How long does a "good used M3" stay on the lot typically?

[NoM3ForMe]

The seem to get scooped up pretty damn fast here in the Seattle Metro and surrounding areas.

[Dbcgolf1]

Originally Posted by X2Board

Mine was on the lot for 1 day

There was an '09 E90 that was local to me, it was on the lot for 7 months (Maserati dealer) and they did not want to deal. I'm glad they didn't, because I got my '10 for less, even with CPO.

:-) I looked at that car. Didn't buy it. I didn't like the Grey / Silver combination.

Dave

[djseto]

Originally Posted by fongpi

Would you believe a dealer that says he is taking a loss on the sale?

No, but I do think some dealers will "cut their losses" when trying to turn a profit. My E92 was at a Toyota/Scion dealer and it was on their lot for 45 days. My dealer was part of a bigger family of dealerships and their corporate policy says after 60 days if a car isn't sold, it goes to auction. I confirmed this is true for most big dealerships with some friends in the car business. Even at auction, more often than not, a dealer still breaks even worst case.

I knew my M3 was on the verge of going to auction so I had a buddy look up the current auction prices for comparable Ms (no, I don't have access to this so please don't ask as others have already). I knew my M3 would auction for $38K so I offered it to the dealer and we settled on $38.5K from their ask of $44K.

Ironically, I later met the guy who owned the car before me because he was interested in the motorcycle I had for sale (talk about a small world). He told me the dealer gave him $35K for M3 on a trade in. Simple math says the dealer made $3.5K on my car, but he has to pay the cost of any maintenance/reconditioning, salesmen commissions, etc. that the car needed before it could be sold. We all know BMW maintenance ain't cheap and while the Toyota/Scion dealer has a BMW dealer in the "family" that did the work, someone still paid for it even if not at the prices we pay.

When all is said and done, my buddies in the business said they most likely made $1000 on the deal (plus whatever they get for financing). They guys I know said this is a "cut your loss" type of deal as dealers typically make more than that on used cars so in my case, I won, but the dealer didn't lose either.

One other thing my friends in the business told me: never trust a word that comes out of dealers mouth when it comes to invoice or what they supposedly make or lose or that whole end of the month/need to make quota crap. They're in the business to make money. Period.

[X2Board]

Originally Posted by Dbcgolf1

:-) I looked at that car. Didn't buy it. I didn't like the Grey / Silver combination.

Dave

I see you ended up with an '11. Nice

[Carl L]

Originally Posted by NoM3ForMe

The seem to get scooped up pretty damn fast here in the Seattle Metro and surrounding areas.

Same in Los Angeles.

[sherrod]

No very long, especially if its the right color combo

[sherrod]

did you buy?

[Hansel]

Can't really speak for dealers, but i've had mine for sale for over a month now on autotrader/forums and get nothin but blind lowball offers (25k? Really?) from people who don't ask a thing about the car.
It surprises me to hear things about them not lasting long on dealer lots.

Do people just prefer the ease of buying from a dealer?
Personally, when i buy used i prefer private party as i feel if you have a problem car, its easier to dump as a trade in to a dealer than sell it.

[fongpi]

Originally Posted by Hansel

Personally, when i buy used i prefer private party as i feel if you have a problem car, its easier to dump as a trade in to a dealer than sell it.

I was thinking the same thing the other day. It seems less likely that someone would want to lie to a buyer than to just dump it anonymously at a dealer. Although used car lot salesmen are the WORST. No wonder people hate em.