It was in the days before the build sheets were all over the internet but a friend got me the “book” and listed the what you can get and then what you can get if you know. It was a bmw 3 series with an M motor, manual, rear drive (might have been an early x) with a crazy interior. I haggled them to death and full retail would have been X (let’s say $70k) and I beat them up and it would have been Y (say $43k). The dealer would have made maybe $20 off of me. Build was something like 9 months plus transition time. it was essentially an M3 wagon without the badging or plastic. A total sleeper. that’s the short version of that car.
Oh, had monster brakes. I think they were M5 brakes or some shit like that. And one Mwhatever driver seat and the rest were the comfy seats. it was a nutso car that maybe 20 people in the US might have wanted. I was commuting between DC and Balt a few times a week and up and down to NJ a lot. It was speced for 95, under the radar FAST.
Back when my used cars cost $100. Nobody could afford these things. Hell, Beetles were something like $1,200.
FYI, car dealers, especially smaller used car dealers are going broke left right and center. The long time dealer that I bought cars through finally pulled the plug last week and sold out. Lack of new cars and the trade ins that fueled the wholesale auctions has wiped out about 15-20% of small dealers in my area with a similar number dying in the next year. Financing is going to get very expensive soon and impossible for some. This is why some dealers are "price gouging", they have no other choice, that or die. The bubble has burst, wait a few months if you are buying.
a e46 M wagon would be worth a fortune. A friend just passed on his allocation for a new mach1 mustang. <62k price lock but the dealer won't honor that for anyone else- best they'll do is MSRP. That few grand cost them my business.
A few people have built them. BMW even built a prototype that never made it to production. https://www.bmw-m.com/en/topics/magazine-article-pool/bmw-m3-touring-concept-e46.html https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/car-design/a33229293/bmw-m3-wagon-tested-august-2020/ This was also a sick build that I would have loved to have bought. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2010-bmw-335d-2/
I don’t think it was ever considered a true M3 wagon. Didn’t have the plastic or badging, it was just a weird build for them. Lol! I want to say the only badging on it was the propellers and a “touring” badge. But it was a long time ago so I can’t say for sure. It all doesn’t matter. I never got to take delivery much less drive it. Oh well. the whole idea came from an article that car and driver or automobile did on a one off AMG wagon that someone had built. It was supposed to be a poor man’s Hammer wagon.
Looked at a truck tonight. 2020 Ram crew cab laramie. 41K miles. Internet sales price $40K. Looked decent UNTIL I started walking around it. Hood was out of alignment, pass front fender had a slight different shade of red than the rest of the truck, pass side upper bed bend line by the taillight was dented in. Walked back around to the drivers side and noticed the driver front fender was slightly out of whack also. Havent checked their website yet to see if theres a carfax on it, but my guess is that its been hit. Edit. Yep twice. moderate driver front & side with possible structural, no SRS depoly though. minor one 3 months earlier (assuming thats the one on the bed).
I work with motorcycle dealers and most of them are above retail on side by sides because they are getting a fraction of the units they normally got so they have to make good money on every single one because they have to pay the rent some how. Sure some of them ask crazy money for them but most of them are just retail plus freight and doc fee which most of them never charged for before. I also think I will see some of the small town guys go under that have one franchise because they are getting basically nothing from the OEM's and aren't out buying a bunch of used stuff to sell either. I have dealers selling one wheels, e-bikes, boats, rv's, etc just to keep the lights on. I do wonder how some of these massive car dealers are staying alive because that monthly nut has to be insane.
100%, they were hoping he didn't buy it so they could add 10k to it and sell it to a guy who didn't want to wait. Pretty shitty thing to do.
Hmm, been awhile since I took business law, but I thought once upon a time there was a thing called a contract. That was enforceable...
Absolutely. If you have the time and resources to mount a legal case. Bidleman Ford is banking on the fact that their spurned customers are neither smart, nor well heeled enough while lacking the wherewithal to do so. Of course, given the current market the point is essentially rendered moot. By the time this is settled in court, the vehicle will have long since been sold at $10-15k over original price. It was explained to me that this is becoming a more regular practice because dealers are currently not allowed to order stock for their lots. They are only able to order bespoke vehicles for individuals with appropriate identity/credit/deposit. The dealer, knowing an order will take so long to deliver is betting the value of said vehicle will go up. Then it's matter of trying to gouge the original buyer, hoping they walk. Presto! You've got stock on your lot.