Posted on 09/29/2014 12:59:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The BMW i8 is a rather unusual car, not only because of its look and drivetrain, but also because it can apparently earn money for its owner.
According to Motoring Research, one of the early BMW i8 owners was able to sell his car used for £140,000, or almost 50% over £95,000 post-grant price!
He earned £45,000 ($73,000) in just over a month. The reason, which makes used i8s so expensive, lies in high demand limited by the low production target set by BMW.
“Specialist finance house Magnitude Finance arranged the deal. One of its customers was reportedly desperate to own a BMW i8 but all the dealers they’d been in touch with had sold out for months.”
“Enter a customer who owned an i8 and was ordering a new Ferrari.”
“Director of Magnitude Finance, Tim Marlow, said: “We knew a long-standing client had one on order and when we were preparing a package for his latest car – a Ferrari FF – we casually mentioned it and he said he was willing to sell for the right price.”
“We put the pair in touch to conclude the deal and both are extremely happy. The buyer says he is investing in a modern day classic while the seller has made a profit of £45,000 in just over a month.”
The £140,000 price for a used i8 is not the record according to article.
“It’s certainly a seller’s market and some dealers who now have them are pricing them in the region of £150,000, which is serious supercar territory.”
The same thing happens with Ferraris. Customers who have good relationships with the dealers get first crack and then deep pockets with no connections buy them used (barely) for inflated prices.
My first car was a 1965 Oldsmobile 442. I paid $1100.00 for it used in 1971. There is a clone of that car at a dealership nearby. It has 69,000 original miles on it.
It is currently priced at $26,000.00
If they wanted to make life miserable for Musk, they could lower the price, increase production and give the Model S some real competition.
That’s the job of the BMW i3 ($41,350) and Mercedes B-Class ($33,950) I imagine. Unlike Musk’s products, many of those come with a gasoline “generator” to renew the batteries.
Gee that sounds like a crazy definition of free market capitalism.
Yeah...but the i3 is butt ugly
The Mercedes is okay.
Halo cars like this often are money-losers for the manufacturer.
If you were to have owned that the whole time it would have been a horrible investment.
We saw one of those in a parking lot last week. My wife asked what it was, and I hadn’t a clue until I saw the BMW nameplate.
Sure, but you paid $1,100 in 1971 dollars, and they are selling it for $26,000 in 2014 dollars, so inflation is responsible for some of that increase.
Now, the “official” inflation estimates say the car should only be about $6,700 in today’s dollars, but similar new cars sell for at least $20k nowadays, so I think the “official” inflation numbers are extremely dubious.
The Mercedes B-Class electric uses a Tesla powertrain. And no it does not offer a gasoline engine.
The BMW i3 does offer a BMW motorcyle engine as a $3900 option for a grand total of 140 miles of range.It is a four seater with two half size suicide rear doors.Really, a crappy little car.
Teslas start at 208 miles of range.
Thei8 has over 500 miles of range, and I wasn’t referencing the M-B, but the BMW i3. Go back and read what I said.
Does that mean that the 1984 Mercedes 300D 5 cylinder turbo diesel (W123) that I bought in 2004 for $100 is worth more now?
The i8 has 15 miles of electric range.
Making it a crappy electric car and a crappy gas powered car for its price range.
For certain European cities that don’t allow emissions from vehicles in downtown; this is the perfect car for people that don’t want to buy an electric.
Hmm...maybe that explains why my offer to buy a mint ‘63 split-window Vette for $4000 hasn’t gotten any takers. Whaddaya know.
So crappy that people are willing to double the price? My company pays high achievers $500 a month towards the purchase of any post-1999 BMW. I will look at the X1 or a pre-owned if I ever get to that level, but if an i8 were to become available....
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