BMW Z4 E89. Why won't it sell??

BMW Z4 E89. Why won't it sell??

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Discussion

clockworks

5,258 posts

144 months

Saturday 18th April 2015
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daemon said:
Its dropped to about a third of its full retail price after six years. Sounds about right?
I guess if you put it like that, depreciates the same as most other BMWs.
For some reason, I expected a premium brand convertible to hold it's value a little better.
A lot of car for the money.

daemon

35,659 posts

196 months

Saturday 18th April 2015
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clockworks said:
daemon said:
Its dropped to about a third of its full retail price after six years. Sounds about right?
I guess if you put it like that, depreciates the same as most other BMWs.
For some reason, I expected a premium brand convertible to hold it's value a little better.
A lot of car for the money.
Wife has a 2012 Z4 2.0i Turbo M Sport, black with black leather, 19s, xenons, 29K miles, full BMW history,etc, and shes getting trade bids of less than £15K for it.

clockworks

5,258 posts

144 months

Saturday 18th April 2015
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Crazy prices! I'm looking at spending £15k on a good 2006 Boxster S (from a specialist), and I don't think a top spec E89 was that much cheaper when new? And I thought Boxsters were cheap....
My 2004 Z4 books at £4.5k trade

snotrag

14,441 posts

210 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Your photos make the paint look absolutely awful.

Jonsv8

7,173 posts

123 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Photos certainly don't help, you need it outside in the sunshine
The wheels look wrong for a non m sport car. They may have been a new option but I would be thinking they've been changed.
You say 2 owners, car is nearly 6 years old, youve had it 2, and on a YC plate which usually means it's an ex BMW car so I'd be thinking it's actually 3 owners.

Sat Nav and dct are things people want so should be pushed. £30 gets you the latest map too.

I've got one, and the things above just make me think the cars not quite right.


edit: Just looked at a few and the wheels are common on those cars so forget that bit, No idea why its struggling other than the pictures.

Edited by Jonsv8 on Monday 20th April 08:51

Vee

3,093 posts

233 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Jonsv8 said:
YC plate which usually means it's an ex BMW car so I'd be thinking it's actually 3 owners.
Not always. Private owners in Yorkshire do buy new BMWs you know.
If a dealer car with AUC warranty is advertised at a few hundred more then that is the reason this one isn't getting any interest.

Jonsv8

7,173 posts

123 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Vee said:
Jonsv8 said:
YC plate which usually means it's an ex BMW car so I'd be thinking it's actually 3 owners.
Not always. Private owners in Yorkshire do buy new BMWs you know.
If a dealer car with AUC warranty is advertised at a few hundred more then that is the reason this one isn't getting any interest.
I did say "usually" smile

I have two YC car and they were both ex BMW but I take your point. Either way, if people like me mistakenly think it, then it might be worth ensuring others don't. It also wouldn't be the first time that somebody has dismissed the BMW ownership.

The dealer car - if thats the one linked to earlier, it doesn't have Nav and that makes a fair difference to used prices.

IforB

9,840 posts

228 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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The advert is OK. The pictures could be better and the wording is a bit dry (don't write a novel, but don't just list specs either.)

However the thing that would stop me looking at your car is very simple, the price. A very quick search on autotrader shows several similar cars for similar money, but with less mileage and coming from a dealer, so you would have the back up of the warranty and the car would be prepared properly for sale, there's also the added bonus for some people of easier access to finance to buy it in the first place.

Anything will sell at the right price, I'm afraid yours is just a bit on the salty side at the moment.

Jonsv8

7,173 posts

123 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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IforB said:
A very quick search on autotrader shows several similar cars for similar money, but with less mileage and coming from a dealer
Really? I've just been looking

17 cars with the DCT gearbox (without are unloved)

OPs is £16,450
Next is 17k with 74k miles
Next is £18.5k - 2k more
Next is £19.5k

You can buy cheaper Z4s but not the 35i

IforB

9,840 posts

228 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Jonsv8 said:
Really? I've just been looking

17 cars with the DCT gearbox (without are unloved)

OPs is £16,450
Next is 17k with 74k miles
Next is £18.5k - 2k more
Next is £19.5k

You can buy cheaper Z4s but not the 35i
Unloved buy whom? Obviously not the buyers of these cars currently, otherwise it would have been snapped up...

Whilst I'd go for the DCT box myself, if there was a choice between a manual box and a DcT and the prices were substantially different, then the manual is more likely to sell.

Car enthusiasts think about spec sheets, the general car buying public don't in the same way, colour, price and condition are the main drivers. Additional spec items aren't always a go/no go thing for many people, they are a nice to have and may help swing a sale, but if you get the price out of whack, then it could have diamond encrusted headlights and it wouldn't matter, as you won't get the interest in the first place.

This is a Z4 with a folding hardtop. It's not a car held in hugely high regard by petrolheads (that's not to say it's a bad car by any stretch of the imagination) so you have to cater for who are the likely purchasers.

How many people are really going to go for the 35 engine over the smaller engined, much cheaper to run and buy versions that will have perfectly adequate performance (in their eyes) cars?

Edited by IforB on Monday 20th April 09:36

Jonsv8

7,173 posts

123 months

Monday 20th April 2015
quotequote all
IforB said:
Unloved buy whom? Obviously not the buyers of these cars currently, otherwise it would have been snapped up...

Whilst I'd go for the DCT box myself, if there was a choice between a manual box and a DcT and the prices were substantially different, then the manual is more likely to sell.

