BMW 'Goodwill'

Malt_Hound > haute in die Tasten:

> Certainly not on this side of the Atlantic (left). We don't even
> know what a Skoda looks like...
>
> Over here, Hyundai is getting a better rep now, while Kia and
> Scion seem to have taken over the lowest spots.
>

Skoda has been taken over by VW some 10 years ago. Today all Skodas are more or less
the same quality than VWs, they are based on the same platform, share engines and
powertrains. VW quality may not be best on the market if you compare it with Lexus or
Toyota, but it definitely is not bad enough to use it for jokes. The Skodas of the
soviet era have virtually disappeared from the streets of western Europe, while a
contemporary Skoda Octavia seems to be a god alternative to the new VW Jetta, because
it looks better, is cheaper and shares the mailn technical components.

Frank

--
please replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact

Citroen - Made in Trance

haute in die Tasten:

> I thank these people for taking the heavy depreciation hit that allow
> me to buy lightly used BMWs & Porsches at reasonable prices... Rather
> than having payments we get repair bills. See 'Takes your chances...'
>

In Germany a BMW 7' series with gas engine loses up to 50% of his value in the first
two years. Over 80% of these cars are operated as company cars, so you can take away
the operation cost and the actual payment for buying it from your gross income (result
= lower tax payments). In return you have to pay taxes for 1% of the tag price per
month to cover your private usage of the car. The tax deduction is possible for 4
years, but the fee for private usage runs as long as you keep the car. This means, if
you buy a 7 year old BMW for 15.000 Euro and run it as a company car, you can deduct
3.750 Euros per year from your income, but you have to add 1.000 Euro (1% of the
original price tag of 100.000 Euro) to your taxable income per month for the private
usage. This makes it very unpractical to operate an used car as company car, and it
also makes it very unpractical to keep the car longer than 4 years. OTOH most
ordinarily employed people, who simply want to buy a car, are not able neither to spend
30.000$ off their net income for an used car nor to properly maintain a 12 cylinder
high end sedan. This makes it quite difficult to sell an used BMW 7' series company
car. To add some trouble, according to EU laws, a company which sells a car to a
private person, has to maintain a warranty of at least 12 months. So many company cars
are exported to countries like Russia, but of course the russian demand is not
endless;-)

BMW does not care for this at all. Those who buy an used 7' series are obviously not
able to buy a new one, otherwise they would. So it does not make sense for BMW to give
away expensive "Goodwill" goods to them. When I brought my 8 year old BMW 325i
convertible to a BMW factory operated service station for major inspection (and payed
more than 1000$), they even refused to give me a loaner car for free for the time. Now
my car is being serviced by a free mechanican, I pay half the prices and he even lends
me his old VW transporter to get me and my backpack from my home to my office;-)

Frank

Frank

--
please replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact

Citroen - Made in Trance

Hi,

On Mon, 23 May 2005 19:34:18 GMT, "Paul Aspinall" >
wrote:

>I have put another post in the NG, asking about BMW warranties....
>
>However, I am wondering what BMW's stance would be, if something went wrong
>with the engine / gearbox on my 745Li, if it were not under warranty.
>What would they do, with regards to 'Goodwill'??
>I believe that an engine / gearbox on a £78000 car should last at least
>200,000 miles.....
>
>Has anyone ever had any experience of BMW contributing when the car is out
>of warranty?


The drive shaft broke down on my 2002 e39 530dA touring in January -
around 160.000 kms' driven. They did not contribute anything.
Replacement cost around £500. Car fully serviced at BMW.

It took three weeks for them to get the spare parts - and that is what
really bothered me... I would expect BMW to be better than that on
getting the spare parts quicker.

** Lars