A friend of mine treated himself to a new 2001 740iL. Well, he's in an up-and-down business, and things have been down lately. He decided to ditch the luxo-barge and get out from under the high loan payment. So he went back to the BMW dealer and talked cash purchase. He nearly fell over when they offered $42,000 for his $110,000 car! Theyt told him they might go as high as $50K if he was buying anew 745 at sticker, but otherwise, that was it.

So, he thought he'd sell it privately. He saw one other 01 740iL in the paper and that guy was asking $49K. He called on it, and it had been for sale for three months at $49K and he was willing to talk turkey, in a big way. Suddenly the 42 didn't look too bad.

He ended up trading the 740 on an Acura TL-S, as the Acura dealer gave him a great price on a 2003 and gave him $45K for his car, after he had beat a low price for the new TL out of them.

BTW, any Edmontonians, I think the Acura dealer might not wholesale off his car, so if you're looking for a pristine 7-series...

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

OOOUUUCH!!

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Wow and people think I'm crazy when I research for at least a month before buying a new car.
You can't fall in love with the way a car looks and just blindly snap it up, unless of course you have some deep pockets.

The 7 series is notorious for this and the worse of the bunch. I feel for your friend. But another german car owner will be lost to the Japanese.

my dad recently got a 750il (2000) and they were around 100 grand new. He got it for 55 or so... one helluva deal.

Nobody buys a new 7-series. They lease them. And everybody knows that the 7-series depreciation curve looks like a rock falling from a cliff, especially last year's model. Why not just keep the 7-series? I've driven a previous model 740i and my father owned a previous model 728i and they were fantastic cars, among the best cars I've ever driven or ridden. I certainly wouldn't fancy an Acura in exchange! (Another great buy from the depreciation point of view, too--is your friend a financial masochist?)

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JJ Rodger
2013 G350 Bluetec
1999 SL 500
1993 E300 diesel T
1990 190

Let's see: $110,000 2001 model 7-Series depreciates by 55+% (Canadian $?) in 24-30 months... That's a bigger knock per month in the pocketbook than the ripoff artist that hit me with the doctored odometer made 2 months ago... And he' s still in jail!

Well, at least it doesn't have i-drive!

I guess there really is something we can agree upon, blackmercedes!

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'91 420 SEL @ 199K, '92 SVX @ 181K, '93 SC400 @ 86K, '93 Kaw ZX-11 @ 30K, '87 F250 @ 181K , 2001 Valkyrie Interstate @ 6K, Y2K Honda NightHawk 250 with 1.5K, '88 420SEL I.@ 179K & the 2nd latest, an '88 420SEL II.@ 210K runnin' parts car, '85 F150 300/NP435

With the exception of a Porsche 911, Mercedes SL or S-Class, it's pretty much impossible to sell any used car over $50K in these parts.

I wondered why he would do this. He'd still have the huge loan. How does this help financially? Here's the rundown. Because the TL was $37,000, and they gave him $45,000 for his car, he paid the loan down by $8000. Also, Honda Canada Finance picked up 100% of the TL, and that portion is over 60mos at a low rate. That alone knocked his payment down. He refinanced the remainder against his house, and got a really low rate. Overall, he took hundreds of dollars a month off his cash outlay.

The next reason was the BMW was going to come off warranty soon. He thought that he better sell the car with warranty, and he's probably right. I saw a 2000 740 out of warranty for only $35K. Also, unknown to me, was the he had no intention of owning the car out of warranty. BMW has spent the GDP of a mid-sized nation on warranty repairs, and he's very worried about the car being a money pit. Mostly electronics, but a couple auto-boxes in there too.

So, he's rid of the car before the warranty is gone, and has a new Acura with five years warranty and a really good prospect for not being a money pit, and his monthly payments are much lower. However, he still ate all that depreciation and will be hurting for some time.

The land of flagships is not for the finaincially faint of heart.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

This is so much bull****. The last model 7-er was a well-sorted car, especially by 2000. By then BMW was well past the Nikalsil bore-liner problem (heck that was way back in 95). Blackmercedes: your pal must be spastic. 60 months finance? Nobody buys a car over 5 years: he is a clown of the highest order. A new Acura? Excuse me if I don't piss my pants with envy.

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JJ Rodger
2013 G350 Bluetec
1999 SL 500
1993 E300 diesel T
1990 190

60 month car loans are pretty common here. An average new car is a serious purchase and takes a huge chunk of most people's incomes. For "premium" cars, most makers are now going 72 or 84 months. I felt owing money on my C230 for 48 months unbearably long, but that's not "current" thinking.

As to being a clown, you're right, especially when it comes to making poor purchases. He bought the BMW as a "status" symbol. The Acura is a better car in many ways for "regular" people. For the BMW to make sense financially (though those cars NEVER really make financial sense) you've got to keep the thing for a decade or two and forget the huge depreciation.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

http://img31.exs.cx/img31/4050/tophat6.gif

You said it!

Mike

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'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

personally i think the new 7 series looks like an alien spaceship and is ugly as sin.

a GOOD story about the previous model 740's is when we bought one used in 2000. we bought a 1995 740i for about $35,000.

at about 78,000 miles it was idling very rough and we took it in to have it looked at. our mechanic said there was horribley weak compression in one cylinder. BMW recalled those engines and we got a NEW $12,000 engine for free and a loaner while it was being replaced. so all in all, we got a 740 with a new engine for $35,000. THAT is not a bad deal.

it drives like a dream. my only concern is if and when it will begin to have computer problems.

eric

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1995 E320 Sportline Wagon "Bernard"
black on black leather

http://i.imgur.com/BdZ7jM3.png

my dad's 750iL is a dream. We have had no problems with it yet, it has tons of power, and it is totally luxurious. It was a bargain at 50K, and I absolutley love that thing. So far, my family has owned 4 BMW's (320i [RIP], 535i, 735i, 750iL) and we have had great experiences in all of them (and a bad one in the 320i). As far as making financial sense, my brother's 535i has over 200K on it, only major job was a head gasket (very recently), and he got it for 10 grand. Don't go bashing bimmers unless you've personally owned one.

I agree with Blackmercedes.... 60-, 72-, or 84-month loans are rediculous. If a person doesn't have the means to pay a car off in 48 months, they have no business buying such an expensive car in the first place.

Both parties share the blame in this - the dealer who is giving this offer and putting some people in a precarious financial situation, and the buyer who takes this offer thus stretching their finances too much. Everyone is greedy, greedy, greedy!

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

I owned a 1974 BMW 2002tii and it was a great little car. Pretty much manual everything. Only thing it lacked was a/c. Owned it from new to around 155k miles. Drove the crap out of it.

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Jim