Is the market really this tough?!

[CP76]

Hi all,
I've been trying to sell my car for 3 weeks now, its advertised on here and another well known pay-to-advertise site. I haven't had one call about it apart from a couple "BMW Buyers" offering rock bottom prices. Now i know price is a huge determining factor but i think i've tried to make it sensible undercutting trade prices for similar models.
I won't post the link unless specifically asked in case i'm breaking any board etiquette

I just wanted to know if any others were facing a similar situation at the moment regarding their car selling.
Cheers for your help
CP

Edited by CP76 on Tuesday 23 October 11:24

[derin100]

You'll need to post the link otherwise none of us will have any idea which car you're referring to.

[CP76]

Here you go:
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/269497.htm

[derin100]

Well, only my opinion...very nice car but having just done a quick search on Autotrader it will be 'that tough' if the asking price privately is the same (or more) than people could go out and buy the equivalent as an AUC at a BMW Main-dealership?

[CP76]

Cheers for looking, i think i've tried to undercut any BMW AUC car with a similar plate and mileage by approximately £1k.

[Mustard]

CP76 said:

Cheers for looking, i think i've tried to undercut any BMW AUC car with a similar plate and mileage by approximately £1k.

Not enough I'm afraid and the lack of leather doesnt help

Would you take the risk buying privately for just a grand (or maybe less?) for a car that in the buyers eyes might not have been prep'd to AUC standards

[pistonbroke PHd]

Very nice - I was immediately interested but then I noticed a couple of things that would make me hesitate (but this is just my own opinion/preference)

1. I would prefer an auto
2. I would like it to have the full-on SatNav

Not bothered about Alcantara, I actually prefer it to leather but frustratingly this doesn't pan out when you try to sell. I had a 530i Sport with Alcantara and had problems selling it because everyone wanted leather, even though I think leather was a no-cost option (i.e. Alcantara equally costly or exclusive)

The auto and satnav options would have added over £3000 to the original price new (I think) so if your car had both, then it would be high on anyone's list at £17,900. But the bottom line is it's done 60k, and that might be a touch too much at £18,000 when for about £26,000 you can buy a brand new 320d Sport Touring (here)

Also I found this which seems similar to yours (320CD M-Sport, 55 plate, 60k miles) but is offered at £15,889. It appears to have SatNav (judging by the roof shark-fin) and leather too. Maybe there's a question mark over its 'Sport' status - may not have full M-Sport spec but it's not clear from the listing - but for me it does look better value if it's clean & kosher and if I was looking at yours and that one, I'd find it hard to justify the extra £2000-odd. Apologies if I've made an error, did all this in 5 minutes, may have overlooked something. Best of luck anyway

[CommanderJameson]

Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear, but a nearly-3-years old 4 cylinder diesel BMW for £18K is about £3K over, in my opinion.

For that sort of money on a car like that I'd be expecting satnav and leather, too.

It's a nice car, but just a bit pricey.

[CP76]

Ok, well the general consenus is to lop a bit more off the price. I guess the problem doing this is i get into trade-in territory but its probably still worth the effort.

Pistonbroke PHd - Just to clear up mine's done 28k not 60k, not sure if thats what you meant. Maybe i should take that out of the description as that's the limit for the Service Pack.

[topaz]

I've had my 6'er up for a week.Had two calls, both dreamers and oddly both used the same spiel. Also had an email from a bloke in South Wales reckons he can get an equivalent car at auction for £25k!! Mine is up for £31,950. See 'Gorgeous 645' in the classifieds. I would welcome your opinions but I reckon it's a fair price with a little movement if necessary! Wife has retired so two cars are not required .She won't/isn't allowed to drive mine and I don't want to go everywhere in a Fiesta nice car as it is

[pistonbroke PHd]

CP76 said:

Pistonbroke PHd - Just to clear up mine's done 28k not 60k, not sure if thats what you meant.

Apologies, I speed-read your ad and my brain registered the 60k bit and translated that to being the mileage covered. Ignore most of what I posted. Everyone else does anyway.

[CP76]

pistonbroke PHd said:

Apologies, I speed-read your ad and my brain registered the 60k bit and translated that to being the mileage covered. Ignore most of what I posted. Everyone else does anyway.

No worries, maybe i should take it out for all the speed readers out there!

[Mustard]

topaz said:

I've had my 6'er up for a week.Had two calls, both dreamers and oddly both used the same spiel. Also had an email from a bloke in South Wales reckons he can get an equivalent car at auction for £25k!!

Always amazes me these kind folk..... If he can...Why doesnt he and do everyone a favour by not wasting their time!

[edb49]

CP76, what have the BMW dealers been offering you at trade? Take the first glance offer from a couple of dealers, average it, then take the average of three similar cars in BMW approved.

Say you get £15k and £20k, so a spread of £5k. Selling privately you should aim to get half the benefit, with your buyer getting half the benefit. So split the difference between the trade-in and forecourt prices, and add £1k so that your buyer can knock you down a bit for stone chips etc.

Unfortuntately pricing at £1k below forecourt price is not realistic.

[Vesuvius 996]

Way overpriced, sorry.

[5 wh]

Mustard said:

topaz said:

I've had my 6'er up for a week.Had two calls, both dreamers and oddly both used the same spiel. Also had an email from a bloke in South Wales reckons he can get an equivalent car at auction for £25k!!

Always amazes me these kind folk..... If he can...Why doesnt he and do everyone a favour by not wasting their time!

O/T but as a car dealer I often get people giving me this line.A guy the other day enquired about a £10k BMW I was selling and wanted to px a T reg Avensis.He told me 'he knew the Avensis only booked at £2k but it was mint and I would easily get £4k for it'.He then told me that he had seen cars the same as my £10k BMW going through auction at £7k.I asked him to come to my showroom because I had a cheque for him for £70k and he was a bit confused and asked why.I then explained that if he could buy a car that I could retail for £10k for only £7k then I would gladly let him buy 10 such vehicles for me.

[abarber]

Glasses have it at 16.6 good, 15k ave, 13.3k poor trade.

It's at least 1-2k too much imho.

[5 wh]

From the pictures the car appears to be a 55 reg so I think you should mention in the ad that it is a 2005/55 reg(ie registered later in the year).Delete the 60k miles when you mention the service pack(somebody has already mistook the car for having done 60k)

October Glass's puts the car (on a 55 reg with leather) at around £17000 trade and £19000 retail,so it probably is a little overpriced considering its not full leather

Edited by 5 wh on Tuesday 23 October 23:36

[RichBurley]

From what I've heard, only cars priced low are shifting at the moment...

[Gad-Westy]

RichBurley said:

From what I've heard, only cars priced low are shifting at the moment...

Seems to fit in with my recent experience, I've been trying to sell my 328 Sport on and off since June and its hardly had a sniff. Price has now been slashed by a grand which is rather a lot at this end of the market and still no genuine bites. Most frustrating when I keep reading about Sports being an "appreciating classic." Anyway the car is now on Ebay with a realtively low reserve so we'll see how it goes. I suspect it'll not be much more, if any than I'd get trade in.

My friend is in exactly the same boat with his Elise. Priced at what he thought was low to sell quickly and not a sausage.