[newoldbeemer]

Yesterday my friend called me from the bmw showroom, he had walked in intending to buy a 328i and asked for my advice. He had selected a car and wanted me to take a look. I went there and found he had selected a black barebones car with just Dakota leather and burlwood trim, absolutely nothing else on the car - for 43k. Stopped him just in time!

I tried to convince him to go back home, do the homework, cross shop dealers and make a more informed buying decision but he seemed to be hell bent on driving a car home from the sale dealership the same day so I said whatever, it's his money and his car.

Anyway I tried to help him choose a better car from the dealers inventory, negotiated hard and ended up choosing a mineral grey sportline with tech package and driver assistance package for 45k.

While I'm sure it's a much better deal than the barebones car he had selected at 43k, I'm curious how this deal compares overall with the deals out there. What do you think?

[bmwmike89]

So this was a f30 328i? I am interested to hear what other people say as I will be in the market for one in the spring.

[newoldbeemer]

Yup 328i.

[Cyberdemon]

Confused how the first car you described was $43k - MSRP should be under $40k. Not sure if it had some other options he didn't mention but I haven't ever seen a dealer try to get $3k OVER MSRP on a no-line 3 series. (But he could have been taking your friend for a ride).

Based on what you've described, no this was not a good deal. It sounds like you got the car slightly below MSRP but not much. Did the car have dakota leather or Sensatec?

There are a lot of numbers that are missing in the equation. Was it a cash purchase? What fees were charged? MSRP vs pay price, etc.

328i's are the biggest volume seller for all of BMW which means they are usually the easiest to negotiate - $500 above invoice (before incentives) is pretty easy to get away with, and many people are able to get better deals based on the incentives and programs going on during certain times per year.

But at the end of the day if he's happy with the car the extra few K won't bother him. Some people just don't like the hassle.

[newoldbeemer]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

Confused how the first car you described was $43k - MSRP should be under $40k. Not sure if it had some other options he didn't mention but I haven't ever seen a dealer try to get $3k OVER MSRP on a no-line 3 series. (But he could have been taking your friend for a ride).

Based on what you've described, no this was not a good deal. It sounds like you got the car slightly below MSRP but not much. Did the car have dakota leather or Sensatec?

There are a lot of numbers that are missing in the equation. Was it a cash purchase? What fees were charged? MSRP vs pay price, etc.

328i's are the biggest volume seller for all of BMW which means they are usually the easiest to negotiate - $500 above invoice (before incentives) is pretty easy to get away with, and many people are able to get better deals based on the incentives and programs going on during certain times per year.

But at the end of the day if he's happy with the car the extra few K won't bother him. Some people just don't like the hassle.

Sensatec, it had tax + I think some $300 dealer fee and registration fee around $100. He had a pre-approved loan.

[newoldbeemer]

And yeah I figured, ultimately if he had to go through with the impulse purchase with no homework/due diligence, he might find the "I paid too much" regret more bearable than the "My car's not good enough" regret, so made sure he got at least sportline + tech package . Best I could do given the circumstances.

I think I'll keep him oblivious to the fact that its not a great deal overall . Let him enjoy the new car.

[Cyberdemon]

Building that car out online the MSRP is $45,600.

So if he got it for $45k with fees they they gave him about $1000 off. He gets a car and the CA gets a nice commission. Everybody's happy. ;-)