Selling. Where do I start?

Zitat von ukzero;101208

get the "Seven year itch"

Oh yes, I know what you mean. I already had it twice, but in my case it was a "four year itch". Tried to sell a car ("tried" is a little too much to say, my wife was always laughing at me while I was talking on the phone to the potential buyers - enough to say that no-one came to see a car after such conversation ). First time after I bought a Camaro - simple American fun-machine, with a looks that turned more heads than my (not pimped) 8-series (oh yes, I liked that...). After a few months of not driving the 8, I took it for a ride. And a selling process stopped suddenly. Now I drive both cars one after another, are soooo different ! And I love them both. Must say that now 8 starts to attract more attention, while Camaro starts to be just an old coupe. Keep it in mind, the same will happen with Z3, M3, M5 and whatever else. 8 series seems to be like a good wine, while other BMWs are simple Schnapps...

A year ago I had a second "four year itch". This time on the point of a Z4. The effect was exactly the same...

So, the conclusion: don't sell 8, buy what you have in mind (don't listen to any advice, maintenance costs have nothing to do with a pure desire ), keep both cars a year or so, then decide which to sell, maybe both, maybe none...

I very nearly got the 14 year itch today!!

My local dealership said they had the perfect car for me which turned out to be a Romantic Red 1999 840 sport with 26000 miles. I was told it was mint and had never seen rain. The interior was cream leather with red piping and colour matched carpets etc, etc. The price was £12,500.

You can imagine the picture in my head, 8 years younger than mine and half the mileage:)

I took myself off to their preparation site to view the car thinking that if it was nearly as good as I was imagining it was, I would have it.

Romantic Red is more like Aubergine/Plum, similar to Timms car only not as nice. First impression was very disappointing. Wheels very badly corroded and in need of complete refurbishment. Opened the drivers door and the shiny, worn and scuffed steering wheel stared straight at me. The door pull recess was scuffed and worn and the interior looked generally tired. The carpets were in good order and the seats looked OK but the bolsters seemed somewhat smaller and less robust than in the 850. The door cills were plain (no BMW reference) and looked tired.

I realise most of these issues are cosmetic and could be sorted for probably less than £1K but what a huge disappointment, it just shouldn't have looked that way.

I guess the purpose of imparting this story in this thread is to highlight that if selling a car the first impression is the only one that matters.

I came home and sat in my beautiful 21 year old 850 that was a much nicer car.

Sounds like a 126k car then

Zitat von Lloyd;102595

Sounds like a 126k car then

No Lloyd, that is the great sadness of it, I know it is absolutely genuine.

It is a general experience here as well. It has become hard to come by low mileage specimens and once your heart starts running, fully expecting a pristine and well cared for example all you get is a big disappointment.

I have seen quite a few low mileage, 1st owner cars in the last few years and as long as the owners are not part of a group (e.g. here) then expect the worst. Whatever they think is "excellent condition" would bring up tears if it was your own.

As Graham said visible "issues are cosmetic" but rest assured there will be more upon closer look and none of it will make you happier

Is this car advertised locally or to be seen online? You did not happen to jot down the VIN and take a few pics, did you?

Cheers
Reinhard

After saying that, Reinhard's going to dash off and buy it

Just kidding Reinhard

I'll get my coat

Zitat von reinhard;102601

Is this car advertised locally or to be seen online? You did not happen to jot down the VIN and take a few pics, did you?

It came in as a PX and will not need to be advertised as there is a bit of interest from staff and friends of. Despite my first impressions it is still a very nice car and will be brought back with a bit of TLC. Because my expectations were so high I guess I just fell a bit further on first sighting. I am going to have another look on Friday after they have 'worked their magic' and will get VIN and some pics then.

Cheers
Graham

That´s great - thanks
It is a very dry summer for 8er hunters and every new car is welcome.

Did you see that asking prices for UK cars have gone up a long way for low mileage cars?

14 out of 38 advertised cars are now on offer for 10K and (a lot) more.
I seem to remember that during the last two years only the occasional 98/99 Sports went past 10K (and CSi of course)

It does not mean those cars are selling right away but over time they will, if there is general demand for the 8-series. After all petrol also sells no matter how outrageous the price

Cheers
Reinhard

PS: the car advertised here is quite interesting as it does not exist anymore I have been wondering for a while why this ad is still up

Zitat von reinhard;102607

Did you see that asking prices for UK cars have gone up a long way for low mileage cars?

14 out of 38 advertised cars are now on offer for 10K and (a lot) more.
I seem to remember that during the last two years only the occasional 98/99 Sports went past 10K (and CSi of course)

It does not mean those cars are selling right away but over time they will, if there is general demand for the 8-series.

Yes, I have noticed the same thing and have definitely picked up vibes this year that the 8, in whatever guise, has turned the corner with the 'older' genuine enthusiasts buying them. Dare I say that the 850 is getting the slight edge due to rarity? At Gaydon last week I was parked next to a 91'850 with 11000 miles. It was granite silver and supposedly the very last 850 purchased by the Brunei family. (I must pay more attention to getting the VIN No's in future)

I am aware of a Dakar Yellow CSi that is currently being completely restored for the European director of Heineken. I know not what he paid but is spending in excess of £20K on the restoration. The chap doing the restoration feels very strongly about asking and maintaining high prices for nice cars because compared to restoration costs, they will always be relatively cheaper. To turn a £4K high mileage car into a car with an asking price of £10K+ would cost more than the highly priced car in the first place and it would still be a high mileage car.

Cheers
Graham

Zitat von Nifty50;102614

...supposedly the very last 850 purchased by the Brunei family.

Nothing beats a story of grand pedigree accompanying a car

"Unfortunately" though, out of the 56 M70 iA that went to the compulsive car hoarders in Brunei the 2nd of two cars in Granite Silver, CB57729 is the 22nd to last by production date and from that point of view unlikely as a candidate for the final slot.

I concur with your opinion that 850´s in the UK have become a rare sight and not unexpectedly well cared for specimens are even harder to find due to their advanced age.

Not sure what this means wrt increasing values. The last few years has seen 850´s change ownership for less than parts value and the later 840´s with their often much nicer interior still beat the old guns despite not having an engine worth a 2nd look.

Generally it seems the UK market is still more than saturated with 8ers - many (esp. high asking price) cars seem to linger in the ads forever but the absolute number of cars for sale has been on a steady decline.
Below for comparison purposes an overview I made in April 2008 - almost 60 cars on offer corresponding to 2% of the total sales volume (just over 3.000 E31´s made it to the UK during the production period. ). Today Autotrader shows 38 active ads - a decrease of one third - 1.3% of total sales.

The very same can be seen elsewhere e.g. Japan where the number of car auctions for E31´s has almost come to a full stop - seemingly most cars have left the country for good by now. Ca. 2.500 cars made their way to Japan back then and currently there are only about 10 sales ads (0.4% of total shipments)

The German market at present shows around 130 active ads from just over 11.000 delivered cars - pretty close to the ratio seen in the UK today and down (especially concerning hitherto unseen cars) by a wide margin compared to years back.

The 8 is getting rarer - just over 3.000 remained registered in Germany in 2012, that is a fair margin below even the Z1 registration figures! Only the population of enthusiasts has not exactly grown - there are too many other nice cars out there provoking that "itch" discussed above. This will certainly lead to a continuing decrease of cars for sale but hopefully also stabilize the value of those remaining, which´d be a certain improvement over what we saw in the last decade.

Cheers
Reinhard