[shao_khan]

Had my 330d stolen a couple of weeks ago, so had been forced to look at residuals. Luckily car found when BMW got a blip from the tracker giving the police a location. No damage other than minor cosmetic scuffs.

The car is 12 months old, 11k miles. Exclusive paint, and spec meant the cars list was £54k. I know not many people pay list, but thats where it sat. Offers from the insurers agents were very low £20,000's so I had a ring around, best value I've got trade is £23.5k.

Thats staggering depreciation, frigtening in fact, the kind of levels I'd have expected buying a Chrysler in the Uk a few years back.

Glad I dont have to worry about it now havign found mine, but trade price on oil burners seems to have taken a huge hit.

[mikeoz]

Nothing new I'm sorry to say. BMW residuals are poor.

[Consett Mag]

That's the case I think. Not the best time to sell one! I'm not worried as I don't plan on replacing mine for some time.
As far as I'm concerned, the 330d is an extremely efficient and powerful car.

[Hooded]

Do you really want to keep it though now after the scumbags have probably ragged it?

First couple of years are really bad for depreciation .. especially with trade in

[shao_khan]

Well the problem is that there isnt many mint green cars about, so I'm going to haev to overlook the scum or lose something quite special

[JD6]

Originally Posted by shao_khan

Had my 330d stolen a couple of weeks ago, so had been forced to look at residuals. Luckily car found when BMW got a blip from the tracker giving the police a location. No damage other than minor cosmetic scuffs.

The car is 12 months old, 11k miles. Exclusive paint, and spec meant the cars list was £54k. I know not many people pay list, but thats where it sat. Offers from the insurers agents were very low £20,000's so I had a ring around, best value I've got trade is £23.5k.

Thats staggering depreciation, frigtening in fact, the kind of levels I'd have expected buying a Chrysler in the Uk a few years back.

Glad I dont have to worry about it now havign found mine, but trade price on oil burners seems to have taken a huge hit.

The list is almost entirely meaningless and the individual paint element doesn't add anything to a used car. I assume that you bought it used for something like £30k (a little more if it was a zero mile pre reg, a little less if you bought it recently). If that's right then the depreciation is not too bad.

Diesel cars did suffer last year with the uncertainty over how they would be treated in future. Predictably, there were no changes to the tax treatment of existing cars in the Budget, and consequently diesel cars seem to have firmed-up a little. The media panic last year was just that. They have now found something else to be scared of...

[shao_khan]

No i'm the first owner, wanted it in that colour so ordered, M Performance kit, 20" alloys so any depreciation is something I'd have to stomache.

[Jeff123]

Probably loosened it up nicely. I am sure your car will be fine once you get the cosmetic bits sorted.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by shao_khan

No i'm the first owner, wanted it in that colour so ordered, M Performance kit, 20" alloys so any depreciation is something I'd have to stomache.

In that case, ouch!

I assume you paid more like £40k if you ordered it?

[Chrishumes]

Having mine from a pre reg where i paid 34k, 5 years later its worth approx 11500 to webuyanycar. So assuming it would sell on a forecourt for say 14-16k, thats 20k/5, so average 4-5k loss a year. Its bottomed out now really compared to the initial loss. Type your reg into webuyanycar

[KCH1984]

Sounds about right based on my recent trade-in experience. I guess if you get a big discount off list price upfront, it's got to come out in the wash at some point.

[shao_khan]

Originally Posted by JD6

In that case, ouch!

I assume you paid more like £40k if you ordered it?

Yeah I got quotes off of several brokers, drive the deal / car wow and then went to my local dealer. I'm guessing some people wont though and thats a real ouch

[shao_khan]

Originally Posted by KCH1984

Sounds about right based on my recent trade-in experience. I guess if you get a big discount off list price upfront, it's got to come out in the wash at some point.

Totally agree - but maybe this suggests that the product is over priced to strt with?

[KCH1984]

Originally Posted by shao_khan

Totally agree - but maybe this suggests that the product is over priced to strt with?

If you go by list price, then I'd probably agree. Problem with BMW is the list prices aren't realistic when even the latest release (eg G30 5 series) can already be had at a 20% discount.

I picked up my car at a year old for £29k when the list was £49k. It's since lost another £6-7k so as others have alluded to above, if you're selling within the first 3 years you're likely to get rinsed.

[Nobby Clark]

Replacement vehicle GAP.

I’ll just leave that there for you.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by KCH1984

If you go by list price, then I'd probably agree. Problem with BMW is the list prices aren't realistic when even the latest release (eg G30 5 series) can already be had at a 20% discount.

