Signal-9

Black on Black 2003 C4S 996...

Carbon Wheel, Dash, Horseshoe, Switch panel..
Dual Tip Exhaust
Supple Leather
10,700 miles..
Bose High End system
Aluminum Trim
Aluminum Sills
Heated Seats
Flawless Condition
A few other things... List was $90,800..

I paid $72,500


Did I do ok?


Thanks....

Moogle

seeing as how you already made the deal, this isnt a great question to ask.

but, bad news for you:

FWIW my friend just bought a nearly identical car for 70 about a month ago.
(except his was grey/black w/ aluminum parts instead of carbon).

you could have done 65-68 especially in this market.

for high 70s to mid 80s you could have bought a new one depending on options / dealer desperation/relationship / time of month

Signal-9

well im asking because....

A) I wanna know if the dealer was straight up with me..

B) I can always take it back...

I suppose I should mention its certified.. if that makes a difference in prices these days..

Signal-9

I might add.. I looked at the new ones, and they are all in the high 80's to low 90's so Im not sure where you are shopping...

frayed

Sounds good to me. This board seems to be replete with lots of reports of killer deals that are hard to duplicate in real life when you are in the market, just like on the bimmer boards.

For the record, I paid 59k for a Speed Yellow/Black with carbon, painted seatbacks, painted console, Litronics, Bose, sport exhaust, sport seats and other assorted chit, with 30k on the clock. 72 doesn't seem unreasonable for a year newer car and with 20k less on the clock.

Could be wrong. I'm just happy I got my speed yellow C4S.

Signal-9

yup, im not looking to have gotten a killer deal , just an ok deal...

It seems that the carbon costs about $4k or so, and my wife was insisting on having that...

It seems like an average deal leaning towards good.. just wondering what others thought so I could gauge the BS level with this dealer in case I go back there for another car..

Moogle

As frayed said, i will concur that the deals that i was offered, and my friend recieved, were very '1 time' deals, with very special circumstances, and with dealers with which we had done ALOT of business in the past, so a VIP courtesey if you will.

you didn't get ripped off per say,

and for a certified car with that much extra options (which shouldn't have added 100% of original value to the price)

the penny pinching obsessive in me says you could have gotten it for 70 flat, but considering everything you've said, it isn't bad by any means, and you were in no way 'taken'.

Signal-9

thats good to know.. and all I really wanted to know..

I got the VIP deal like you were talking about with my car (E55), so I know what you are saying about those... Im hoping that we can get one of those with this same dealer down the road when the 997 TT's come out.. but right now, I just wanted what was fair.. (my wife was in a real rush to get it and very attached to this exact one...)

Moogle

i can understand the 'rush' and the anxiousness of getting a car, however,

take my advice, there are some expensive mistakes to be made.

but i'm sure you know all that so i won't bore you,

when you said your wife was in a 'real rush' that surprised me.

buying a car is not buying shampoo or toothpaste, you have to live with it longer than a few weeks

frayed

I dunno man. At its core, buying a car is hugely emotional, and irrational.

I have an deposit down on an Elise. It's been there for nearly a year. Now, with its imminent arrival, I will likely bail, and take the $2k deposit and buy some BlInG for the Pcar. Lotus gave me too much time to talk myself out of it.

A Porsche ain't no Accord, and emotion goes a long way on such purchases. I suppose if you are on your 2nd, 3rd, or xx high end sports car, you can divorce yourself from the process, but I sure could not.

Moogle

frayed, as you so eloquently put it, i have indeed 'divorced myself' from the process (much to the happiness of high -end sportscar salesmen in the Tri-State Area NY.NJ.CT )

with my Boxster, it was a long courtship process with the salesman, which involved him switching to a job at another dealer and keeping in touch with me., then i shopped around, went to dealer lots, read alot of boards, etc

with my last aquisition, it was a 4 day process,

July 3rd 2004, sunday: really hot/humid day and my mercedes was an OVEN without AC - decided i needed a car to replace it.

monday: car research - decide which car i wanted (50~k was the price point)

tuesday: decided on m3 and did market research, car sales market, as well as aftermarket group discussions. that evening, called up dealers to cut the best deal "$3500 off MSRP" - was the best i could do, and was better than anything i'd heard of on 5~ BMW m3 boards.

wednesday: one blank day, dealer was not working, and i was also busy

thursday: all day at dealer signing documents, waiting for loan approval, drove the car home.

i am satisfied with my purchase and it is a good complimentry car to my forthcoming Turbo S Cabriolet.

when you are about to drop 180k on a car, buying something for 50k~ - with about 20k of trade in credit, ending up at 30k, just isnt as exciting and emotional as it should/would/could be.

even so, wednesday was torture .

god i love cars.

it's a tough bug to be bitten by.

sly

It's impossible to evaluate deals because they are so market specific. I deal with Valley Motors in Hunt Valley, MD. Late model 911s don't stay on their lot for more than a week. The longest I've seen a 911 stay on their lot was an '01 TT that took them a little over two weeks to sell. They were asking low $90s and got high $80s. In this kind of market, do you think significant discounts are likely?

$72K for an '03 C4S would be a very good deal in my area assuming the car was in great shape and not involved in an accident.

frayed

Werd. Very tough indeed.

sly

2003 Boxster S
2004 BMW M3 Coupe SMG2
2005 Turbo S Cabriolet (October 2004 Delivery)

Moogle: A new car every year? Wow, you are smitten by the car bug. I know how you feel. If I had the disposable income, I'd probably do the same thing.

Maxy

Moogle, please don't take offense. I always enjoy your posts, and appreciate your knowledge, but I'm just curious: you're *financing* the M3, and have a turbo S cab on order? You're obviously doing well (at least I hope you are); do you have some investment tips on how to get a return on your cash better than the rate on your M3 loan?

(I ask this, because, for me, I am, too, smitten by the car bug, but I only started into this level of car when I reached a point in my life, mid 40's, when the cost was a relatively insignificant issue, and after the house, kids' college, retirement, etc. were all vetted.)