Why won't my E46 330ci sport sell??
Discussion
I have a 2001, 45k, FBMWSH 330ci sport for sale, and was expecting in all honesty a flurry of interest..
It was up for £7,800, which i realise was a little bit high so have now, after two months, come down to a tear jerking £6,595!!
This sort of price gets you a car with either twice the miles or a non sport model and yet STILL i have little to no interest.
Is anyone else finding it difficult at the moment to sell their car or am i just unlucky?
Thoughts/opinions/advice please!
It was up for £7,800, which i realise was a little bit high so have now, after two months, come down to a tear jerking £6,595!!
This sort of price gets you a car with either twice the miles or a non sport model and yet STILL i have little to no interest.
Is anyone else finding it difficult at the moment to sell their car or am i just unlucky?
Thoughts/opinions/advice please!
For comparison, I've just part-exchanged a manual 2002 330Ci Sport at a BMW main dealer for £6,100 - it had 54,000 miles, silver with black leather, professional navigation, sunroof, harmon-kardon, 6 CD-changer, electric rear blind and was in excellent condition.
These cars are pretty common, and although £6.5k dosen't seem unreasonable if the car is a good one, it inevitably gets compared on-line to cheaper examples which may or may not be as good - many 10 year old cars are going to be tired even if yours isn't, and buyers won't generally take a second look at a higher priced car (unless they're completely fed-up with looking at poor examples)
....if the car is a very good one. takes lots of photographs, and do a comprehensive write-up including details of service history, advertise it on autotrader and pistonheads and just be patient.
Unfortunately though, in the end, if the phone isn't ringing, the most likely issue will be price.
Good luck with the sale,
Gary
These cars are pretty common, and although £6.5k dosen't seem unreasonable if the car is a good one, it inevitably gets compared on-line to cheaper examples which may or may not be as good - many 10 year old cars are going to be tired even if yours isn't, and buyers won't generally take a second look at a higher priced car (unless they're completely fed-up with looking at poor examples)
....if the car is a very good one. takes lots of photographs, and do a comprehensive write-up including details of service history, advertise it on autotrader and pistonheads and just be patient.
Unfortunately though, in the end, if the phone isn't ringing, the most likely issue will be price.
Good luck with the sale,
Gary
FWIW the What Car valuation comes up as £6,135 for a Private Sale.
Whether this figure is 'right' or not, potential purchasers use this sort of info to benchmark.
Whether this figure is 'right' or not, potential purchasers use this sort of info to benchmark.
bluetone said:
FWIW the What Car valuation comes up as £6,135 for a Private Sale.
Whether this figure is 'right' or not, potential purchasers use this sort of info to benchmark.
Pu ti up at £5995 and it'll go.Whether this figure is 'right' or not, potential purchasers use this sort of info to benchmark.
Hi Taylor86,
Yep, although yours is indeed a low miler and 'sounds' cared for, car prices are all over the show at the moment.
On a larger scale, even more acutely felt nowadays is that sellers want the maximum they can possibly get and buyers want to pay the absolutle minimum they can get a deal with. Values, selling prices, asking prices are all skewed right now.
However as always,if you advertised your car well, informatively and with plenty of information and pictures it'll go, and probably for your asking price, even if it was a little higher
On the 'enthusiast' forums that are more focussed, I've recently seen some absolutley fantastic worded and informative for sale ads and the cars have sold within a week.
So, get out there, polish it up, you have a low miler, clean it, make sure it's running well, all minor blemishes are taken care of, you have a low miler, service history is up to date, take a gallizion HIGH QUALITY pictures, not off your mobile, you have a low miler - different angles, interior, engine, boot etc cover it ALL. Write a full and extensive descriptive but concise advert. Did I mention you have a low miler?!!
You get my point.
It 'does' sound as though you expected a better price with a 'normal' advert - put an advert out that reflects your original asking price and I think you'd definitley get some interest. Pricing can be sensitive to it, and it may well indeed go for more of the 6K range that some have mentioned.
Good luck.
Cheers, Dennis!
Yep, although yours is indeed a low miler and 'sounds' cared for, car prices are all over the show at the moment.
On a larger scale, even more acutely felt nowadays is that sellers want the maximum they can possibly get and buyers want to pay the absolutle minimum they can get a deal with. Values, selling prices, asking prices are all skewed right now.
