I'll never sell

Have you ever seen how many shoes a woman has in her closet?

Some people have more money than sense, and they buy a car to drive for two years, then buy another car. You and I buy our car and drive it until it simply can't gop anymore, but therer is a huge population out there that never pays a repair bill because they sell the car instead of buy new tires.

I had 216k on my '94 325 when it got totalled.

It drives better than new (because I now

You need to look at XM or Sirius. Now that's a radio experience you'll love!

And somewhere in the middle are people like me, who are quite happy with the car they have now, but who don't plan on keeping it "forever."

Personally, I think the best financial deal is to buy a 3 year old car off a lease with about $30K miles on, then sell it two years or so later. Rinse, lather, repeat.

It depends on the country (and tax rules, interest rates, depreciation etc) but there are circumstances where it makes sense under a leasing model to renew cars at quite frequent intervals, e.g. 2 years.

One of my acqaintances did just just. Swapped her 325 convertible for a 325 convertible...

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling

BMW employees who buy at a discount then sell after 6 months.

Unlikely - BMW gives the executives cars for 6 months, then sells them at auction. A few dealers are buyers of the pre-owned executive cars.

I know - I've bought 3 of them so far from the dealer. Wonderful cars.. all the bugs are gotten out by the BMW exec.

No way... by the time I get my cars the way I want them (well serviced and all the little things fixed) I'll be damned if I'm going to let it go for dealer trade-in value.

Put it this way... anytime you sell and buy a new car, you will lose money. The only thing in question is how much you will lose...

No, I'm sorry. It never makes sense to do that. As compared to buying the same thing over the same period perhaps it makes better sense to lease, but you are absolutely pouring money down the drain.

Yeah, I'll bet the BMW employee discount is just as big as GM, Ford and Chrysler's. It's so big they'll give it to any jamoke that walks in off the street.

He he... I like that. Used to tease a best friend once that he bought a new car because his battery went dead.

Besides the money for a new car, you have to break it in. To me that's kind of a pain. I don't feel comfortable until about 20K miles or so, and engine 'feels' good when reving, and (hopefully) doesn't use any oil. Then I've got a keeper. Even the tires wear perfectly even on my current car - sure that's a big part of the fantastic handling. I've never even had an alignment since the car was new - afraid they'll mess it up.

Geez... Sorry. This is now my greatest fear for my car - that someone will hit me. I really drive conservatively because of this whenever I'm in traffic - just find a hole, and try to ride with it. Out in the CA or Nev desert when I'm all alone, though, is when I open 'er up and have some fun.

Been thinking about this. But keep wondering if I'd listen enough to justify the cost

Frank

You're probably right. As you might surmise from my original post, I get too attached to my cars to be able to think in financial terms.

Frank

That's where I am now with my current car. Market value is probably $10K - to me, it could not be replaced for less than $40K, and I don't think I'd like all the electronics on anything new - definitely not throttle-by-wire, for example.

I do too, but I was at my dealers today and they have an '04 M3 sitting there that was just traded. Now *that* was tempting. Silver with silver leather. I didn't even ask the price. I just got of of there as soon as I could. ;-)

Glad you love your '97 328--keep lovin' it! I'll be you don't talk on the phone, drink coffee and drive at the same time--you sound like a serious driver ;-)

Yeah, some people do have to have "new stuff" all the time, but I'm with you. We sold our '95 325 with 120k on it only because we had two aging parents to haul around with walkers/wheelchairs and couldn't quite get the trunk closed with all the mobility devices in it. We did European delivery on a 325 wagon (had to order it anyway--5 speed) and sold the sedan when the wagon arrived. Some kid out east got an awesome 325 that was in great shape. I hope he appreciated it.

Euro delivery was great for us 'cause we were going to visit the Mum-in-Law in UK that summer anyway--fit right into our travel plans. If you buy new--look into it--way cool experience.

We are pretty pumped about the development of hybrids and the improvements in mileage but it's going to be a real dilemma trying to decide which of our cars we give up for the next generation of vehicle (a hybrid, not an suv). Which one will go--the '87 924S or the 2002 325 wagon? Only time will tell. It will be awhile.

Cheers! ie

PS. Okay, money no object, I might give our wagon up for a 5 series wagon if it were "tweaked". It would have to be money no object then 'cause the insurance premiums would kill me. ;-)

20-25% plus rediculously cheap finance. I know people who drive around in brand new X5s, 330's etc for six months and make a little bit of money out of it when they sell.

If money were no object, why give up either of them?

Must be a UK thing. The company just lets them drive the executive fleet cars for free here and then sells them used at the dealership.

I was just teasing about the "employee discount" marketing scheme that has been going on in the US this past summer. I'll bet it has not spread to the east of the Atlantic (yet?). All of the manufacturers were claiming they were providing everyone their "employee discount" as a promotion. Which had me wondering all along, doesn't that just mean they eliminated any employee discount they ever had?

Marketing people don't tend to be the sharpest tools in the shed... but I guess they are sharp enough to fool enough of the public.

I had an '87 924S. Best winter car I've ever driven. When I bought it (used), it came with a set of dedicated winter tires, and it would go anywhere, any time. Loved the sound of that engine, I just wish it had more power.

I miss German engineering. :-(

Bill G

Pardon my European hignorance, but I thought the cliche was "back east"...;-)

...and it should be "out west"...

Or?

DAS

For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling