BMW Dealers Charging up to $100k for M3 Coupe
Dealer markups on hot new cars is nothing new, but that doesn’t make it acceptable. The most recent example is the new BMW M3 Coupe. Dragtimes.com has some images of a car sitting on the show floor with a $30k dealer markup billed as a dealer market adjustment. Wow.
Of course the M3 drives well and has all the bells and whistles you’d expect in a Bavarian rocket, but $100,000 would buy two well equipped 335i coupes. We don’t know if the M3 is twice as much fun as a 335i, but we are certain a few suckers will pay the price to be in the first wave of new M3 owners.
+ Dragtimes.com: 2008 BMW M3 Coupes arriving at US dealers, priced at $100k+! (via Autoblog)
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Comments
hwyhobo
It's a free market. Fair price is what someone is willing to pay for it. What may seem insane to me, may be perfectly acceptable to someone else.
Kal
Doesn't $100k buy an M5 and a nice down payment on a Porsche Cayman these days?
Christopher
I don't have a problem with dealer markups. Like Hobo, I'm fine with the market setting the price. Still, I'd have trouble respecting anyone so hot to have the "latest/greatest" that they're willing to suffer $30K in depreciation, as the markups won't last. It's not being produced as a limited volume car, so BMW will make enough to eventually satisfy all the demand.
chris
Not suprised, higher then I thought though.
FLASHPOINT
So how do bragging rights go? "Hey, look at me! Look at my car! And I only paid $30,000 over list!"
The Stig
Guess they figure they can since that boatload of M3's got all banged up on the way over a little while back. But for $100k there are SO many other interesting cars to get. Especially when you look at the prodcution numbers of the last gen M3, (over 30k if memory serves) it's not like it'll be a super limited edition.
c4v3man
Let the free market work, however I would have more respect for BMW if they exerted a little more control over their dealerships. Still, I guess it's better than having a guy buy the car simply to resell it privately for $100,000.
Seeing the M3 listed so high would convince me to look at other brands for my second car as well, feeling I may get taken on that new SUV I was looking to get and swing by the Porsche dealership. Note that this is hypothetical, as I can't (afford to) look at BMW's right now.
Mena
I would be shopping at Porsche too for $100k.
Cicero
I am with Mena on this one, for $100, I want a Porsche or something
mo
i would get a viper. real wild animal, not some old man car (prosche).
Jonathan Fung
Well, I this isn't really a case of the market setting the price. If that were the case, the typical price would be up there near 100k. This is just one individual dealer which probably has a local monopoly and is price discriminating, knowing that someone will be willing to pay 100k for an M3. (I suspect this dealer is somewhere in SoCal.) In my opinion, smart dealer, dumb buyer...just go to another dealer with an M3, and pay much less markup. I hear Oregon is a nice place for minimal dealer markup.
Rich
A free marketplace will always allow someone to test for more applicants for the "more money than brains" club.
Ducati Minor
An Audi RS4 please.
Jeff
Anyone that pays that much over list deserves the depreciation hit. But then, they likely have enough money that they also won't care about the depreciation hit.