# Ep.88- How I Got $8,000 Off on a Brand New BMW X3

## **TL;DR**

**This is a story about how I got $8,000 off of the MSRP on a brand new BMW.** The specific model has an MSRP of $50,495, and I bought it for $42,525 two years ago, a price cut of $7,970! For clarification, both the MSRP and the purchase price are pre-tax, which makes it a fair comparison.

## **BYE BYE - MY 2002 MUSTANG**

Ever since high school, I have had the same car for 12 years, a ‘02 Ford Mustang convertible. It’s been an awesome car and I loved it. However, it is no Honda. By 2017, after 15 years of companionship, it came to the point I decided not to invest more money into it, as expensive mechanical problems began to arise.

**As a result, I decided to buy a car to replace it.** After days of research online and in-person, I decided to buy a BMW X3. Initially, I wanted to buy a certified pre-owned one, but **in the end, I found a way to buy a brand new one even cheaper than a used one.**

## **WHY I BOUGHT, NOT LEASED**

**It is typically cheaper to buy than to lease if one keeps a vehicle for at least 5 years.** After that, the longer you keep it, the cheaper it becomes because you won’t have a monthly payment once you pay it off.

**I personally plan on keeping my car for at least 7 years, perhaps longer, largely because I know I can get an extended warranty on this car for up to 100k miles/7 years for about $700 through Geico’s extended warranty coverage.** In other words, for up to 7 years, I know I don’t need to spend much on expensive repairs.

Basically you can get a comprehensive extended warranty through Geico for $700 for 7 years compared to $3000 from the dealership. You just can’t beat it anywhere else. You can learn all the details in [Ep.83. Geico’s Extended Warranty is 80% Cheaper Compared to the Dealership.](/content/blog/geicombi/index.html)

## **A FAIR PRICE ON A BMW X3 IS BETWEEN $45K AND $46K**

I knew I wanted a BMW X3 with a specific feature called [head-up display](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYLZ2ehwy-A), which is a magical tech feature that lets you see your navigation and speed on your windshield. **A brand new BMW X3 with this feature comes with an MSRP of $50,495.** But obviously, no one is going to pay the full MSRP.

**After researching from Kelly Blue Book and Truecar, I figured out a reasonable price to pay is between $45,000 and $46,500.** Specifically, for this $50,495 build, Truecar shows a fair price of $45,864, whereas Kelly Blue Book shows a fair price range between $45,353 and $47,536, with an average of $46,400.

Basically this is about $4,000 to $5,500 off of the MSRP. It’s good, but I knew I could do better.

## **HOW I GOT $8000 OFF - FIRST GET A STRONG OFFER IN WRITING AFTER SHOPPING AROUND**

**First, you’ve got to shop around in person and get a strong offer in writing.** Personally, for me, I first researched all the available cars that met my criteria within the 25-mile radius. Then I visited all of them from 4 different BMW dealerships to get the best price each offers. I negotiated a little, but not too hard on any of them because all I wanted is to get their offer firmly in writing. **Then I picked the best one, which was a certified pre-owned BMW X3 2019 model with 5,000 miles for $43,500 (MSRP of $50,495) from BMW Newport Beach.**

At this point, I held on to the offer, did not pull the trigger to buy yet.

## **THEN ONLY TALK TO THE FLEET MANAGER**

**Then, you need to only talk to the fleet manager (oftentimes aka Internet manager), not the floor sales manager.** This step is **CRUCIAL**.

**There are two reasons to ask for a fleet manager as opposed to a sales manager on the floor.**

- **First,** **the fleet manager has the power to give you this special discount, called Fleet Discount.** It is typically used by companies who purchase a large number of cars, hence the fleet part in the phrase. But you can get it too. It would help if your employer is in their fleet program.
- **Second, the fleet manager gets paid differently from a floor salesperson**. A fleet manager gets paid based on the sale volume, whereas a floor sales manager gets paid primarily on the sales price, and secondarily the volume. As a result, the fleet manager doesn’t care too much about the sales price of the car, as long as his/her boss can approve it, because he wants to close it to push volume.

**So here’s what I did.** I took the best offer of $43,500 from BMW Newport to show the fleet manager from another BMW dealership, who I had been talking to. I basically asked him to see if he can beat it. Let’s remember the $43,500 price is for a slightly used BMW with 5000 miles on it. **After a couple of rounds of discussions, the fleet manager was able to agree with me on a sales price of $45,025, and throw in a fleet discount of $2,500 to make it go down to $42,525.**

At this point, the decision became a no-brainer, because I was getting a brand new BMW that’s cheaper than the best offer I’ve gotten on a used BMW.

## **TAKEAWAYS**

I hope you learned something useful for your next car shopping. **In short, you should first shop around to get a strong offer in writing,** but don’t buy your car there. **Next, you take that offer to another dealership,** asking for the fleet manager to beat it, knowing he/she has the power to apply the fleet discount, which could save thousands. Enjoy and good luck!