more wrote: »

"The impact of the recession on car values has been exasperated by the difficulties people are experiencing getting credit," said David Wilkinson, sales director with Merrion Fleet Management.

Don17

So this mean that car dealers won't be able to build any more glass fronted monuments that cost the price of a small country
My heart bleeds for them!
We've been ripped off for years , prices aren't dropping they are coming into line with the rest of europe!

BTW.
2004 Golfs prices haven't dropped to that price!
Check out the car websites , they are still around 12k
The dealers are still living in hope.

grizzly

I'm surprised that there is so much shock about these kind of stories. Luxury cars aren't selling because we have entered a recession. No sh!t :rolleyes:

E92

It's hardly surprising that the secondhand price of used BMWs has taken a bit of a hammering, considering that the new ones came down by as much as €9k or €10k thanks to the VRT changes.

Because they are so good on CO2 the road tax for the 08s is much lower than the 07s, so that was always going to make those cars less desirable.

More to the point these big drops were on the biggest selling models like the 520d.

Even if we hadn't a recession they would still have gone down in price.

It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.

And as noted the price of *all* used cars has taken a bit of a battering, at least in so far as what you're being offered as a trade in.

I don't think the price of cars on garage forecourts has dropped that much really, and anyway the "examples" they have of cars dropping in price are sh!te because time is passing by and for example the 05 520i they're on about is effectively a year older at this stage; I mean 05s are practically 4 year old cars now compared to 3 years old back in February so the price was always going to drop.

cancan

Due to ever increasing taxation, it is, and has been for some time, a fact that new irish cars cost way more than they are actually worth.

Easy credit of the last few years encouraged many to by these overpriced cars, and with the economy experiancing something akin to a gold rush, many ignored the lack of underlying utility and value of a new car, in a quest for a new reg number or some status.

All that is happening now is that second hand cars are dropping to some where near their actual value.

I always thought you'd want to hate money to buy a new car in ireland. The prices do not make sense compared to the underlying utility and value.

When cars are depreciating 50% in the first year, you'd want to be insane to buy one. It's not just bmw's, but all cars. Even with the VRT changes, they are still way overpriced.

Dealers, caught in a web of huge taxation, selling products that are vastly overpriced, are screwed. At least if the big dealers with the big glass showrooms go to the wall, they will be replaced by sensible dealerships, where the customer does not have to be charged 350 for an oil change, to service the massive loan on the new showroom, which does nothing for the customer at the end of the day.

We'll end up with a market where older well maintained cars, which for a long time were worthless, will actually appreciate, as people move down the food chain to buy not what they can borrow, but what they can actually afford.
(fill your sheds with these and come back in six months!).

Buying a new car in ireland, is akin to burning money, but worse, as it would take you longer to burn the same money.Eventually, the gov will figure out that lower VRT will actually increase revenue, and that tax should decrease with a cars age. Taxing older cars at the full rate, is just plain thick.

The current taxation system would work well in a nation, where everyone is a lottery winner, but frankly, ireland is not in this position now.
The bottom line is that it took irish motorists the last 10 years to realise that they were been taken for a ride. But at least they are copping on a bit now..

Have fun 09 shopping for those who don't heed! Your dealer needs your money to pay back their huge loans, and you obviously don't...

SV

on the comment on Golfs..

I think it's a golf owner thing, they bought their car for shockingly high prices so they think it's worth that.
Hell, I've a 'friend' who thinks his Golf GTI(5door, 2003 model, 78k miles) is worth 16grand.

Prices are gonna stay coming down for ages..nothing but a good thing

L-M

If there are mk5 04 Golf's out there for 8k i'll take a few.

RedorDead

Don17 wrote: »

So this mean that car dealers won't be able to build any more glass fronted monuments that cost the price of a small country
My heart bleeds for them!We've been ripped off for years , prices aren't dropping they are coming into line with the rest of europe!

BTW.
2004 Golfs prices haven't dropped to that price!
Check out the car websites , they are still around 12k
The dealers are still living in hope.

They have no choice in this matter - its either build the new design showrooms or the manufacturer withdraws your franchise contract from you.

Its part of the reason bmw cut 5 dealers this year and audi cut 7.

ART6

cancan wrote: »

Due to ever increasing taxation, it is, and has been for some time, a fact that new irish cars cost way more than they are actually worth.

Buying a new car in ireland, is akin to burning money, but worse, as it would take you longer to burn the same money.Eventually, the gov will figure out that lower VRT will actually increase revenue, and that tax should decrease with a cars age. Taxing older cars at the full rate, is just plain thick.

How long are you prepared to wait? Your suggestion is sound IMHO but it would take a new breed of politicians who don't spend all of their waking hours lookin for something else to slap a tax on.

coylemj

Part of the reason in the past few weeks is the plunge in the value of Sterling vs. the Euro which makes importing from the UK even more attractive.

