[sumeet007]

I plan to test drive it once the owner agrees to my offer.

I did see that this particular, exclusive luxury car dealer is very, very selective in screening and choosing cars for display in his show room.

But unless a deal is agreed upon, TD is not possible, and if BMW detailed diagnostics brings up some issues in past or present or fore seeable future, either the deal is called off, or owner agrees to pay for the corrective repair/ replacement.

From Car wale used car valuation I thought 38L is a fair offer for this car, provided car is clean as claimed. He has given a offer of 41.5L presently and I am waiting for a revised offer, if any.

[sumeet007]

Quick update on this car (X3, 2013, 43 K mileage), is that the dealer now called and agreed for the price I had offered (38L).

I was pretty excited as the car was in good shape in a short TD, and I expected to close the deal after detailed check and clearance at BMW.

The car RC showed that it was manufactured in Jan 2013 and registered in April 13, which is fine.

I took the VIN number and made a cross check before paying the advance, and to my surprise it shows the manufacturing date as sept., 2011!!

Even dealer is surprised and unable to explain the discrepancy.

So back to square one, and waiting.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by sumeet007

I took the VIN number and made a cross check before paying the advance, and to my surprise it shows the manufacturing date as sept., 2011!!

Even dealer is surprised and unable to explain the discrepancy.

So back to square one, and waiting.

It is a common practice at many BMW dealers. They change the manufacturing year and month on the RC. Not sure how they can do that but seems like it has to do something with the kit being manufactured in Europe and shipped to India and the VIN shows kit manufacturing date and not the assembly.
At least that's what I was told by my dealer.

38L for a 2011 X3 43k; not worth it. Good decision of walking away.

Instead, you might be able to squeeze a better deal for a new X3. I would say try Mumbai dealers, both of them made better offers to me than Pune dealer for a 3 series. Getting the car from Mumbai to Bangalore will be a task but then if it saves money then why not.

[sumeet007]

The discrepancy may be explanied by the different dates kits made in Germany or US as in case of X3, and the actual date of assembly in India.

Even with that, this is the facelifted, model of 2012, which became available I think in later half of 2012, so 2011 date does not make any sense.

Regarding the discounts, few of my friends could get 11L off OTR quoted price from local dealer itself last week, which matched the price of Mumbai dealer, how ever for X3 the discount offered even with sustained negotiations does not exceed 5 L.

Even the mumbai dealers don't give better discounts for X3 and GT, as they claim support for the same is not available from BMW itself.

If you don't mind can you share the discounts offered to you on X3 Xdrive 20D?
If it is significantly less, I don't mind shipping it from Mumbai!

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by sumeet007

The discrepancy may be explanied by the different dates kits made in Germany or US as in case of X3, and the actual date of assembly in India.

Even with that, this is the facelifted, model of 2012, which became available I think in later half of 2012, so 2011 date does not make any sense.

Regarding the discounts, few of my friends could get 11L off OTR quoted price from local dealer itself last week, which matched the price of Mumbai dealer, how ever for X3 the discount offered even with sustained negotiations does not exceed 5 L.

Even the mumbai dealers don't give better discounts for X3 and GT, as they claim support for the same is not available from BMW itself.

If you don't mind can you share the discounts offered to you on X3 Xdrive 20D?
If it is significantly less, I don't mind shipping it from Mumbai!

The X3 was very much available in 2011, when I bought my 320d. It was launched just a few months before as the 2012 model.

Like I said, 30d's weren't flying off shelves so its very possible this car could have been sold a year later at a discount to the first owner.

If the condition seems great then try and bargain a bit more and pick it up. But does this X3 have BSI or warranty? If it does you can extend the warranty up to 6 years and BSI up to 10, so no headaches.

As for new - 30d M sports are sold out for the next few months till production commences again. On X3 20ds you can get almost 8l off in Mumbai. On the 3GT too you can get about 7.5l off here. I know because I was helping a few friends pick up cars.

[sumeet007]

Thanks Akshay for your insightful and detailed reply as usual.

Until recently I had assumed that the date of registration was the one to see, while buying preowned cars, but thanks to TeamBHP, became aware of importance of manufacturing date, as the one which counts for when one tries to sell the car in pre owned market.

