Optimum BMW sell and upgrade time?

kirkster

kirkster

kirkster

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Not sure this belongs in the general BMW thread because it could apply to any premium car I suppose so I started a new thread

I bought my fabulous 530d F11 MSport end of January - 14 months old and has got the remainder of the BMW AUW and a service pack on it. I paid £31k for it. Smashing car, toyed up to the hilt and has now got 17k miles now on it.

Not that I am thinking of flogging it yet but when is the financially optimum time to trade in for a newer one do you think? I was thinking at expiry of the AUW in Sept 2016. I reckon it will have dropped to a part-chop value of about £22k-ish by then - i.e. 9-10k depreciation and running costs (largely covered by my employer's monthly allowance they pay me and govt rebate). I expect to have have done about 40 - 45k miles by then.

I'd trade into another AUC BMW, I love them.

What are your thoughts please guys? I would finance this with cash and owe no money on existing car. Do you think trading it in then is a good idea or should I run it longer with a BMW extended warranty (something I would be quite happy to do since the car is superb!).

Thanks!
 
Keep it until a next generation 5 Series is available in your budget, so probably 3 to 5 years. An upgrade before then won't bring many real advantages.
 
kirkster said:
Not that I am thinking of flogging it yet but when is the financially optimum time to trade in for a newer one do you think?
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I don't think there is such a thing. Averaged out over a period of time the depreciation on a new car is always going to out weigh the maintenance on an older one.

So that leaves you with the more likely scenario of you just wanting something new in which case look at Fox's reply.
 
The optimum time for you will be when your employers t's & c's deem the car to no longer meet their requirements. The longer you can hold onto the car, the less you will lose overall, as depreciation slows as the vehicle ages.

Presumably it's a September 13 car? So your looking at the value after 3 years and 45k. At 6 years and 90k the cheapest 530d MSport on AT is around £14k (So £8k for the next 3 years). Then around £8k at 9 years (another £6k for the next 3 years). So it keeps depreciating slower the longer you keep it. So optimum is to keep it as long as you can.

Of course, if you just want a new car, then do it whenever you feel you can afford to.
 
lordrobs said:
I don't think there is such a thing. Averaged out over a period of time the depreciation on a new car is always going to out weigh the maintenance on an older one.

So that leaves you with the more likely scenario of you just wanting something new in which case look at Fox's reply.
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My well calculated man maths on buying my new fiesta ST to replace my old 2006 Octy VRS and keeping it for 5 years says otherwise :p
 
Thanks for your thoughts guys, makes a lot of sense what you all say.

Yes xs2man, it is a Sept 2013, one of the first LCI's. What are you thinking of doing with yours? I may take the extended warranty when the AUC warranty expires and keep it going then for another couple of years and keep pocketing the allowance!

What's the long term reliability like of these cars, 5,6,7 years down the line? How is the Chris Bangle designed 5 series doing for reliability?
 
You don't have AUC warranty on that car - just new car warranty (Which is better than AUC anyway).

I see absolutely no reason to change it unless it's missing a feature you really want, or if you'd much prefer a different engine variant of something.
 
As Fox states, it's still on new car warranty which is better anyway.

I will keep mine now. I did think of chopping it for a wee while to save some funds, but it's not really viable at the moment. So I'd only consider chopping it for the next upgrade. But since, short of a new Range Rover or RRS, there is nothing else out there that I see as a better all round car, then I might as well stay put just now.

Mine is a November '13 car, and when the warranty runs out, I'll just extend it with the comprehensive package. That'll keep me going until I decide to get rid, or BMW have had enough of my 100k+ mile warranty claims (if I do indeed keep it that long).

Reliability shouldn't really matter a jot so long as you keep on the warranty, which you should easily be under the 60k mile threshold for, so I wouldn't personally be overly concerned about it.
 
There is nothing realistic I would rather drive than an F10 5 Series, all I would change mine for would be another F10 5 Series with perhaps better spec or a nicer engine :D
 
[TW]Fox;27876461 said:
There is nothing realistic I would rather drive than an F10 5 Series, all I would change mine for would be another F10 5 Series with perhaps better spec or a nicer engine :D
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6 series not practical enough?
 
alx said:
6 series not practical enough?
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I do love the 6 but oddly I prefer the styling of the 5 and the issue with the 6 is they are so much more expensive new that by the time they depreciate into the sort of money I'm happy to spend on cars they are fairly old.
 
[TW]Fox;27876611 said:
I do love the 6 but oddly I prefer the styling of the 5 and the issue with the 6 is they are so much more expensive new that by the time they depreciate into the sort of money I'm happy to spend on cars they are fairly old.
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Can't really argue from a cost perspective!
 
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