Considering selling up...

[Newbie_Tim]

Hi all, in this thread im wanting as many peoples opinion as possible so feel free to chip in, Im planning on buying a house with my girlfriend mid next year and so considering selling the Z4 (after just 5.5 months of ownership) to free up some cash for furnishing/decorating etc.
Im 22 so the insurance is pretty steep (£1700 last year), something im not particularly looking forward to paying when I want to stretch myself on housing payments a reasonable amount, in addition to £200/300 a tyre, £245 per year tax, and isn't the most economical car.

My question is would I lose too much money? I paid £17K in July 2010 from a BMW dealer and its only covered 2500 miles since, what would I realistically be looking to sell it for?

2006 BMW Z4 2.5si Sport
Silver Grey Metallic Paint/ Pearl Grey Oregon Leather? (3 Stage Heating)
32,000miles
Comfort Pack (Auto-lights & wipers/ PDC/ MFSW/ Storage Nets/ Cup holders)
Bluetooth
Single CD

Pics below (Note: Hardtop would be sold seperately):





Thanks for any input. Cheers, Tim

 

[Fat fella]

Tim,

Get shot of the girlfriend and the problem goes away.. Simples! Only joking.

If your not buying the house until mid 2012 don't sell your car until spring 2012. (You may not even like her next year...)
If you do, you can then spend your cash on loads of cushions and stuff then.......

You have already taken the biggest hit from the dealer...

Cheers.

 

[T-J]

What a sad story you have to tell. What would you get if you sold your Zed, how mutch would you save with another love (the Zed that is not the girlfriend) these are the questions you need to think about.
I would leave it as long as you can, because you will drop loads if you sell now.
I set up home the first time when I was 22 and 42 years later I still count the cost.
Just keep the Zed and enjoy your life.

 

[Newbie_Tim]

hahaha well I know i'll get some stick for saying this but considering an 08 plate Civic Type R (about 11K), its the running cost (insurance been the main one) thats making me think of selling, insurance almost halves.

I did think about waiting until spring, hoping the price would go up, but then wondered how much it would go up by? In comparison to selling now and getting some insurance money back?

 

[wegras]

I set up home the first time when I was 22 and 42 years later I still count the cost.

Tim
If you really need to sell hang on ...this is the time to buy as prices are low , wait till weather warms up and prices will creep up when demand builds for Roadsters
unless you can find a private buyer willing to pay an acceptable price

 

[DannyBoy]

Car looks great and am sure it drives as well as it looks.

Hmm, youve got yourself a tough decision to make and all I can constructively confirm is that if ou paid £17k from BMW expect to be hit very very hard coe resale time.

Are you not likley to PX it for the civic?

Glasses guide values your car as follows:

Estimated value of your car
Part-exchange Price:
Excellent condition: £12100
Average condition: £11300
Below average condition: £10200

BMW stealers are generally beind book so I should imagine your car is worth circa £10.5 - £11k. Never wise to buy then sell on so fast unless you get an absolute steal. Unfortunately BMW rarely sell such a steal.

Good luck with your decision either way and sure it will work out.

 

[Newbie_Tim]

Are you not likley to PX it for the civic?

Well very naively I was thinking I paid £17K, get £15K for it 6 months later, and get £4/5K cash plus a civic or similar.

 

[Ewazix]

Are you not likley to PX it for the civic?

Well very naively I was thinking I paid £17K, get £15K for it 6 months later, and get £4/5K cash plus a civic or similar.

Unfortunately you are contemplating the 2nd most expensive auto scenario (1st being to buy new and sell six months later). You will drop the dealers costs including, prep, warranty, overheads and profit, plus depereciation, plus seasonal discount and poor market conditions. If you trade or have to sell to a cheeky private buyer now you throw £4-5k down the toilet, keep it 15 months and get a spring 2012 sale and I doubt it will have dropped much more.

The damage is done if you can, hang on, enjoy and keep all your 'options' open :wink:

 

[cj10jeeper]

Are you not likley to PX it for the civic?

Well very naively I was thinking I paid £17K, get £15K for it 6 months later, and get £4/5K cash plus a civic or similar.

