BMW Approved Used M5 Finance Options

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xsnv

xsnv

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Hi, was hoping to get some advice on a purchasing decision from people more knowledgable than me on these matters.

I was looking at purchasing 2nd hand either a CLS or S7 but have decided on an M5 from BMW. It's a bit more than I expected to spend so i've decided to buy it on finance till i have some free cash at the end of the year.

I'm essentially deciding between PCP or a vanilla Hire purchase. The value of the car is about £55,000 and I intend to make a £25,000 deposit. I need low monthly repayments to start with (so will likely go for a 5 year repayment period) but will likely be able to fully settle by the end of the year - or hopefully earlier.

1. What sort of APR's do you reckon I can push for given my requirements and which option would be better for early settlement?

2. The dealer is all the way in Aberdeen so i won't have a chance to inspect the car if I proceed. Has anyone bought from BMW approved used without inspecting the car? What do I need to watch out for and what recourse would I have if something wasn't quite right?

Thanks for the help.

D.
 
I should have thought you'd be offered a fairly naff interest rate on a used car. I would prepare to look elsewhere for your financing if that's something you need.

Every time I or somebody in the family buys an AUC (3 in the last 12 months!) it's at distance so I've quite a bit of experience in doing this now. Generally, if you are going to do it, be aware that:

a) The newer and lower mileage the car is with the least number of owners, the easier it is. This is simply because its statistically less likely to have been trashed by its previous owner

b) They will do semi-useful videos for you. You get an idea of whether its a good one or not. Also chat to the salesman and try and judge his attitude. Watch for the warning signs, if its 'good for a used car' or 'good for its age and mileage' or 'its a used car not a new car' this is normally salesman speak for 'not mint'.

Some of the dealers seem to be of the opinion that even though it's an AUC, because its second hand, it's fine to have scrapes, dents, marks, etc. So you'll need to go with gut feeling really. One told me if I wanted a car in perfect condition, I should order a new one. Instead, I bought a used one from somebody else.

Most important thing is be prepared to walk away and make sure the dealership knows that even after travelling often hundreds of miles, if it isn't what you expect, you WILL walk. Once they realise that they'll faff about prepping it and having you travel up only for you to walk once you noticed the fact it's tatty, you might get an admission before you go :p

One of the benefits of buying distance is that the entire process is very low-key. I have never had hard-sell on anything, no pushing to take finance, no pushing for extra products, no hard-sell on GAP, it's always turn up, pay, drive away, no hassle.

I've always been lucky so far but I've spotted numerous tatty looking cars on various dealer forecourts. Only the other day I saw a 3 Series with a completely scraped front bumper, on the lot, priced. I don't get it? Anyone sane will insist this is fixed as part of the sale so why do they have them on display looking so bad? I wouldn't want a car that's been treated like that and not repaired by its owner, tbh.

Keep a small contingency budget for fixing things which will annoy you that they don't mention. There WILL be the odd mark even if they say there isn't and it'll often be too small to be worth walking for. When we picked up my girlfriends Mini, described as 'like a new car inside and out, we could put it in the showroom and nobody would know' it turned out that fancy that, a huge chip out of the wingmirror. Not going to walk away for something that trivial but be prepared for stuff for that.
 
Thanks Fox. I'd expect about 11% APR for a 3 year loan from BMW. I'll have a chat with the bank on Monday.
 
Thats not a good rate either, look at a personal loan if you can, presumably if you are buying cars as high value as this your credit rating is sufficient for you to get the representative rate, Santander will loan up to £20k @ 4.5% for example.
 
11% is terrible. A good financier, depending on your status, should be able to get at worst 8% and I would want 2-3 points below that if possible.
 
Do you not have one hand tied behind your back though Fox if you phone ahead, ask loads of questions, travel a long way to see it, then negotiating a price is more difficult?
 
[TW]Fox;26320995 said:
Thats not a good rate either, look at a personal loan if you can, presumably if you are buying cars as high value as this your credit rating is sufficient for you to get the representative rate, Santander will loan up to £20k @ 4.5% for example.
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Yes, true but it is a company car so a personal loan wouldn't have been appropriate and it suits to have a three year deal structured that way without wanting to own at the end (just get another company car in whatever form). 7% is good for PCP though to be fair.
 
I would think with the discounts BMW are giving on these cars, circa 20K and the subsidised finance too that going new is a better bet that will give you the better finance rates.
 
Not a BMW but I purchased my wifes car from a dealer who was a few miles away from me.

I did the deal and negotiations over the phone and told them quite clearly that if I turned up and there was something on the car that hadn't been described then I'd be driving away.

The sales chap I dealt with was quite OK with that and went as far as saying if you find anything that he's not noticed they'll get it sorted before I collected the car.

Just make your expectations known to them and hopefully they'll not give you the run around.
 
My last purchase was a couple of hours away, had them swnd fairly detailed video, negotiated pre going, car was fairly described.
 
Housey said:
I would think with the discounts BMW are giving on these cars, circa 20K and the subsidised finance too that going new is a better bet that will give you the better finance rates.
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I agree your only a few K off new and the subsides interest rate will cover that difference.
 
J1nxy said:
I agree your only a few K off new and the subsides interest rate will cover that difference.
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Depends on the spec I guess?

Drive the Deal are offering a brand new, standard spec M5 for £58k. With an APR of 5.9%. Payments would probably work out similar than at the OP's projected 11%.

So I guess it depends on options. Is the car you're looking at heavy on the options list? And is it the exact spec you want?

I'd be tempted to see what you can do on a new one personally, since the figures are so close.

As for buying at distance. If you get the car sent to you, and it isn't as described, you have distance selling rules to back you up too. So you can simply reject the car. So the seller has a vested interest in making sure the car is tip top.
 
xs2man said:
Depends on the spec I guess?

Drive the Deal are offering a brand new, standard spec M5 for £58k. With an APR of 5.9%. Payments would probably work out similar than at the OP's projected 11%.
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And the improved residual value will help as well.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. The base price on these cars is quite misleading. I found a similar issue with the 640D - once specced up you're looking at about £15K in extras.

I plan to send a very detailed email stating all my reservations and conditions (including those concerning the exact condition of the car) to the dealer.

With regards finance i'll look at beating the rate down. Will meet with my bank manager tomorrow as well to consider personal loan options.

I didn't know the DSR applied to purchases as large as cars - especially when on finance. Does anyone have a link to the terms and conditions as they could apply in this case?
 
Couldn't link you to the actual regs, but I know a guy, from Aberdeen actually, bought an RS4 from down south, and had it delivered. There were a few issues with the car, and he used DSR to get them all fixed.
 
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