[BMW_2014]

Saw this today on Lifehacker, thought it was interesting as the BMW 3-Series tops the list lol. For one thing, I definitely will not be trading in my 2017 BMW M3 after 1-year, I've fallen in love with her .




http://twocents.lifehacker.com/the-p...ium=socialflow

[Gibson6594]

My gut reaction to this is that people want the prestige without putting in the necessary consideration of the expense, only to realize it 6 months in.

[BMW_2014]

Originally Posted by Gibson6594

My gut reaction to this is that people want the prestige without putting in the necessary consideration of the expense, only to realize it 6 months in.

I would agree with that. I see it all the time... people want to live a life of luxury and are willing to outspend their means.

For me, I'm by no means rich, but I carefully weighed the pros and cons of obtaining an M3 as well as looked over my monthly finances in great detail. In the end, the M3 was well within my budget and was my dream car so it was an easy decision.

On the flip side, some people just like to have new cars every year and have the means to do it.

[SteveC]

If they're like me, they just go in to get their car serviced or their tyres changed and come out with a new car.

[Viffermike]

Two thoughts about this:

1). Since so many BMW dealerships run a fleet of 3 Series/4 Series/5 Series/X3s as loaner cars, would dealerships that turn these around to sell as used cars account for a good percentage of this?

2). When did the BMW maintenance plan become nontransferable to a second owner? I think it was in 2015, but I don't remember for certain ... if it was, that could account for some of this as well ...

[///3dkn]

I highly doubt these are ///M cars..

[Maynard]

This needs the extra info of what they were traded in on, or if they were lease repos. On the surface it implies that they were offputting enough to make people ditch them early, but I doubt that is true for the BMWs (even for high costs, would expect that to hit in later years - year one is mostly just putting gas in them). Some may be moving upmarket (BMW does a lot of promos to introduce you to new models) but I'm also suspecting this may include those cars that they 'sell' to themselves to boost sales #'s (and the fleet cars Viffermike noted above).

[NickyC]

I'd say people fall into the hype of these cars, then get in them and realize they're grossly overpriced for what you get.

[BimmerMat135]

Something BMW shouldn't be too proud of! As dealers have so many demos I guess it doesn't help stats.

[semclane]

Another factor may be people who want the aura of driving a BMW but cheap out and get a 320 or a 528/30 and then find they aren't so special after all.

[IndotagSwizz]

so..."two cents life hack hacker.com" and "iseecars.com" are the new authority when it comes to car info...got it!

[MightyMouseTech]

Ya, wonder how many of those are dealer demos and loaners.

At our dealer we usually have 6 or 7 ILX that were loaner cars that we sell as used, every year.

[zx10guy]

My 135i was sold to me as a dealer demo with 24 miles on the odometer. It was just punched in as a demo so I got lucky. The car went through the whole transaction as a new car even with registration with my state. I got all the perks of a non demo new car such as the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty and the included maintenance. But because my car was punched as a demo, I also got the benefit of having the warranty extended by I think 5 months and 5000 miles beyond the factory standard limit.

So I doubt those numbers are for any dealer demos.

[yousefnjr]

Ha. Right, because BMW is the only brand that has loaners & demos

[PeterKBMW]

A significant amount of those numbers are swayed by retired service loaners that are sold. When a car is put into loaner fleet, it is registered to the dealership. When the dealership sells the car, the purchaser is actually shown on carfax as the 2nd owner. thus the results seen here.

[Ric in RVA]

A big part of this is likely BMW's bid to keep/ retake the number one luxury spot.

So the dealers are forced to register to count as sold.....and then they get resold to customers as used.

Funny the games we play when you have numbers to hit.

I got a set of wheels for my 5 since the service manager had a number to hit in wheel and tire sets sold.

So they loaded up their fleet cars with fancy wheels and tires to meet the numbers and sold all the OEM original wheels and tires.

I got a set of 1 inch bigger wheels and some NICE tires for $400 with TPMS.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by PeterKBMW

A significant amount of those numbers are swayed by retired service loaners that are sold. When a car is put into loaner fleet, it is registered to the dealership. When the dealership sells the car, the purchaser is actually shown on carfax as the 2nd owner. thus the results seen here.

That's my thought as well. There's a big difference between a demo and a loaner -- a demo can still be sold as a new car if it's got low-enough miles, and IIRC it does not necessarily have to be registered if it never leaves the dealership without a dealership rep in possession of it. Loaner sales would explain the specific BMW models on this list to a T, as well.

I'm willing to bet that broken leases are part of this, too -- but remember that this is a percentage of specific model sales. BMW sells far fewer 3 Series than, say, Chrysler sells 200s or Nissan sells Versas.

Bottom line: This is a typical list posted as click-bait by an editor/blogger/doofus without a proper understanding of the context of the statistics used.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by PeterKBMW

A significant amount of those numbers are swayed by retired service loaners that are sold. When a car is put into loaner fleet, it is registered to the dealership. When the dealership sells the car, the purchaser is actually shown on carfax as the 2nd owner. thus the results seen here.

If this were the case, then I'd expect the top car to a Chevy Cruze or Toyota Camry, Hyundai Elantra, which are the top 3 three rental cars in the US.

[Ali Shiralian]

Originally Posted by SteveC

If they're like me, they just go in to get their car serviced or their tyres changed and come out with a new car.

Lol, it did happen to me once. Wife was pretty annoyed...

[Maynard]

Better a new car than coming home w/ a new girlfriend (but don't try that line w/ the wife).

[jpdchicago]

I did sell my M3 after a year so I guess I fall in that category...

[3GFX]

Potentially questions financing practices?