I am awaiting the response of the dealer who too was surprised at the discrepancy, which essentially makes it a 5 year car from year of manufacture, as '15 is ending soon!

As you rightly said I will use this to negotiate further for a more fair price, if not, wait for another one.

Wonder how Mumbai dealers are able to give higher discounts over their show room prices which is any way already less than Bangalore ex show room prices.

[aravindrn]

Could you register the car yourselves in Bangalore, if you buy it from Mumbai? What about the VAT difference between Karnataka and Maharashtra?

Cheers,
Aravind

[Santoshbhat]

Originally Posted by aravindrn

Could you register the car yourselves in Bangalore, if you buy it from Mumbai? What about the VAT difference between Karnataka and Maharashtra?

Cheers,
Aravind

As an individual I guess one can buy commodities outside state and then transport it to Karnataka as it would be a personal article then not representing 'sale'. The problem will arise for Businesses + VAT assessees, who would like to show it in their books of accounts for claiming depreciation benefits. Once the VAT authorities see it in the books of accounts they will ask whether KVAT has been paid, entry tax has been paid etc... So for businesses its not an option to buy oustide state, I suppose.

[aravindrn]

Thanks Santosh. Bangalore dealers prima facie are not offering this kind of discounts.

[sumeet007]

When a couple of my friends enquired with mumbai dealers as to the cost implications, we were told VAT+Transport cost in flat bed truck+ registration in Karnataka RTO, was still coming to less than the OTR price from Bangalore dealer, for 3 series, but finally not by much, as the local dealer nearly matched that price, which was a good deal finally.

How ever this may be applicable to 3 series only as they seem to have and want to dispose excess stocks before the face lifted is releases early next year.

[kvsingh13]

Umm I might be totally wrong here, but why not look at Range Rover Evoque? A good luxury SUV within your budget with ample power. Its availability might be an issue but no harm in including it in the search.

[sumeet007]

Originally Posted by kvsingh13

Umm I might be totally wrong here, but why not look at Range Rover Evoque? A good luxury SUV within your budget with ample power. Its availability might be an issue but no harm in including it in the search.

You are right, and I am open to looking at 2 or 3 year old Evoques, but what the dealer told me is that those owners (2 years or more), had bought at a high price, while the present new cars (stripped down and CKDs), are much cheaper, and while the older car owners are reluctant to come down significantly in prices, the buyers see little advantage in paying high asking price as the new ones are not that much more expensive to justify buying old.

[kvsingh13]

Originally Posted by sumeet007

You are right, and I am open to looking at 2 or 3 year old Evoques, but what the dealer told me is that those owners (2 years or more), had bought at a high price, while the present new cars (stripped down and CKDs), are much cheaper, and while the older car owners are reluctant to come down significantly in prices, the buyers see little advantage in paying high asking price as the new ones are not that much more expensive to justify buying old.

Yes, thats true, I just checked. The on road price for a new Evoque Pure Model is 58 lakhs while a 2012 Evoque is selling for the same price.

Can start considering 5 series again. Some good deals I see.

[stanjohn123]

Hi guy's, been a long time. Hope all are doing fine.

This is on behalf of my sister who is planning to buy the Q5 premium Plus or the Range Rover Evoque.

The thing is Audi is providing huge discount to the tune of 8 Lakhs for the Q5 which seems very tempting but the issue is, the car is coming from Chennai and it's a 2015 model. So I'm doubtful about the huge discount , maybe it's because it's been affected by the floods.

I haven't got the quote for the Evoque yet but even this car might come from Chennai, so I'm little worried about this too. Although I insisted on the Evoque model they are bringing the discovery sport model for the test drive on tuesday , do they have any similarity at all ?

I just have 3 main questions

1) How do I know if a brand new car was submerged under water or not ?

2) Were JLR and Audi stockyards in Chennai safe during the floods ?

3) How much different is the Discovery sport to the Evoque ?

I know I haven't posted about my ICE build yet, will do it hopefully by next week.

[Naman_Ferrari]

Hello,

If you are unsure about whether or not the cars are flood affected, i suggest that you stay away and insist on a car thats not been there during the floods.

The Discovery Sport and Evoque are different cars. Some basic things may be the same but don't base your decision on that test-drive.

You can also look at the X3.

Hope this helps