Z4 - worth a bid?

[junglie]

I started a thread yesterday about £10k convertibles and I think a Z4 fits the bill. I have seen this car which is not far from me. It was Cat D for a small scrape but all repaired. It seems similar cars are around the £12k mark. The Service History is from a BMW Main Dealer.

For those in the know, is this car worth buying?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[Paul.B]

I'd want more than a £2k saving for a Cat D car. You will have to declare this when selling and be prepaired to get your arse spanked. It may have only been a scrape but someone decided it was an uneconomical repair. Looks like a nice car though with a decent spec.

Good luck

Paul.B

[junglie]

I have looked on Parker's for a valuation and this model and year, albeit with 60k miles vs 36k miles, from and indy is circa £9600 and nearer £9000 in a private sale.

The strange thing is that all the cars on PH, Ebay and Autotrader seem to be up to £2000 more than the book price - are they all overpriced or is Parker's a little off?

[a_bloke]

junglie said:

I started a thread yesterday about £10k convertibles and I think a Z4 fits the bill. I have seen this car which is not far from me. It was Cat D for a small scrape but all repaired. It seems similar cars are around the £12k mark. The Service History is from a BMW Main Dealer.

For those in the know, is this car worth buying?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

It would have to have been some scrape to make it uneconomic for the insurance company to repair

[junglie]

I will give them another bell tomorrow and ask for some more detail about the Cat D and see what paperwork they have.

[Toilet Duck]

junglie said:

I have looked on Parker's for a valuation and this model and year, albeit with 60k miles vs 36k miles, from and indy is circa £9600 and nearer £9000 in a private sale.

The strange thing is that all the cars on PH, Ebay and Autotrader seem to be up to £2000 more than the book price - are they all overpriced or is Parker's a little off?

Parkers etc are not worth a w*nk. They are just tools used by dealers to offer you an insultingly low part-ex value, they "justify" the figure they offer you because it "says so" in their grubby little bible. You've answered your own question, scour the ads for physical cars that are actually for sale and see what prices they are listed at, don't go by some "guide book." A car is only worth what someone is willing to pay, not whats stated in Parkers etc.

[a11y_m]

Parkers guides ARE w*nk but it's not Parkers that dealers use. They use Glass's Guide prices, but even they're just that: guides only. They try to reflect what's happening in the market but they're just like the weather forecast, i.e. not always right LOL.

You can access Glass's trade-in values (still helpful) for free via http://www.networkq.co.uk/buying/value-your-car/


To the OP:
That Z4 is WAY over-priced IMO. I paid £400 more than that for my similar 2004/54-plate 3.0i SE on 18k miles in December 2008 and it's not cat-D. I'm aware I may have got a bargain on mine, but that ebay linked one is no way worth £10k even if it wasn't cat-D IMO. Mine is slightly lower spec in not having satnav but that doesn't account for the price difference...

There's several 3.0i's under £11k on PH classifieds as I'm sure you've noticed, would be better going there IMO.

HTH
Ally

[soprano]

a_bloke said:

junglie said:

I started a thread yesterday about £10k convertibles and I think a Z4 fits the bill. I have seen this car which is not far from me. It was Cat D for a small scrape but all repaired. It seems similar cars are around the £12k mark. The Service History is from a BMW Main Dealer.

For those in the know, is this car worth buying?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

It would have to have been some scrape to make it uneconomic for the insurance company to repair

A 10-12k scrape?! did they paint is only using BMW's £18 a time touch up sticks or something?!

[beanbag]

Having looked at some of those photos carefully, I would note several things:

- You don't get a CAT D write off for damage to a door on a car of that value. It must have been more severe.

- The damage is obviously on the passenger side since the seller has not taken very clear photos of this part of the car.

- If you look at the panel joining between the door and the rear wheel arch on the left of the car, the alignment looks wrong. This seems very unusual and worrying.





Frankly, although the car is spec'd right up, I think another 3-4k off the price would be reasonable. If you keep the car for 2-3 years, you'll find it's worthless as sellers would be put off by the damage and it seems visible.

I'd be very very wary.....

Edited by beanbag on Thursday 3rd September 00:11

[junglie]

Decided against it - did not feel right so it probably was not.

Plenty more out there!

[beanbag]

junglie said:

Decided against it - did not feel right so it probably was not.

Plenty more out there!

Good call!

[Paul.B]

beanbag said:

junglie said:

Decided against it - did not feel right so it probably was not.

Plenty more out there!

Good call!

+1 - There is always another one

[christer]

junglie said:

I have looked on Parker's for a valuation and this model and year, albeit with 60k miles vs 36k miles, from and indy is circa £9600 and nearer £9000 in a private sale.

The strange thing is that all the cars on PH, Ebay and Autotrader seem to be up to £2000 more than the book price - are they all overpriced or is Parker's a little off?

Parkers is not an accurate index, it is a guideline at best.

There are several lies in the advert along with the laughable assertion that a "scratch" will cauuse a Cat D inclusion. These are:

1. It is "extremely fast"
2. It is "rare".

I know these 2 are somewhat subjective but all the same I would want that car at £6.5-£7k but only after a specialist that works for *me* has gove over the car with a fine toothcomb.....

If you can get it real cheap it might be worth a punt after a thorough examination, otherwise you will lose at least the 2 grand that you are "saving"....

It ce