Funny story regarding my 540's "value"

[rnrn]

So I open the mail yesterday and it's a letter from a local BMW dealer stating that they are in need of several e34s to fill their buyer demand and are willing to pay top dollar. Well, I can't let this go by without learning just how much my 540 with a 20K old Alusil, Sachs kit, 4 brand new rotors + pads, new front end, rebuilt trans last summer, EAT, style 19s, snows with 5K on them, and service history since birth. I must not take good care of her b/c she's only worth $4500.

I left laughing my ass off and had to call Brandon J to share the story. Have a great day...

[632 Regal]

wonder how much they would turn it over for?

[bahnstormer]

prolly ask 7 and let it go for 6ish
=\

[ryan roopnarine]

why the hell would they be soliciting for cars that are only worth, to them 4500$? they probably need them as a bulwark against the ugly @ss bangle-mobiles that nobody wants to buy....probably turning the v8s out for $8k on their end.

[Johntee540]

This is an old marketing trick to get you in the showroom. They know you have an older BMW. They know they need to sell those awful new 5's. Who else to go after but someone driving a 10 year old car? That is how their marketing departments think and why you were targeted. They gave you wholesale value for your car which will be immediately auctioned the next day should you bite on the deal.

Toyota used to do this with the "Tell us your 100k Miles Story" add campaign. It was an attempt to identify owners that "HAdnt been in the showroom for a while" and market to them. It was brilliant. I sent them my 200k story. They sent me marketing material out the wazoo to come in and look at the new Landcruisers versus keeping my old one....... JT

[emw525E34]

Agree with John on this. The dealer pulled the same stunt here.

So a group of club members did some test drives of the ulgy E60 5er and the X3. Both cars did not impress and for the prices they wanted for those, imagine how much more pleasure we could get if we throw in some money to upgrade our E34 in parts rather than switching cars. To many, it does not make sense to switch, even if sticker prices on the new ones are attractive (in our case it was not, it does not matter either). And the salesman has no clue why ?., Duh....

[Mobius]

This is an old marketing trick to get you in the showroom. They know you have an older BMW. They know they need to sell those awful new 5's. Who else to go after but someone driving a 10 year old car?

Totally. My family has recieved countless letters just like this. The best one was back when gas had just surged past $2/gal for the first time:

We would like to inform you that your 1993 GMC Suburban 3500 is in very high demand at the moment...blahblahblah

The bold part was actually bold in the letter. Could they go to more effort to make it look more like a damn form letter?!

Yeah. They don't give a **** about your car. It's a scam.

[Beez540]

An auto dealer will NEVER contact you for any reason other than the intention to sell you a new car. period. Regardless of what the mailer may say.