Where would you go next...

drunkmonkey

bazz26 wrote: »

You do have to wonder what sort of history does it have for a car like that to be priced so low.

Just priced it up these, 530d M sport, 9,000 miles, early 2017, 43k by the time you've paid for flights ferry and vrt.

There making a killing if it's a UK car at that price.

bazz26

You could easily see another few grand on top of that for extras.

MarkN

It’s mad how much you can bring a 530d in for compared to here. Fuc*ing mad.

Still no word no, he mustn’t be in the business of selling cars.

drunkmonkey

I'm in no rush for a new car happy with my 530 but will buy in the UK the last day of Brexit if it looks like it's going to get a lot more expensive to import.
Anyone know what there making in Malta, can't remember rightly but a friend was working over there and he done some trickery and bought a new BMW in Malta but was supplied through BMW in Dublin, he could have been there for a year or more so it could have just been the vrt he saved must ask him when I see him.

MetzgerMeister

Are UK imports still carrying a premium for insurance over Irish cars?

Whenever I look through ads I always look for a photo of the instrument cluster and if it has the MPH & KPH I discount it due to insurance and history uncertainty.

JoeA3

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Are UK imports still carrying a premium for insurance over Irish cars?

Whenever I look through ads I always look for a photo of the instrument cluster and if it has the MPH & KPH I discount it due to insurance and history uncertainty.

Never heard of that before. Certainly wasn't an issue for me and neither was it ever raised as an issue on my wife's car (also an import).

I'm pretty sure the new 5 series are all digital speedo's now too... so its no longer an issue on those cars anyway.

KMH analogue clocks can easily be retrofitted too for not huge money... I considered it a while back but forgot about it since.

Voodoomelon

Don't know if it affects the price, but you do get asked when quoted with a lot of companies if the car is an import.

MetzgerMeister

I remember a time when a UK import meant a higher premium. It was as big a deal as the over 10 years old car is now with some companies but you weren't refused insurance.

I know that dashes are becoming digital but those motors are currently out of my price range :pac:

bazz26

When insurance companies ask you if it's an import, they are usually referring to Japanese imports. I've been driving UK imports for a good few years now and never had an issue with insurance, nearly every second or third car on the road here now is a UK import.

JoeA3

bazz26 wrote: »

When insurance companies ask you if it's an import, they are usually referring to Japanese imports. I've been driving UK imports for a good few years now and never had an issue with insurance, nearly every second or third car on the road here now is a UK import.

Yeah that might be it. I mean there's zero difference (speedo aside, assuming its analogue) between a UK and Irish spec BMW.

MetzgerMeister

It was definitely a thing with Jap imports. When I bought the RX8 my first year's insurance was €2,500. I was 22 with a full licence, full NCB since I was 18, no penalty points and that was the cheapest.

carsfan2

MarkN wrote: »

It’s mad how much you can bring a 530d in for compared to here. Fuc*ing mad.

Still no word no, he mustn’t be in the business of selling cars.

Maybe he doesn’t want the 6 series as a trade in or is just your typical Irish car sales man, that you have to chase in order to spend your money.

MarkN

carsfan2 wrote: »

Maybe he doesn’t want the 6 series as a trade in or is just your typical Irish car sales man, that you have to chase in order to spend your money.

That’s cool but just let the customer know, ya know

mickdw

How easy is the car sales game when they don't need to follow up on strong enquiries?

drunkmonkey

mickdw wrote: »

How easy is the car sales game when they don't need to follow up on strong enquiries?

I walked into a main dealer a few months ago with no trade in, said I want one of them and i've 50k to spend today. Can you do anything for me i'd like an X but open to suggestions, I was told no. (this garage has hundreds of cars in stock, didn't even bother showing me anything).
Now there the nearest main dealer to service the car I bought up the road with the money.
The young lads are useless salesmen from what I can see, the older the guy the better to deal with.

MarkN

edit

carsfan2

mickdw wrote: »

How easy is the car sales game when they don't need to follow up on strong enquiries?

Sometimes I think they like to see what happens with a reasonably easily sold car.
Say They put the 520 up for sale and Mark comes in with a 6 series that they have to either resell or get a trade buyer. The market for such a car is not massive in Ireland.Then for instance another punter driving a fresh high line Passat or Audi A4 rocks up interested. My guess is that he gets more attention as being a vw/ Audi dealer it’s an easier life for them. Obviously the 6 series is a nicer car but the dealer as he’s not a main BMW dealer might perceive it as tricky for them.

JoeA3

carsfan2 wrote: »

Sometimes I think they like to see what happens with a reasonably easily sold car.
Say They put the 520 up for sale and Mark comes in with a 6 series that they have to either resell or get a trade buyer. The market for such a car is not massive in Ireland.Then for instance another punter driving a fresh high line Passat or Audi A4 rocks up interested. My guess is that he gets more attention as being a vw/ Audi dealer it’s an easier life for them. Obviously the 6 series is a nicer car but the dealer as he’s not a main BMW dealer might perceive it as tricky for them.

