About to sell the Z - dilemma

k3ab

Member
Time has come to sell the beloved Z4 after almost 3 years of ownership - she's been good!

Not in a hurry to sell and want to get the car prepared to a high standard before putting it on the market

This involves two mandatory items:

- Getting the wheels professionally re-furbed - the there are a few curb marks, however the bigger problem is corrosion on the inside - 280 pounds to get professionally refurbed - NOT a cheapy mobile van job!

- Getting the passanger's door central locking looked at - the locking mechanism intermittently doesn't unlock - probably lacking pressure in the hydraulic pump or something like that - hopefully no more than about 300 pounds

and possibly

- windscreen replacement - there is currently an annoying windscreen stone chip which has been filled by autoglass a year or so ago but unfortunately it fairly visible and whilst it is not on drivers side (so not a problem for MOT) it is rather ugly looking and may put off potential buyers.

The question is - do I do the windscreen or not? A new windscreen + fitting is going to cost a fair amount of money. Claiming off insurance will mean the no claims bonus will not go up (my policy terms dictate that claiming for a new windscreen will freeze the NBC increment for 1 year!). Plus I am scared about getting the windscreen replaced anyway as all the horror stories on here indicate it may not be a great idea.

SO I guess what I'm trying to get input with is - as a potential buyer of a second hand car, is windscreen something that you look at? Is it essential that there are no major stonechips? Really can't decide what to do!

Considering I probably won't get any more than about 6k for it anyway (2003, bright red 2.5i with 60k on the clock) spending another 700-800 quid on a new windscreen (or claiming off insurance) is not really ideal.
 
for six grand I wouldnt bother to be honest, you just need to remind the buyer they are buying a USED car and if they want a new car then go to the main dealer and spend £30k :thumbsup:
 
mark my words said:
for six grand I wouldnt bother to be honest, you just need to remind the buyer they are buying a USED car and if they want a new car then go to the main dealer and spend £30k :thumbsup:

I agree. You would never get back the additional money to correct these faults in your selling price.
 
Seen as tho your looking at spending more than 15% of the cars actual value I wouldn't bother. Just describe it well, and a buyer will not expect perfection for a 9 year old motor! Same with my car everything is spotless apart from the chipped windscreen lots of little chips as the previous owner did a lot of motorway miles. As long as its safe and legal it will be fine. A good windscreen will set you back a lot of money, my friend has an Astra and had its windscreen smashed by some idiot student, most of the quotes were £800 plus fitting. Although I think the windscreen has the filaments so probs the reason why it cost a fair amount,
 
Good advice guys,

But should I get the wheels refurbed (actual cost is 420, NOT the 280 I originally thought - I was confused!) and the central locking on passanger's side?

Surely those bits would put off potential buyers? Or would the advice be to just describe well in the add and wait for the right buyer to come along?

Thanks,
k3ab
 
k3ab said:
Good advice guys,

But should I get the wheels refurbed (actual cost is 420, NOT the 280 I originally thought - I was confused!) and the central locking on passanger's side?

Surely those bits would put off potential buyers? Or would the advice be to just describe well in the add and wait for the right buyer to come along?

Thanks,
k3ab

Again I wouldn't bother as people will always want to negotiate so that's the topic/room for price reduction. This way youv already built that loss in your budget
 
the only thing i would rectify is the locking issue, the rest are just wear and tear issues that are to be expected with the car. use the savings as something a potential buyer will want to negotiate off the price. advertise it at 5.5k and see what happens
 
k3ab said:
Good advice guys,

But should I get the wheels refurbed (actual cost is 420, NOT the 280 I originally thought - I was confused!) and the central locking on passanger's side?

Surely those bits would put off potential buyers? Or would the advice be to just describe well in the add and wait for the right buyer to come along?

Thanks,
k3ab

What wheels are they?

Sounds on the high side to me, you could get a perfectly good budget job for £60-70 a corner.....and the mobiles can be pretty good.
 
I would lower your asking price to take faults into consideration.

As others have said it's a used z4 so wear and tear will be expected. You're unlikely to recover any costs in the sale price...


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That wheel pricing is way off. Lepsons will charge around £50 each for a bare metal refurb. Anyone viewing will knock £50 off per wheel in negotiating, so if you do them you're probably cost neutral and will sell it with less hassle. On the other 2 things, just state the locking problem on the ad and forget about the windscreen. Good luck selling!
 
Stuart Truman said:
That wheel pricing is way off. Lepsons will charge around £50 each for a bare metal refurb.


Stuart is right. I just had 2 19" wheels done to a superb standard at their Swindon branch. £50+VAT each for a forum member, and you will not get better anywhere. Astonishing result at modest cost. Up to you whether you do them to sell, or direct a potential buyer there. Personally, I'd want to buy a car with decent wheels (not a crap mobile repair or similar :x ), not faff around after I bought it...
 
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