I picked up my car at a year old for £29k when the list was £49k. It's since lost another £6-7k so as others have alluded to above, if you're selling within the first 3 years you're likely to get rinsed.

BMW are fixed on shifting metal both in manufacture (keep the production running), and sales (dealer targets and bonuses), the discount has to keep increasing if there is any slow down.

We know who will pay, has to be the customer. As the market floods with product, there is only one way the prices go.

Besides the way the motor trade is moving at present, it has never really made sense to buy new and trade a car less than 3 - 4 years, if you want to get the best value out of a new car.

[Hooded]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

BMW are fixed on shifting metal both in manufacture (keep the production running), and sales (dealer targets and bonuses), the discount has to keep increasing if there is any slow down.

We know who will pay, has to be the customer. As the market floods with product, there is only one way the prices go.

Besides the way the motor trade is moving at present, it has never really made sense to buy new and trade a car less than 3 - 4 years, if you want to get the best value out of a new car.

Agree.. I recently purchased a 3 and a half year old car for that very reason and will likely keep it at least 5 years. This way the cars already taken the biggest hit with depreciation and I'll get my money's worth out if it.

[Steces]

After a lifetime buying cars for cash I have just realised that lease/PCP is the way to go

Current leased 335d Touring is costing 9k for 2y motoring
It has Pro Nav and a couple of other modest options but nowt too expensive
Could I buy it new for 35k - yes, of course. List is 45k with Pro Nav ha, ha, ha.... Can I sell or trade it at the 2y point for 26k, yet more ha, ha, ha

TRL can hopefully get me into a loaded 340i Shadowline Touring for 20-21k with only a little man maths over 4y. List would be north of 50k, discounted price in reality somewhere around 40. Could I sell it for 20k at 4 years? Well we know the answer to that.

I never thought I would be in a position to finance cars instead of buying them but the depreciation is now ridiculous and as lease/PCP give you a fixed price for 2,3 or 4 years of motoring then why wouldnt you??

Cheers

[Dave-ncl]

I have a deposit on a 330xd Nov 15 with almost the full high spec and 19k miles. Starting price was £23k.

I've whittled a little off but the main bulk of discount comes from a reduced Apr.

Still pricey for a car just over 2.5 years.

I looked at the market and this seems to be about right give the service pack last till 11/2020.

A bare 330d lux 2015 can be had from £17.5k upwards

[Nobby Clark]

Originally Posted by Steces

After a lifetime buying cars for cash I have just realised that lease/PCP is the way to go

For new cars, agreed.

Originally Posted by Dave-ncl

I have a deposit on a 330xd Nov 15 with almost the full high spec and 19k miles. Starting price was £23k.

I've whittled a little off but the main bulk of discount comes from a reduced Apr.

Still pricey for a car just over 2.5 years.

I looked at the market and this seems to be about right give the service pack last till 11/2020.

A bare 330d lux 2015 can be had from £17.5k upwards

That's interesting numbers. I have an almost fully loaded 430dx. WBAC and BMW offering £20 so a sales sticker price of may be 24k. I'm happy to ride out the depreciation and keep it for 2 more years and get the new model. I don't need a new car every 3 years.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Besides the way the motor trade is moving at present, it has never really made sense to buy new and trade a car less than 3 - 4 years, if you want to get the best value out of a new car.

I think you're right there.

My F31 is coming to the end of its 4-year PCP and to be honest I think I'm going to keep it on the basis it's a very good car which is running fine and is worth more to me than it is to anyone else. It's done just under 60k miles but I reckon with proper maintenance it will do double that and (hopefully!) last another 4 years without needing major work. However, I'll probably pass it across to Ms JNW1 (who also likes the 335d) and trade her A1 against something a bit more interesting.

Ironically, though, the A1 has actually held its value rather better than the BMW. On purchase price paid there was about a £15k difference between the two but 4 years later that gap is down to around £4k; the A1 is still worth about 50% of what we paid for it, the BMW less than 40%. In fairness small cars have probably always tended to have better residuals than larger ones but when I look at the residual on a 64-reg S4 Avant it's also rather better than my F31....

[northernsouly]

I've just bought a pre-registered 330d shadow edition (67 plate) with a high spec for £31k. List would have been about 45 or 46k. Love the car to pieces but its a worry that it is only worth about 26k now (20k depreciation in 6 months!!!!!!!). Only option is to keep for 4 to 5 years now with big diesels. 6 pot diesels may be a rare commodity in the future - that is the only possible saving grace!