Yep this definitely happens - I certainly experienced it a few years ago. I was interested in a particular car, it was in a dealers over an hour from me so I kinda did a deal over the phone, made it clear I’d be buying it subject to it being ok when I saw it in the metal. I had a trade in though and they were low balling me on that - as is the way.
Anyway I was all set to go see it the next morning when I got a call to tell me it had been sold to someone else by a different salesman! I was pissed off and I felt I was being fobbed off, but what could I do. Months later I happened to come across the same car and got speaking to it’s new owner. He “filled in the blanks” - basically he rocked up that morning as a cash buyer so the feckers sold it to him instead, pulling the rug from under me. He was perceived as a less-hassle transaction I guess...

I suspect this happens all the time.

mickdw

I've been in buying straight. They were not climbing all over me.

drunkmonkey

mickdw wrote: »

I've been in buying straight. They were not climbing all over me.

I used to sell them, it was all about the finance.

mickdw

As in you mean they want to sell finance to get the most out of a sale?

drunkmonkey

Yea you were more or less given out to for not selling finance on every car, don't think there was anything under 3yrs old on the lot, nearly every sale was on finance and a lot had some negative equity on their trade in which would be bundled in to the new finance package.

bazz26

I'd say Mark the crowd who rang you back today were waiting to see what trade offers they were getting for your 6 Series before getting back to with a price. A 6 Series being sold outside the BMW dealer network would be tough enough plus they would have to stick a warranty on it which could potentially wipe out any money they make on the sale. I could see why selling on to the trade would be more appealing to them. Interestingly enough I traded my 520d into a Land Rover/Mazda dealer and it popped up for sale in a smaller non franchised dealership a week later and in turn was sold to its new owner two weeks later after that.

Heres Johnny

If there's 10% margin on a car for a dealer (I used to work as a trainee accountant in a bmw dealership, I think it was about 8% if I remember correctly) it's approx 5k on a 5 series.
Finance that 50k sale and charge 5k interest on top, you've another 10% margin.
Sell a few extras like upgraded wheels for a grand extra and you've even more mark up. Upgraded wheels are seriously profitable, let's say you upgrade to 19s from standard 18s and you're charged 1000 euro. It's 1000 euro on top of the 18s youre trading in. I always thought customers would be better buying the 18s with the car, upgrade to 19s after purchasing and sell the set of 18s for a few hundred. Of course nobody will do this but it just shows how financing a car and selling a few upgrades and extras like extended warranties turns a 10% margin into over double that.
No main dealer would survive nowadays churning out standard cars to cash buyers.

mloc123

mickdw wrote: »

Bill Griffin seems stunningly cheap in general. I don't know about the quality of the cars but on something like a 5 series, from his ads, you would generally get a 15 plate off him for same money as a 13 plate from a dealer.
Something has to give id imagine. By all accounts, you wouldn't get the Rolls Royce of customer service but he seems to be turn over a huge number of cars going by his ads changing all the time so I don't know.

Viewed a car there a few years back for a friend...I would not buy a car from them

MetzgerMeister

mloc123 wrote: »

Viewed a car there a few years back for a friend...I would not buy a car from them

Why not?

carsfan2

I see Bill griffin thought he was being too generous and has put the price up by 2 grand for that 530d.

bazz26

Probably read this thread or got a surprise when he went to VRT it.

mickdw

Heres Johnny wrote: »

If there's 10% margin on a car for a dealer (I used to work as a trainee accountant in a bmw dealership, I think it was about 8% if I remember correctly) it's approx 5k on a 5 series.
Finance that 50k sale and charge 5k interest on top, you've another 10% margin.
Sell a few extras like upgraded wheels for a grand extra and you've even more mark up. Upgraded wheels are seriously profitable, let's say you upgrade to 19s from standard 18s and you're charged 1000 euro. It's 1000 euro on top of the 18s youre trading in. I always thought customers would be better buying the 18s with the car, upgrade to 19s after purchasing and sell the set of 18s for a few hundred. Of course nobody will do this but it just shows how financing a car and selling a few upgrades and extras like extended warranties turns a 10% margin into over double that.
No main dealer would survive nowadays churning out standard cars to cash buyers.

I thought there was only small margin in the finance. You say charge 5 interest... fair enough but the bank must be getting the loins share of that.

Heres Johnny

mickdw wrote: »

Heres Johnny wrote: »

If there's 10% margin on a car for a dealer (I used to work as a trainee accountant in a bmw dealership, I think it was about 8% if I remember correctly) it's approx 5k on a 5 series.
Finance that 50k sale and charge 5k interest on top, you've another 10% margin.
Sell a few extras like upgraded wheels for a grand extra and you've even more mark up. Upgraded wheels are seriously profitable, let's say you upgrade to 19s from standard 18s and you're charged 1000 euro. It's 1000 euro on top of the 18s youre trading in. I always thought customers would be better buying the 18s with the car, upgrade to 19s after purchasing and sell the set of 18s for a few hundred. Of course nobody will do this but it just shows how financing a car and selling a few upgrades and extras like extended warranties turns a 10% margin into over double that.
No main dealer would survive nowadays churning out standard cars to cash buyers.

I thought there was only small margin in the finance. You say charge 5 interest... fair enough but the bank must be getting the loins share of that.

My apologies I did word that quite badly.
In many cases now the manufacturers are the bank too, vw financial services and bmw financial services etc.....so it's the manufacturer that makes the money but they do reward the dealer too.

It's all upselling really at the end of the day. Whether it's finance or it's a gadget.