However as always,if you advertised your car well, informatively and with plenty of information and pictures it'll go, and probably for your asking price, even if it was a little higher
On the 'enthusiast' forums that are more focussed, I've recently seen some absolutley fantastic worded and informative for sale ads and the cars have sold within a week.
So, get out there, polish it up, you have a low miler, clean it, make sure it's running well, all minor blemishes are taken care of, you have a low miler, service history is up to date, take a gallizion HIGH QUALITY pictures, not off your mobile, you have a low miler - different angles, interior, engine, boot etc cover it ALL. Write a full and extensive descriptive but concise advert. Did I mention you have a low miler?!!
You get my point.
It 'does' sound as though you expected a better price with a 'normal' advert - put an advert out that reflects your original asking price and I think you'd definitley get some interest. Pricing can be sensitive to it, and it may well indeed go for more of the 6K range that some have mentioned.
Good luck.
Cheers, Dennis!
tbh summer is never great unless your selling a convertible
and from the posts ive seen on various forums and having spoken to a few dealers too this summer seems worse than most with very little selling
the main theory ive seen is that with the country (supposeldy) coming out of the recession more people have gone on holiday this year than recent times.
the market does usually pick up around the start of september.
all that said, whilst your car is low mileage it is very expensive for the year.
a friend picked up a similar car albeit with higher miles (80k) for £4800 2 weeks ago.
and from the posts ive seen on various forums and having spoken to a few dealers too this summer seems worse than most with very little selling
the main theory ive seen is that with the country (supposeldy) coming out of the recession more people have gone on holiday this year than recent times.
the market does usually pick up around the start of september.
all that said, whilst your car is low mileage it is very expensive for the year.
a friend picked up a similar car albeit with higher miles (80k) for £4800 2 weeks ago.
Edited by BountyHunter on Sunday 5th September 03:10
IMO if something isn't selling it's either because it's too expensive or because people who have looked at it have found something out that they didn't like.
Drop the price and it'll sell. Bear in mind that the longer you have it the less it's worth. Values of cars like these aren't going to rebound. It's a buyer's market.
Drop the price and it'll sell. Bear in mind that the longer you have it the less it's worth. Values of cars like these aren't going to rebound. It's a buyer's market.
IMO the best time to sell is while the weather is good and the days are long. With the exception of 1 car all the cars I have bought and sold have been during the summer. You can have a good look around and not be cold and wet. Just like house sales it just seems easier in the summer unless you have something people want in a particular season eg 4x4 like I did.
You don't say the exact age, but as a ballpark a 2001/Y 330Ci Sport Coupe with manual gearbox with 45k comes up in CAP as:
Clean: 4850
Average: 4500
Below: 4025
Retail: 6895
Unless it has some very desirable options, there are loads of similar cars about on those figures 5495 looks about right for a private sale.
Clean: 4850
Average: 4500
Below: 4025
Retail: 6895
Unless it has some very desirable options, there are loads of similar cars about on those figures 5495 looks about right for a private sale.
edc said:
IMO the best time to sell is while the weather is good and the days are long. With the exception of 1 car all the cars I have bought and sold have been during the summer. You can have a good look around and not be cold and wet. Just like house sales it just seems easier in the summer unless you have something people want in a particular season eg 4x4 like I did.
sorry but thats wrong.speak to anyone who sells secondhand cars regularly (dealer or just someone who dabbles) and they will all tell you summer is not easy.
BountyHunter said:
edc said:
IMO the best time to sell is while the weather is good and the days are long. With the exception of 1 car all the cars I have bought and sold have been during the summer. You can have a good look around and not be cold and wet. Just like house sales it just seems easier in the summer unless you have something people want in a particular season eg 4x4 like I did.
sorry but thats wrong.speak to anyone who sells secondhand cars regularly (dealer or just someone who dabbles) and they will all tell you summer is not easy.
BountyHunter said:
edc said:
IMO the best time to sell is while the weather is good and the days are long. With the exception of 1 car all the cars I have bought and sold have been during the summer. You can have a good look around and not be cold and wet. Just like house sales it just seems easier in the summer unless you have something people want in a particular season eg 4x4 like I did.
sorry but thats wrong.speak to anyone who sells secondhand cars regularly (dealer or just someone who dabbles) and they will all tell you summer is not easy.
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