On Friday Oct 17th one Euro bought you 0.775 sterling, last Fri Nov 14th the rate was 0.86, a jump in the relative value of the Euro of over 11% in just four weeks.

niceirishfella

All this news is old new to many of us here - but I'm wondering when the revenue are going to COP ON and drastically realign the OMSP with the reality of car pricing out there out there right now?

cancan

niceirishfella wrote: »

All this news is old new to many of us here - but I'm wondering when the revenue are going to COP ON and drastically realign the OMSP with the reality of car pricing out there out there right now?

The last thing they are going to do is make imports cheaper, without huge cuts to the VRT system!

Expect a complete overhall of the system again, which does nothing for confidence in the market, but will be required if they wish to have any tax take from the motorist into the future.

They took the golden goose, stole from it so much, that it eventually withered up and died.

I think the gov will figure this out sooner than later. Just put those greens in a corner. How the government would love if everyone was buying Range Rovers still, so they take the huge tax that they brought in, and spend it giving free houses to people and bailing out developers et al.

Be careful what you wish for

The greens must be crying green tears, the lack of nice fat taxes from premium cars is gone, and they have no money to carry out some real green initiatives, instead of the socialistic and cynical "must get everyone out of SUV's" tax regieme they introduced.

They can't say they were not warned......
Green with envy seemed to be their only green policy since they came to power.

Seth Brundle

E92 wrote: »

It's hardly surprising that the secondhand price of used BMWs has taken a bit of a hammering, considering that the new ones came down by as much as €9k or €10k thanks to the VRT changes.

Because they are so good on CO2 the road tax for the 08s is much lower than the 07s, so that was always going to make those cars less desirable.

More to the point these big drops were on the biggest selling models like the 520d.

Even if we hadn't a recession they would still have gone down in price.

It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.

And as noted the price of *all* used cars has taken a bit of a battering, at least in so far as what you're being offered as a trade in.

I don't think the price of cars on garage forecourts has dropped that much really, and anyway the "examples" they have of cars dropping in price are sh!te because time is passing by and for example the 05 520i they're on about is effectively a year older at this stage; I mean 05s are practically 4 year old cars now compared to 3 years old back in February so the price was always going to drop.

You hardly expect a rag like the Indo to get it exactly right, do you?

MarkN

E92 wrote: »

It's hardly surprising that the secondhand price of used BMWs has taken a bit of a hammering, considering that the new ones came down by as much as €9k or €10k thanks to the VRT changes.

Because they are so good on CO2 the road tax for the 08s is much lower than the 07s, so that was always going to make those cars less desirable.

It's not really the clean BMWs that have taken the hammering though E92.

11 months ago my 335i had a list of €81,500 now I couldn't get 50k for it. Its worth more to me than the value of it on paper.

What's even more sickening is I'm not up my neck in debt on the car so it's my own cash that's being pissed up a wall but I'm stuck cause nobody can get money to buy it.

BMWs are just as vulnerable to recessions as the next car. There's a 2005 seal grey 911 going for mid 70s on Carzone!!

drunkmonkey

Is this correct, these prices seems very cheap even by Recession standards...

05 525d
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/200845190800367/advert

05 323 Convertible

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/ci-mspor/200842190478824/advert

04 350Z

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Nissan/350Z/200845190800932/advert

I really hope my mortage comes true soon...:)

Anan1

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Is this correct, these prices seems very cheap even by Recession standards...

05 525d
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/200845190800367/advert

05 323 Convertible

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/ci-mspor/200842190478824/advert

04 350Z

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Nissan/350Z/200845190800932/advert

I really hope my mortage comes true soon...:)

Where are the phone numbers?;)

drunkmonkey

Anan1 wrote: »

Where are the phone numbers?;)

Right under the e-mail dealer button....;) That 5 series is seriously cheap I think....

Anan1

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Right under the e-mail dealer button....;) That 5 series is seriously cheap I think....

I must be blind - was looking at the bottom!:o

robbie99

Two of those phones numbers are the same and don't work. hmmm.

copacetic

MarkN wrote: »

It's not really the clean BMWs that have taken the hammering though E92.

11 months ago my 335i had a list of €81,500 now I couldn't get 50k for it. Its worth more to me than the value of it on paper.

What's even more sickening is I'm not up my neck in debt on the car so it's my own cash that's being pissed up a wall but I'm stuck cause nobody can get money to buy it.

BMWs are just as vulnerable to recessions as the next car. There's a 2005 seal grey 911 going for mid 70s on Carzone!!

As Mark says there has been a massive fall in prices, probably even worse that what the article reports. There is a lot further to go also, prices are now taking a hammering in the UK also, along with the fall in sterling this now means that it is getting even cheaper to import.

Eg, a 08 model similar to Marks but with smaller engine has come down by 10k in 2 months at an Irish dealer, but it is still 10k more than it can be imported for. It can be imported for about 60% of Irish list price at 6 months old.

