I have a 2001 BMW 325i that I am trying to sell to increase my cash flow. I have had the car for about a year and I owe about 20k. It has 51,000 miles and is pretty much in flawless condition. My problem is I am having almost no luck selling it. I have put it on Craigslist and also the auto trader. I have only had about two calls in a month. I started the listing at 21,500 and now it is at 21. I really just want to get rid of it without being upside down.
Any creative ideas or suggestions to market this thing? Thanks guys I appreciate it.
Hey,
You are not a motivated seller yet - remember the magic words - “DEEP DISCOUNT.” Just kidding. The idea to attach it to a property is a good idea. “Free car with house” or Free house with car."
Peace,
Richard
Have you tried EBAY? My boss has sold a van she owned and did pretty well on it. She also sold an old jet ski she had and it went for way more than it was worth. Good luck.
I haven’t tried ebay yet but was a little concerned about listing fees and not sure if I could get what I owe on it but may be worth a try.
I already thought about the free with house thing but I don’t have a house to sell right now. I have two but they aren’t ready to sell.
What do you guys think about a $200 gift certificate. Any suggestions on what stores would be good. Not sure if this would work well but something that would get attention at least and I have never seen it done before.
On a car take over payments that is insane. I’m not doing it because I can’t afford it I have plenty of money I just don’t want it on my credit report and want to decrease my cash outflow for debt to income purposes.
The only real problem you’re having with selling it is that it’s just not priced properly. You’re asking for retail but it’s really only worth wholesale. You’d get a lot more calls and action if you priced it at 18k. You were upside down on the loan as soon as you drove off with it and what you have left on it has no bearing on the fair market value of the car.
Retail prices are usually worth at least 1k or so because a dealer will include some kind of limited warranty and will also prep the car by cleaning things up.
The other thing is that maybe you should give it a rest for a month or two and try again when the weather is better. It’s always difficult to sell things in the winter and get a good price.
Really, no kidding! What are you talking about it is only worth wholesale? I would get more calls if I priced it at 18? I could get rid of it in five minutes if I priced it at 10k and gave away a hooker with it, is that properly priced? What is your point here. It is only worth wholesale to a dealer perhaps. I never asked you for your opinion on the price, I know what I need to get out of it and what I owe. Anyway do you know what I paid for it or what it was worth after I drove away?
Waiting for better weather is a good suggestion however.
Also Rich as to your post about giving it away free with a house, when I said creative I meant “creative” and original ideas. I have already read that article by locke.
Also what you said as far as selling at wholesale is ridiculous. That would be selling at below trade in. Here is the proper valuation on NADA and I agree that I am probably a little high at 21.5k. This is also for average retail as I said previously this is far above average.
Avergage retail with my options is 21,125 and trade in is $18,100
Sean - I’m not sure why you felt the need to be rude to Henry. When I read what he said, I thought it made perfect sense. At the end of the day he is right - what is owed is not relevant - what the vehicle is worth is what counts.
There are a lot of things that impact a used vehicle’s value, not much of which are in your control:
Time of year car being sold - yes, it may bring slightly more if sold in better weather, especially if it was a convertible (which it isn’t). However, it is a depreciating asset and the overall trend will continue to be downwards.
Model Year and age of vehicle - overall age is obvious, but the used value of a car will drop more than usual once the new model comes out (because everyone will now see you’re clearly driving a used car and not the new model).
Location - some cars, like German imports, tend to sell better in California and the East coast rather than the midwest. Don’t know about Colorado. However, I do know that 4WD, AWD, 4x4 or whatever you want to call it does particularly well in Colorado. Just look at the number of SUVs and Subarus. Also in inclimate weather conditions a FWD car is better than a RWD car like yours.
Condition of car - this one is obvious, but it’s generally worth paying $100 to get it fully detailed. An immaculate car inspires confidence in a buyer.
Lack of any bodywork/major warranty issues. Perhaps you could provide a Carfax with the purchase, or talk to your BMW dealer and have them do a PPI which you could give in writing to any prospective customer.
Do you have anybody that could sell your car for you in California? That might be worth investigating…
selling a used car up in that price range is a pain as your typical used car buyer don’t have that much cash. I just went thru this to sell a Nissan Maxmina (took 6 months). The strange thing is if you drop it to $19 you would get a flod of calls teling you their budget is magically $18k or that the car really isn worth 19k, but $16.5k
I actually RAISED my price back up after dealing with a bunch of idiots and got a reasonable price in the end.
aak5454 you are absolutely right and my father and I discussed that. Especially when talking about german inports in that price range many people go to a dealer especially so that they can finance the vehicle. Nobody pays cash for anything everything is done on credit these days.
Rich 5k sounds reasonable. If you could wire me funds in the amount of 25k and I will send you a cashiers check for 20k back. Sound like a deal? ;D
I would love an M5 they are absolutely stunning. I would also like the new E300 Mercedes with the turbo diesel.
I really like the '06 M5, I think I am going to wait 2 yrs and buy one. At that point the price will have dropped a tad, my income will have increased some, and my car will be ready to go buh-bye. The idea of a 400hp car with a button on the wheel that kicks it up to over 500hp is very appealing.
Rich 5k sounds reasonable. If you could wire me funds in the amount of 25k and I will send you a cashiers check for 20k back. Sound like a deal?
;D