Price premium for a CPO vs a non-CPO?

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misujerr

New member
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Mar 2, 2018
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Hi all, my first post here. This place has already been a great resource, thanks.
I've looking for a 2015 loaded REx. Mostly just going to dealers and looking at CPO's. Now I've noticed a couple at places that sell cars they bought at auction. Starting to sound sketchy already, right? But both places have better reviews than aaaany of the dealers around here. However, their prices are not much lower than the dealers. I figure that the CPO-ness must be worth something, right? So maybe I should say, how much of a discount would a non-CPO car bring?
Also, the non-dealers mention that warranty is transferable at some cost, while the dealers never said anything about it (yet.) Is that a thing?
Thanks!
 
Welcome to the forum
I don't know how much a BMW dealer pays for the CPO warranty (insurance) but I think it's around 1-2K
Having said that, I don't put much stock in CPO warranties. Read the fine print and see what the do and don't cover. I think the regular warranty is transferable without fee, but the CPO is not. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
IMO there's nothing inherently wrong with an auction car. If a dealer can't sell a car for whatever reason, he will send it to auction. Most i3's on used car lots come from auctions. As always, do your due diligence, whether it's an action car or CPO. Contact a BMW dealer with the VIN and ask if there are any red flags in the service history.

Edit: Check out this thread....http://www.mybmwi3.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4938
 
misujerr said:
Hi all, my first post here. This place has already been a great resource, thanks.
I've looking for a 2015 loaded REx. Mostly just going to dealers and looking at CPO's. Now I've noticed a couple at places that sell cars they bought at auction. Starting to sound sketchy already, right? But both places have better reviews than aaaany of the dealers around here. However, their prices are not much lower than the dealers. I figure that the CPO-ness must be worth something, right? So maybe I should say, how much of a discount would a non-CPO car bring?
Also, the non-dealers mention that warranty is transferable at some cost, while the dealers never said anything about it (yet.) Is that a thing?
Thanks!

I'm glad you asked this. At first, I thought this thread was going to be about private sales in which case, I would say that you should go with a CPO car. When I saw that 2015 i3 BEVS were going for as low as $16k, I didn't think I'd find that at a dealership. I figured to get that price, I'd be looking at Craigslist every minute to swipe something.

There is a lot of value in a CPO car. You get 1 extra year of warranty beyond the normal 4 year, so 5 years. The mileage for warranty is unlimited as opposed to a certain mileage, "whatever comes first". Maintenance coverage is questionable. I've had two different people at the same dealership tell me different things. One said I need to pay $700 to transfer the maintenance cover to me as the new owner. The other said I was already covered and to just bring the car in. With a CPO car, at least in the Bay Area, you get 14 days of a loaner car from anything from the dealer's fleet All has to happen in the first year and you have to park your i3 there at the dealer to pick up another one. This is BMW's answer for people who's only reason for not getting an i3 is b/c they don't want to miss out on a long drive vacation.

So if a CPO car is so great, why did I not get a CPO car? Let me explain the private dealers who are selling cars they bought at auctions. Firstly, the auction. This isn't a crummy type of auction you may be thinking. The bank owns these lease back vehicles. They hire an auction company to sell the cars all at once. They have a ton of inventory and it's just more efficient. The private dealers selling the cars they got from auctions out of warehouses is not typically a scam. If they know what they're doing, they're picking speciality vehicles. They're only getting the rare ones.

If you don't have a specific spec of a car that you're seeing at one of these dealers, yes, you'll be much better off at a manufacture's dealer (meaning BMW dealership) so you can get the CPO and all the benefits.

So why didn't I get mine as a CPO? I didn't think I'd be able to find my car anywhere else other than at a private dealer who specializes in luxury vehicles. The car I ended up with is a 2016 REX with Deka World. It was only produced from April - June of that year. But if I was able to get it as a CPO and I had to pay even $1,000 more, I'd probably do it.

You should only be shopping at those private dealers if they have THE specific car you want in their inventory. Otherwise, let the dealerships duke it out for your business. There are plenty of 2015 i3's to go around. Lease returns are coming back like crazy. This won't last that long, so if you're looking to get one of those, do it.

Do know what you're missing out on though and be okay with it. At the end of this year, BMW is supposed to release their 2nd version of a larger battery. 150-155mi range per charge. It'll probably still be 61k. If you're laughing at that like I am and are totally happy with the battery size of a 2015 being 40% or more off MSRP, get it.

By the way, check out this VIN: WBY1Z4C56EV276166 2014, 46k miles, all the packages with Giga World and was asking shy of $16k. That'll give you a benchmark. I'm not recommending a 2014 at all. I'd stay away from it, but for the sake of judging what price is good for the trim you want with whatever packages you're looking for, you want to know what you're NOT getting.
 
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