Car enthusiasts think about spec sheets, the general car buying public don't in the same way, colour, price and condition are the main drivers. Additional spec items aren't always a go/no go thing for many people, they are a nice to have and may help swing a sale, but if you get the price out of whack, then it could have diamond encrusted headlights and it wouldn't matter, as you won't get the interest in the first place.

This is a Z4 with a folding hardtop. It's not a car held in hugely high regard by petrolheads (that's not to say it's a bad car by any stretch of the imagination) so you have to cater for who are the likely purchasers.
We all know dealers will sell cars for what they can get. Something as simple as a dodgy colour or interior, wrong wheels etc, all hit prices. To say a car without satnav from a dealer makes this one look expensive doesn't compute to me. May as well say a 3.0l version is nearly as fast. As my wife has one I've been keeping an eye on prices over the last few years and they are very spec sensitive.

Comparable cars to the OPs are a fair bit more. Its not price. Its the ste pictures he's using and as someone suggested, he's not talking like he loves it. "Been my pride and joy for the last x years, only being replaced because a baby is on the way, blah blah" warm people to it.

Panthro

663 posts

217 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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My old car YH60 JUK Z4 35i M Sport took me months to sell. I ended up selling it to a dealer, who sold it back to Sytner. I bought it for £24k in May 2013, sold in Jan 2015 for £17.5k (put 20k miles on it) and it was in Sytner Sunningdale a week after for £24k. I believe they've dropped the price and it was still for sale up until a few weeks ago (haven't checked recently).

It was a frigging nightmare to sell. I just got stupid low ball offers, the same idiots messaging me every week asking pointless questions, loads of tyre kickers and one guy who basically cried down the phone to me saying he can't afford it but really wants it over another one he's seen cheaper. I told him to go buy the other one, which he did (it was £500 less than mine and not an M Sport). I dropped the price to £18.5k, which was the cheapest M Sport in the country and it still had a BMW warranty on it. I'd keep it if I were you, I regret selling mine now. It was the most reliable and enjoyable car I've ever owned.

IforB

9,840 posts

228 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Jonsv8 said:
We all know dealers will sell cars for what they can get. Something as simple as a dodgy colour or interior, wrong wheels etc, all hit prices. To say a car without satnav from a dealer makes this one look expensive doesn't compute to me. May as well say a 3.0l version is nearly as fast. As my wife has one I've been keeping an eye on prices over the last few years and they are very spec sensitive.

Comparable cars to the OPs are a fair bit more. Its not price. Its the ste pictures he's using and as someone suggested, he's not talking like he loves it. "Been my pride and joy for the last x years, only being replaced because a baby is on the way, blah blah" warm people to it.
There's a multitude of reasons a car won't sell. The ad isn't helping, but even with a great ad, I don't think he'd get that price.
As I mentioned, the spec sheet ad is certainly not helping, but at the right price, you can sell anything.

The fact is, it's not only not sold, but it just hasn't generated much interest in the slightest. Most people would pick up the phone and have a chat or have a look at a car in the right price range no matter what the spec. Get the price wrong and like in this case, they won't even bother with that.

Keeping an eye on prices in autotrader or any ad site is often a bit misleading, you don't know what they actually sold for, just what they were advertised for and those are often very different things.

The OP is sensible enough to have asked for help and we're all agreed that the advert needs changing and better pictures taken, but I suspect if that's all he does, then that may help, but the surefire way to get shot of it fast, is to drop the price a bit.

It's up to him how fast he wants to move it on and what price he's willing to take on it, if he's got a cashflow issue, then dropping the price and sorting the ad will be the best way of getting it gone. If not, sort the ad and see what happens. Try using some other selling sites as well like z4 or other bmw forums. That's where I tend to look for private sales.

Vroomer

1,864 posts

179 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Pictures very, very off-putting to most folks, I suspect.

gcb202

Original Poster:

8 posts

189 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Hi all,

Thanks for all the comments. Jonsv8, you're right the car was ex bmw demo so it it technically three owners. I'm going to change the pictures for some outside the house in daylight. I took those one rainy night after work and they don't look great compared to some of the others.

I agree it's hard to price from the advertised sale prices, but I would have thought people would call to ask and then make an offer if they like it.

Hopefully with new words and pics someone will pick up the phone, it's a really well cared for car and runs perfectly.

Trailhead

2,628 posts

146 months

Monday 20th April 2015
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Sorry, so how many previous keepers on the V5? 3 previous and now you? So it'll be four previous keepers shown when the new owner signs?

daemon

35,659 posts

196 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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gcb202 said:
Hi all,

Thanks for all the comments. Jonsv8, you're right the car was ex bmw demo so it it technically three owners. I'm going to change the pictures for some outside the house in daylight. I took those one rainy night after work and they don't look great compared to some of the others.

I agree it's hard to price from the advertised sale prices, but I would have thought people would call to ask and then make an offer if they like it.

Hopefully with new words and pics someone will pick up the phone, it's a really well cared for car and runs perfectly.
I think it will be a slow seller irrespective. You might just have to wait on your customer....

jdw100

4,039 posts

163 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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Wills2 said:
Exactly what I will be after in a couple of months!

daemon

35,659 posts

196 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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jdw100 said:
Wills2 said:
Exactly what I will be after in a couple of months!
Why not deal now with the O/P?

Trailhead

2,628 posts

146 months

Tuesday 21st April 2015
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daemon said:
jdw100 said:
Wills2 said:
Exactly what I will be after in a couple of months!
Why not deal now with the O/P?
Because he's not ready to buy for a few months at a guess...?!