840Ci - VRT query

That's just the hugely flawed system I'm afraid. As long as the Revenue's way of calculating OMSP is non-transparent, then you will get these anomolies. In this instance buying the '97 is a no brainer (assuming the same credentials as the '98).

With the 8 series buy solely on condition & history anyhow.

Sorry but I cant see how you would get 21tsd for an 98 840Ci I know lads who try selling M cars and don't get that money for them. 14tsd sounds ambitous but doable

Guess given the cars are equally good and the service history checks out go for the 97 one (except the year difference on the plate is worth the extra vrt for you)

Chris

Another such anomoly ive noticed lately is with E36 M3's. My 94 3.0 Convertible is still the same 1819euro it was last year, a 96 M3 Evo Convertible last October was just over 2200.... its not 1100... a 96 M3 Evo Coupe is just over 1000 euro as well while a 94 3.0 Coupe is 1819euro... Its crazy really. Just goes to show they pluck the figures out of the sky!

The cars I have seen are both around the £8k mark, and seem like good examples.  In terms of on the road cost here:

Given FX rate of €1 = 75p

8000/.75 = €10666 + 4154 (VRT) = €14820.

Cheapest '97 on carzone is €17950 although I expect you could probably get at least €1500 off without too much bother. 

But you'd still be better off bringing one in from across the water.

I always would look at UK cars for this type of vehicle as they are normaly better serviced, it's easier to verify history and buyer protection is better. Seeing the prices mentioned here however it might be worthwhile to check them might be a good one and getting some euros of might make it a bargain. However 8series are a financial nightmare if they proof to be a lemon eg they use edc shocks which are eyewatering to replace.

@ Dergside: I didn't base the statement about the M cars and their price on which car is better. (Remember when I was faced with that decision I went for a M540 6speed instead an M5) I believe that it's easier to sell an M as they have a broader following hence there are more potential buyers out there. I think that both 8 series or M3/5's are dificult to sell at the moment. I also think that an 840/850 is always the better buy second hand as their engines don't need 6k+ rpm to get them going and they get less trashing hence wear is less.

I consider carzone as a bit of a laugh as the prices there are sometimes a mile of what would be considered reasonable or archievable. Same aplies to pistonheads probably to do with cars are advertised there for free.

Chris

beemerchris wrote: I believe that it's easier to sell an M as they have a broader following hence there are more potential buyers out there.

You are probably right there Chris.  The point I was making was more that the audience for each probably doesn't significantly overlap, either when new or secondhand because they are such different beasts.  However, the smaller number of 8's for sale is probably broadly balanced with the smaller number of potential purchasers so from an economics point of view, supply and demand are reasonably balanced.  For that reason you'd expect there to be some differential in price between similar age and mileage M3's and 840's because the 8's cost about 50% more than the M3 when new.  The price differential is likely to be a good deal less than the 50% figure but it would be expected that a differential should still exist.

Re. asking prices on Carzone, you may be right but because the majority of the population buy from dealers, and Carzone has a very large representation among dealers then the prices probably repesent the typical retail prices (minus the usual haggle factor). 

Private sellers will often price their cars closer to the higher end of the asking prices than lower, even though it means that their cars are being compared with dealer standard cars with the backing that usually goes with that.  Irish people that do not buy from dealers want to have a fairly wide differential between what they will pay for a car privately compared to dealer prices (the gap between real dealer and private seller prices here is a lot wider than in the UK for example). 

Private sellers that over price their cars will usually be greeted by the sound of the phone not ringing and eventually drop their prices.  The most interesting thing about Carzone is watching the private sellers asking prices dropping over time and one final price drop will usually result in a quick sale because some potential buyers have been waiting for price to drop to a certain level. 

I did this when buying my 330Ci. It was initially priced at over euro19k and I noticed it but didn't look twice at it for that price and it sat there for a while.  Price dropped a couple of times by small amounts until the seller took a significant enough chunk off the price to catch my attention and a deal was done quickly.

Ballcock wrote: A cars mileage is one aspect that does not get enough consideration in OMSP calculations by Revenue.

That's a reasonable point Ballcock.  The example you quoted is an extreme example because of the level of mileage but it is true.  However, the flipside of this point is equally true and worth considering.  Low mileage values do not get hammered in the way that they really should so the best "value" is in low mileage examples for any given year.

For example, I bought a '98 e36 323i as an interim car for Mrs D after selling her 318Ci last year.  It had 48k miles (with history) and good spec and the VRT was pretty much the same as if the car had double the mileage so the landed price difference for me buying a specimen low miler over a higher mileage example was buttons.

People in this country buy down to a price when importing rather than buying up to a condition level.  Notice how many imports advertized have starship mileages (or at least should have).  People would rather buy a slightly newer high mileage car than an older low mileage one when importing but wouldn't touch a car with such a mileage if buying in this country. 

Because I do a lot of mileage it suits me to buy low mileage slightly older cars and rack up the miles than to buy newer higher mileage cars.  When selling time comes the cars still have relatively low mileages but the end result to me is that I could run one of my cars for a year and afford to sell it for half what I paid and still cost less than a years depreciation on the newer example.  Generally though, because they are generally specimen cars at the start I do a lot better than that come resale time.

Wiseguy - sorry for going a little bit off topic on this!