1st post - Planning

Greets!

Let's get introduced. My name is Dan and I live somewhere on the east coast of the US. I am married to Ela, my dearest wife. Anyway, enough of the formalities.

So we almost decided. On the car, of course. It was neither easy nor straightforward, but it was done.

First, I needed a new car. My trusted 2001 Nissan Sentra was already 7 years old and with 126,000 miles on the odometer I felt it was time to have it replaced. It was my first car and my daily driver since mile 37. I got it new, paid it off and put almost all the miles on that car. It still serves me well, but the time came.

First, I always admired diesel. For a little premium over regular gas, it provided great hp, excellent torque, while still achieving admirable MPG numbers. Unfortunately, the price of diesel went through the roof, and at present, you have only two models available with Diesel: an MB CDI and a VW Jetta. Mercedes is not anywhere close to my taste and the Jetta - well, all I have to say it was a disappointment. Recently posted MPG figures were not even in the ballpark of what I expected.

Before I settled on BMW, I tried various brands - I drove an Infinity FX, EX and G, and out of them all I liked FX the most, as both an EX and the G were way too small for me - I am over 6' 4" and of bigger frame. The FX was OK, but still felt like driving a beefed up Murano.

And then, one day - after I convinced my wife to go to a nearby BMW dealer - I test drove a 328xi and a 335xi back to back. I told the CA that I was not ready to purchase and he understood - surprisingly, he didn't push and we never spoke about any monetary figures. I went home and started doing more research - using Google. Soon, I found a great source - Bimmerfest forums.

After googling a bit, I found a wholesale price page that can be seen on the left here, and then, using the Rizzo method I priced my own BMW - a 328xi, with a few, very necessary options.

Ahhh, the Rizzo method - if you didn't know it existed, make yourself familiar now. It basically is a spreadsheet, like the one I attached to the right. It basically does what the CA is supposed to do - you list all the options, with prices, you add dealer profit on top of the invoice and you send it to as many dealerships as you can find. I see it as a double-edged sword: it puts a buyer in the drivers seat (pun not intended!), cause it is him who makes the rules. It also allows the buyer to control the 'rip-off' factor - check if the CA is not ripping him off. On the other hand, it prevents the buyer from establishing a partnership with a dealer, which can be beneficial. I think this method is beneficial to both parties - the buyer knows what he needs, and the CA is not bothered with strange questions from the buyer - it is either a 'yay' or a 'nay' answer. If it is 'yes' then the business can be done.

Anyway, here is the first post, please post your thoughts and your comments below. And in the next post I will try to justify my choice, why I chose 328 over 335, and then I will try to go into financing. See you soon!