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I'm from CA and did the private party deal...more (archive)
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Posted by '98M on February 12, 2001 at 01:08:46:

In Reply to: Buy from dealer or private party? posted by Brett on February 11, 2001 at 17:08:59:


You definitely get a better deal from a private party. A year ago I purchased a mint 98M3 with just over 20K miles for 32K. The local dealer wanted 36 for the same car (before sales tax!!!!). And yes, you must pay CA sales tax as well as reg fees when registering the car. Are CA used cars overpriced? No way! There is such a wide variety of used cars down here that it is the perfect place to shop. San Francisco is another matter, way overpriced, but SoCal is a great market. Just check the papers and boards like this everyday and you will come across some great deals. Is the CPO worth the extra $$? Mayber, maybe not, depends how well you take care of the car and whether or not you pay attention to it. As for getting a good price, go with your gut and the prices you see private parties advertising. I saw a '99M3 with 11,000 miles in excellent condition sell for 37K, last May! No way would I pay over 32K for a 98...unless you go to the stealer and he also offers you the CPO. But I've never been to a dealer who advertises a car with the sales tax included. Plus, dealers love "additional charges" ... Oh well, just my opinion!!

John


So I go down to a non-full circle CPO dealer and they have a 98 silver/grey M3 with 37k miles. The sticker on the car was $39.5K. The lowest I could get them down to is ~$36K. By the time you add in the doc/smog/license/tax, it's up to $41K.

Looking around on the boards and online selling sites, $36K seems a bit high relative to buying from a 3rd party. However, the dealer says their's comes with a CPO warranty of 6yr/100k and guarantees it has never been in an accident, etc.

Some questions:

1. Is it worth paying more to get the dealership warranty?
2. When buying from a 3rd party, what additional fees are there (in California)? DMV, smog, license, sales tax? If there are no sales taxes required, that could potentially be a $3k swing in price.
3. Kelley Blue Book is the only thing dealers will use whereas Edumund's seems to be a lot lower. What's the best way to get a fair market value of a used M3?




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