I'm going with my brother tomorrow to help him buy a used BMW Z4. We've got two cars booked in to test drive. This is the first: Black Z4. And the second: Grey Z4. He likes the look of the first one best. I'm mainly after a little advice when it comes to haggling the price if all goes well with the test drive and checks. It's listed at £6,950, but were hoping to get it down to around the £6.5k mark with 12 months Tax and next service included. Does that sound fair? What's the best way to go about getting the price down? Going lower first, say £6k hoping they'll meet in the middle, or just asking straight off to reduce to £6.5k? I'm also going to check the tyres, because a new set will be £450+ so if they're worn, I'd expect a lower price still. Should we ask for a full tank of petrol, or any other extras thrown in?
Slightly low-ball the price difference you want to pay, then you've got wiggle room upwards. If the tyres are low/it needs a service/things wrong it should be reflected in the price. One thing to look for is not just the pointless stamps in the book, but invoices for work done. You can haggle a tank of fuel, but as it's a trader your extra wrangling could make the difference between a purchase and not if he feels he's already taking a hit on his margins.
So would an initial offer of £6,250 be acceptable? Probably leave the tank of fuel bit. But I think it's acceptable to expect a full 12 months of road tax on a car from a dealer? At the moment it's only got 2 months according to the ad, which is not on imo. I suppose 6 months would be acceptable if he won't budge. I'll make sure to ask to see any invoices for previous work, as well as checking if they have done a full service prior to sale. I looked at a buying guide on a Z4 forum here. Some good advice in there, although with a dealer sold car stuff like checking lights etc. shouldn't be required. Should we ask for a HPI check if it hasn't been done already? I know its essential when buying privately, but should it be OK if sold from a dealer?
The only difference between a private sale and a dealer sale is the recourse you have in case things go wrong. Check everything on the forecourt before you sign on the dotted line. Tax is another bargaining chip, they will hope to sell it with the current tax, you might get 6 months out of them if you're lucky. £6250 would be a good start if it looks fine, expect to settle on £6500 if the seller's not a douchenozzle. If it needs any extra work be reasonable in terms of reducing the price - a new set of tyres try and get £300 off rather than the full cost, for example, because it's not something needed to get it on the road. Make sure you have a good test drive too - don't be bullied into a quick run around the block. Make it clear you're serious from the start rather than the usual walk-in time wasters who want a joyride in a car. In the end you're paying over the odds for the reassurance of dealer backup, if you want cheap go private.
Thanks for that Krikkit, sounds like sound advice. I'm hoping to possibly get a quick test drive as well, but I'll make sure my brother goes on a good drive.
Say you're looking to pay cash that day, it gives you a stronger stand point to low ball and haggle on price.
Re: the test drive, plenty of basics, check EVERYTHING. That is, go through every single gear including reverse, push every button and try every air vent. Try the handbrake on a hill, etc etc etc. I missed a few spots on my car as I was all like "er mah gerd bling!", and all it needed was a bit of patience on my part for a better deal.
Would paying by card be the same? He has the money in the bank, so he won't be looking for finance etc. Seems a bit much to get it all out of the bank in cash.
Theoretically, and in this case, yes. I'd be wondering if when buying something that large, the person wanted paper....
Chances are you won't get as good a deal for cash if they offer finance - they tend to make nearly as much money from that as the car sale!
If you lean towards a payment in full that day, you can twist their arm so to say especially if you turn down their finance deals. In the end £6.5K in their bank at the end of the day is better than no sale.
Depends entirely on their margin. They still get the money wether it's cash or finance. Probaly more on finance.
Well he got the car. He ended up paying £6.7k, but in the end this wasn't a bad deal because it had a full tank of petrol and four brand new tires, which I wasn't really expecting. Arguably both of those easily account for the extra £200 he spent than he was hoping. It's a lovely car I've gotta say. For the age it's in great condition. There's one very, very small dent on the passenger door, about the size of a 5 pence piece, but you've really got to look for it. Probably someone hitting it with their car door in a car park. Couldn't fault it other than that. He's over the moon, loves it. Went for a quick spin with him straight after buying it, stepped the back-end out on the first roundabout exit onto a dual carriageway, silly fool, but he's a good driver so it wasn't at all dangerous.
I suspect he'll spend the whole weekend grinning like a window licker, and stopping for petrol on the hour every hour and not caring about it!
Sounds like it was a good buy really, get a dent chap out with his glue sticks to sort the blemish and you're laughing!
Certainly. I advised him to take it easy until he get's used to the power, and not to turn off DSC until he's confident with the car. Don't want him getting into any accidents. Honestly not even sure if its worth the effort. Even though I knew it was there, when I was trying to show my gf I couldn't find it for a couple of mins, and had to get my head close to the door and look across the bodywork to find it. I think it was a good buy in the end. Most of the others on autotrader for the same price had much more miles on the clock, closer to 70k than 45k, and many were a year older. Initially I liked the look of the dark grey ones, but seeing this black one in person it looked great! Harder to keep clean, but worth the effort.
Not sure myself - that grey, with a non-black interior, and some M3 CSL-style wheels is my perfect Z4. Although, if it was a Z4M, it would have to be Deep Sea blue instead.
