[Robert]

What you are missing is market research. If you have lived in LA you won't be too surprised someone will be willing to dough out that amount of money to have the first BMW. Some dealers had 10-20k markup on M3s 1-2 years after the release.

Originally Posted by John 070

But most of us here try to get the car for a discount, i.e. nobody on this forum would pay 70.
Again, you have to be able to do, not say. Everything is easier said than done; selling a new E93 for 70k is the same.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by bobbo

What you are missing is market research. If you have lived in LA you won't be too surprised someone will be willing to dough out that amount of money to have the first BMW. Some dealers had 10-20k markup on M3s 1-2 years after the release.

I hear you. My aunt bought the E46 M3 when it first came out (lubrication problems = new motor under warranty), and she was in norCal, and paid over list.

I guess our coasts are different--here in the East you can basically be up-front and show that you did your homework. My CA wanted list for the 335 coupe. After the weekend, I told her I had shopped 5 dealers in NYC/NJ, not one of them wanted list (back in Oct.), and one said $1700 discount. So they matched.

To not care about 10 grand, you have to be super rich. Told this forum before, one of my friends is a radiologist as is his wife, so they have dual MD incomes. The husband bought a USED Z3. (Why not M, why not Z4? Their household income is easily well, check salary.com for a radiologist, you get the idea).

[viobruin]

I'm pretty surprised that the person who started this post is from California. Everyone in SoCal knows that Los Angeles/OC are "car" cities in that you see nice cars frequently. In fact, sometimes when I'm bored on the drive home, I will play the "30 second game" - i.e., it will be less than 30 seconds before I see a model year 2000 or above BMW (85% of the time, I will see one before the 30 seconds have elapsed). Or here's another story: my gf from college had no idea how expensive Porsches were. Although she knew they were upper-end cars, she thought they must've cost around the same as a 3 series BMW because she saw Porsches so often.

The point is, many people in SoCal place high value in the social status of owning "exclusive" cars and, more importantly, have the money to be able to buy one, markup or not.

[canucklion]

Different priorities for different folks, just because one is well off, doesn't mean one's gotta go out and buy fancy cars.

A owner of a privately owned pharmaceutical company drives a sebring, and his networth is over 2.5 billion dollars, yes, that b as in billions.

Originally Posted by John 070

To not care about 10 grand, you have to be super rich. Told this forum before, one of my friends is a radiologist as is his wife, so they have dual MD incomes. The husband bought a USED Z3. (Why not M, why not Z4? Their household income is easily well, check salary.com for a radiologist, you get the idea).

[bobobeemer]

i have to say.. i'm an idiot myself. I bought a 2007 toyota FJ Cruiser last year in May coz I didn't want to wait, so i paid sticker. plus they made me buy the extended warranty... as an adendum. It was at the dealer lot and I didnt want to wait 3 months. But i love that SUV.. especially this week in NY with ice snow up to 4 inches.
Just ordered the 335i coupe back in feb, still waiting.
If I had the $$... I wouldn't want to wait either. But for $70K... I'll wait.

[Josh49]

Originally Posted by canucklion

Different priorities for different folks, just because one is well off, doesn't mean one's gotta go out and buy fancy cars.

A owner of a privately owned pharmaceutical company drives a sebring, and his networth is over 2.5 billion dollars, yes, that b as in billions.

Yep, agreed. But then you'll go to their houses and tell you how they spent millions on a painting. Or a ceramic bowl from 10,000 years ago. Weird, useless stuff to most of us. So yeah, different whatever floats your boat, you know..

[John 070]

Originally Posted by canucklion

Different priorities for different folks, just because one is well off, doesn't mean one's gotta go out and buy fancy cars.

A owner of a privately owned pharmaceutical company drives a sebring, and his networth is over 2.5 billion dollars, yes, that b as in billions.

Again, understood. Our CEO drives a Cadillac CTS-V, and until recently, the regular CTS. Before that, Volvo S80. But that is his company car.....he's got a BMW 12 cyl. in his stable (and I do mean stable). He belongs at the 7th best golf course in the US. His shore home is north of 3X what the houses run in my g/f's neighborhood, but there is a lot most don't know. He made a phone call and somehow my friend's son got into the most prestigious private hs in this area (he qualified, only there was a long wait-list ahead of him). Again, could he have a E93 and pay 70k for it, of course. Does he? No, he drives a GM product daily.

Only a certain individual would pay 70k for an E93. Someone who hasn't even got the time to shop-around. But would such a person look at craig's list?

[d3l0n]