Marks 335 is another example, bigger engine cars are taking a hammering in the UK. You could import an 07 335 for about 45k at the moment, or a cayman for under 50k.

staker

overheard a salesman offering 6 grand for an 06 Saab 9-5 against a new 3 series on saturday.:eek::eek:
needless to say he declined

bazz26

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Is this correct, these prices seems very cheap even by Recession standards...

05 525d
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/200845190800367/advert

05 323 Convertible

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/ci-mspor/200842190478824/advert

04 350Z

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Nissan/350Z/200845190800932/advert

I really hope my mortage comes true soon...:)

Ring the phone numbers, when you don't get through then e-mail the seller and you'll get some bull**** story about the cars currently located outside the country but they can ship them to you if you secure them with a deposit. Its an old scam at this stage.

If something looks too good to be true then it is.

Climate Expert

Last February, a 2005 BMW 520i Auto sold for €27,500, according to Merrion Fleet Management in Dublin, compared to €17,000 today -- 38 per cent less.

The cheapest 05 520i is €29K on Carzone. I doubt I'd get much joy offering 17K for one.

copacetic

Climate Expert wrote: »

The cheapest 05 520i is €29K on Carzone. I doubt I'd get much joy offering 17K for one.

They probably mean at auction. You would be lucky to get offered 17k for one if trading it in.

Thats one of the key issues at the moment, you have people like SIMI and the joker on thread above saying support local business. I'd love to do that. However if you bought a car from a SIMI garage and came back the next day to trade it in they will tell you that values are been killed by imports and offer you 10k less than what you paid. Their cars are all overpriced and they know it.

Their motto appears to be, 'support us so we can shaft you'

bazz26

If anyone knows where there is a 05 520i going for €17k then let me know.

vibe666

bazz26 wrote: »

If anyone knows where there is a 05 520i going for €17k then let me know.

yes i have car for you, very good price. it out of country right now, but you pay deposit, you have very good car for nice price no problem.

call honest vlad on: 1-800-shaft-you

Seth Brundle

My phone is down but if you email me I'll send you all of my personal details.
(going off topic here but this just shows you that there really are dumb people out there...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/15/internet-usa - OK back on topic now!)

drunkmonkey

bazz26 wrote: »

If anyone knows where there is a 05 520i going for €17k then let me know.

there was one on carszone yesterday, it was 05 525d, that website has really gone to pot latley.....they couldn't have just left it alone....

vibe666

kbannon wrote: »

(going off topic here but this just shows you that there really are dumb people out there...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/15/internet-usa - OK back on topic now!)

wow, dumber than a house brick.

anyway, as you said, back on topic.

is that 50% drop in sale value or just trade-in value?

robbie99

drunkmonkey wrote: »

there was one on carszone yesterday, it was 05 525d, that website has really gone to pot latley.....they couldn't have just left it alone....

It's still there...
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/200845190800367/advert

reverandkenjami

robbie99 wrote: »

It's still there...
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/200845190800367/advert

Its a scam, also has a '05 7series for €23000 for sale.. Phone number does not work and when you email him you get the usual scam email

Mc-BigE

reverandkenjami wrote: »

Its a scam, also has a '05 7series for €23000 for sale.. Phone number does not work and when you email him you get the usual scam email

one other way to spot its a scam is white lines above and below the pictures, which the scammer has cut and pasted the real car into his/her ad.

i wonder how much money carzone.ie is making out of scammers adds.

Anyway, back to topic.
I have a 02 320 touring that i am genuinely afraid to go near any dealer with, because i'll probably hit him with is trade-in offer.

Thats if i have job security to even go look for a upgrade in the first place.:(

vibe666

did you report him?

there's a button on the page to report problems with adverts.

i just reported him anyway so hopefully one less gullible idiot will get scammed because of it.

rebel.ranter

vibe666 wrote: »

did you report him?

there's a button on the page to report problems with adverts.

i just reported him anyway so hopefully one less gullible idiot will get scammed because of it.

So did I, about 10 mins ago. The more reports the better. Will be interesting to see ho long the ad stays up for now.....

Gumbo

vibe666 wrote: »

did you report him?

there's a button on the page to report problems with adverts.

i just reported him anyway so hopefully one less gullible idiot will get scammed because of it.

x2

robbie99

vibe666 wrote: »

did you report him?

there's a button on the page to report problems with adverts.

i just reported him anyway so hopefully one less gullible idiot will get scammed because of it.

I reported it yesterday.

Mc-BigE

ive reported several cars and never got a response from carzone

randomer

Might people importing a car put an ad up for a similar car at a much lower price. They could then show this to the revenue commisioner and use it as evidence when they are trying to get a lower OMSP?

vibe666

lol, good luck with that.

Bulmers

was out at BMW garage today picking up my 06 320d SE which i bought in June for 29.5k, there is now a 07 320d SE there, less miles for 29k 5 months later, so they are dropping quite alot, i dont think anything though on the scale of the indo article, from what i can see...