Help! VERY low mileage Z3 valuation needed!

[RossOCD]

Hi All,

Need some help with my dads BMW Z3! Its a X reg 2001 3.0 manual sport in topaz blue with tan leather.

He has owned the car since 2002, it has covered 16,000 genuine miles from new with BMW service history and all MOTs to prove the mileage. He has only covered just over 2000 miles in the car! It has not seen rain for at least 7 years and has been garaged every single night without fail.

It has been absolutely cherished and pampered, the wheels are completely unmarked, bodywork does not have a mark on it anywhere and the interior is like a brand new car. It is virtually concours, could be with very little work. It has never had any paintwork in his ownership and we believe never before.

After spending hours looking at them on the net were still pretty unsure as to what to advertise the car for. He has decided now is the time to let the car go to a new owner. It drives, runs, sounds, looks like a new car.

Any ideas help on valuation appreciated.

Thanks

[texasjohn]

Difficult one really, it is worth what someone is willing to pay. If you pitch it too high you will be waiting for ages to sell until a collector or someone with an emotional link to the Z3 comes along. If you get too close to 10k most people will consider that it is Z4 territory and pass it by. Z4 is the better car, better chassis (no E30 rear end like the Z3), better built, better handling, newer etc, but aesthetically some would say the Z3 wins as it has a retro appeal. Hence I feel it would be an emotional decision to buy the Z3 over the Z4.

There was an 03 plate Z4 with about 15k miles for sale recently, up at 11995. The cheapest Z4 3.0i's with 80k-100k miles of that age fetch 8500 or so.

Found it...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2009...

Now that is struggling to sell, been up for a month or six weeks so far.

24k Z3 on an 03 plate here for 8k, also been on sale a couple of weeks...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Hope this helps. Difficult time of year for these cars too.

What do you want for the car? I know of someone that might be interested and who is looking for a darker colour than the two cars above (hence we are still looking) which of course Topaz is...

[Boss Hogg]

when comparing similar cars that differ only really by mileage, i adjust the values by around 4 or 5% per 10k miles.

[a11y_m]

Difficult one to price I agree. Also, not the best time of year for selling - obviously he's owned it for years already, would it be a problem holding onto it for another 3-4 months when prices should have picked up for summer?

Also difficult because you'll be treading into the price category for early Z4s. That 03-plate on 15k miles linked above is still too steep IMO: Last year at this time I bought my 54-plate 3.0i on 18k miles for £10,400, and it was a better spec than that one too.

[texasjohn]

The market has changed considerably since 'this time last year' though (unfortunately!)

[RossOCD]

Thanks for all the comments, i dont think he would be that bothered to keep it another 10 years! Spoke to a local dealer who said he would probably retail it at £9995 because of the mileage and condition.

Will get some pics done Sunday and put it up in a few places and see if we get any interest.

[BMWBen]

There's one at cooper thames ditton (but a 2.2i sport) up for £9,999.

Absolutely dreaming if you ask me!!

[robsti]

RossOCD said:

Hi All,

Need some help with my dads BMW Z3! Its a X reg 2001 3.0 manual sport in topaz blue with tan leather.

He has owned the car since 2002, it has covered 16,000 genuine miles from new with BMW service history and all MOTs to prove the mileage. He has only covered just over 2000 miles in the car! It has not seen rain for at least 7 years and has been garaged every single night without fail.

It has been absolutely cherished and pampered, the wheels are completely unmarked, bodywork does not have a mark on it anywhere and the interior is like a brand new car. It is virtually concours, could be with very little work. It has never had any paintwork in his ownership and we believe never before.

After spending hours looking at them on the net were still pretty unsure as to what to advertise the car for. He has decided now is the time to let the car go to a new owner. It drives, runs, sounds, looks like a new car.

Any ideas help on valuation appreciated.

Thanks

1.5k over book imo.

[Rollcage]

That would sell well for £8k I would think, being sensible and a private sale.

There are a couple lower mileage ones out there for less, but they are older cars.

[texasjohn]

Rollcage said:

That would sell well for £8k I would think, being sensible and a private sale.

There are a couple lower mileage ones out there for less, but they are older cars.

That sounds about right to me.