BMW CPO Value?

Driver8 · #1 07-17-2007, 05:22 PM

Hi guys - I have a chance to sell my wife's 2003 325i. It just turned over 51k and has a BMW CPO warranty through 03/2009 and 100k.

To get an idea of its worth, I checked out the NADA and KBB websites and added up all the equipment and options and realized that there's no add for an OEM CPO warranty. Interesting.

For a private party sale, wouldn't there be some value to the potential buyer to have the peace of mind a CPO warranty would add? It's been my experience that the CPO certification adds $2,000-$2,500 to the retail price of a used BMW, but I don't know what the actual wholesale cost would be. Also, the value could be assumed to diminish over time based on mileage or the number of months remaining.

Bottom line - I think that the CPO might be worth $500-$1000 over the private party value.

Anyone have any experience with pricing something like this? I sure appreciate any advice or thoughts you can offer!

Thanks - Mike

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B-Line · #2 07-17-2007, 06:12 PM

Hey Mike,

Take KBB and Nada with a grain of salt. If you try to sell your car at private party value, KBB, it's probably going to sit for a long, long, long, long time.. Until you reduce the price.

If you try to trade in the vehicle, you are going to get $1500-$2000 south of trade in value.. So for all general purposes, you should consider the cars private value to be, somewhere around $500 or $1000 north of "TRADE IN VALUE".. Because that's where the price will probably need to be for you to move it.. Remember, there are many more cars for sale, then buyers.

-- So, with a CPO.. I would not use it to jack up the price at all. Rather, I would use it to support the price you are asking. It's a bonus for the buyer.. But don't excpet to see any cash value from it, other than making the sale easier.

B

Wagner · #3 07-17-2007, 06:41 PM

It is very subjective in most cases. Most used car buyers, especially for your higher end models, will put a lot of value in a CPO warranty. Mainly because it offers piece of mind that this over-priced (sorry they are) used BMW will not cost them down the road.

vegasX5 · #4 07-17-2007, 06:53 PM

I personally think the CPO a great selling point/deal closer, but not necessarily a reason to increase the price (from a private party standpoint).

The way I value cars usually works pretty accurately:
define the main characteristics that are most relevant to the car (year, engine, mileage, transmission, major options - nav, sport package, color, moonroof, htd seats, etc -, and mileage range 10k +/-). Then I run an Edmunds TMV (very accurate), and KBB private party (so so accurate), NADA (closer than KBB). Then I do a nationwide search for the very specific criteria of all the options for the car listed above on autotrader and cars.com. Then I look at ebay motors to see what the car is actually selling for and how many bids it received. I take all of the numbers and do a mean/median and find a few cars in my city to compare it to, to see how relevant that number is. If the local number is higher, the car is priced well and should sell fast. If it's lower, then I lower the price to be right in the middle of what's local.

I never want a car to sit and just wait for it to sell - there's carrying costs, insurance costs, opportunity costs, hassle, etc. I like to price a car well to sell quickly but not sell for less than I would get on a trade in also considering the tax credit tradeoff. Good luck!

Driver8 · #5 07-17-2007, 09:45 PM

Good stuff, guys! Thanks for the info. Anyone else?

Mike

motordavid · #6 07-18-2007, 12:04 PM

All good points above...that CPO coverage may be a
selling feature that would sway a private buyer over a
like car w/o CPO, but I agree that it will be difficult to
"add" much to your "for sale" price because of it.

So, Mike...what are you getting theCEO?
GL,mD

Driver8 · #7 07-18-2007, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motordavid

So, Mike...what are you getting theCEO?
GL,mD

Hehehe...sometimes I feel like a MiniSanguru without the rapier wit and none of the prancing horses

I'm planning to put her into either a new E90 335i or a CPO 330i, depending on how it all works out. I'm leaning toward a Sparkling Graphite 330i. I have some reservations about the 335i's high oil temp issues. I'll keep you posted.

(BTW, MD, sorry to be so scarce. Did I ever mention how much I love my job? It's a good thing, because I'm getting a lot of chances to love it based on the amount of time I'm spending with it.)

asawadude · #8 07-18-2007, 05:02 PM

The E90 330i is a great car in its own right, and I would whole heartedly recommend it especially for the CPO warranty, but it pales in comparison to a 335i. If have your wife test drive the 330i before driving the 335i. Test drive the 330i on the freeway or open road to get a sense of how it performs over 3000 RPM. At speed, it is a fine performer, but from stoplight to stoplight it lacks the whoopee factor that the 335i possesses.

The E90 330i resale value might be a little soft because of the 335i's popularity which may work to the your advantage when negotiating a price. The CPO price of E90 330i's is typically a function of how much the dealer paid to take in the vehicle but from what I've seen the prices are fairly low compared to other CPO BMW's. And they do sell very quickly.

motordavid · #9 07-18-2007, 06:44 PM

M,
Nice ride(s), in line for theCEO!

Sounds like the Whipping Post is got a hold of you...
keep your chin up and come around more often!
GL,mD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Driver8

Hehehe...sometimes I feel like a MiniSanguru without the rapier wit and none of the prancing horses

I'm planning to put her into either a new E90 335i or a CPO 330i, depending on how it all works out. I'm leaning toward a Sparkling Graphite 330i. I have some reservations about the 335i's high oil temp issues. I'll keep you posted.

(BTW, MD, sorry to be so scarce. Did I ever mention how much I love my job? It's a good thing, because I'm getting a lot of chances to love it based on the amount of time I'm spending with it.)

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