Unfortunately you are contemplating the 2nd most expensive auto scenario (1st being to buy new and sell six months later). You will drop the dealers costs including, prep, warranty, overheads and profit, plus depereciation, plus seasonal discount and poor market conditions. If you trade or have to sell to a cheeky private buyer now you throw £4-5k down the toilet, keep it 15 months and get a spring 2012 sale and I doubt it will have dropped much more.

The damage is done if you can, hang on, enjoy and keep all your 'options' open :wink:

Sadly this view is spot on.

Just because you paid a dealer £17k (from which you paid top price for peace of mind, warranty, etc.) doesn't mean that after 6 months it's just dropped a couple of £k. It's now just a private sale, deep in Winter in a crowded market.

While the bigger picture is of course the house, etc. you'll lose your shirt selling up now.

While it won't go up in value much by Spring it may sell quicker and hence less need to haggle on price it keeps your options on 'sell' or 'no cushions' open.

 

[pvr]

Have you checked how much the insurance renewal would be? If it was £1700 last year, it might be £1400 this year and not that much more then a Honda.

 

[chrismann85]

wow, this thread just depressed the hell out of me :|

 

[Newbie_Tim]

Have you checked how much the insurance renewal would be? If it was £1700 last year, it might be £1400 this year and not that much more then a Honda.

Well I'd heard that all insurance was going up? plus the area I'd be moving to would almost definately not be as good a postcode as where I am with my parents now, so even with another years NCB I think it would be going upwards.

wow, this thread just depressed the hell out of me :|

Its a very depressing time haha in a way, but I'm pretty excited about the prospect of a house

 

[jong]

To the OP........in late November last year I bought an almost identical Z4, from Sytner Leicester, to the one that you own. Same age, roughly the same mileage and a 2.5si Sport. We just differ slightly on spec, but this is marginal.

Without revealing exact figures, I paid comfortably less that they £15k that you were hoping for after 6 months ownership. I know that mine is now worth less than I paid by some margin, although I accept that and I don't intend to get rid of it for a few years yet. I vaguely remember someone on here posting about a similar age 3.0si Sport AUC car last week, or the week before, for under £13k.....I might be wrong and actually have dreamt it?????????

Unfortunately it is a fact of buying cars. When you figure in market forces and the seasonal nature of Z4's, and their like, you will be taking a big hit to sell now.

I'd take the advice of the forum, keep the car for a while and until at least the spring. Enjoy it and the big grin it induces. If you aren't thinking of buying a house until 2012 it gives you plenty of time to have some fun and then sell if you still need to.

Remember, you don't need to completely kit a new home out the minute you move in. You just need enough to get by. In any case you will probably find that friends and family are willing to pass on their old furniture etc to get you going. It can take a good few years to get a place exactly how you would want it anyway.

Enjoy the car. When you sell you will lose money, but you will at least have minimised the loss and had fun in the process.

 

[mikedav]

Where do you live? I'm pretty sure you can do better than that on the insurance which is your biggest cost. When I was 22 I had a 330 Sport and it was £570 FC. Unless you have low/ no NCB? Might be worth shopping around on insuresupermarket.com etc...? Have you tried adding parents to reduce it? Worth asking.

£245 a year road tax isn't worth getting wound up about believe me £4.70 a week. If you go for a car with half the road tax, you save less than a pint a week. Screw that. As others have said, if you were buying from scratch a more economical car might make sense, but you are likely to lose thousands if you trade down so early and thus may as well spend that enjoying it.

You're not the only one though don't worry; I was talking to a guy who has £14,000 of negative equity on his Range Rover at the moment so couldn't trade it even if he wanted to, it would be suicide. Its the way cars go during a crappy financial climate I'm afraid

 

[Beedub]

Have you checked how much the insurance renewal would be? If it was £1700 last year, it might be £1400 this year and not that much more then a Honda.

Well I'd heard that all insurance was going up? plus the area I'd be moving to would almost definately not be as good a postcode as where I am with my parents now, so even with another years NCB I think it would be going upwards.

wow, this thread just depressed the hell out of me :|

Its a very depressing time haha in a way, but I'm pretty excited about the prospect of a house

buying a house is pretty cool, i love mine!!! Get an old one to make it the way you want, when i had mine re-wired i also had all charger points added in the garage so my trickle charger can be used from multiple points, i also had a low strip light fitted with a seperate switch so i can light up the engine bay!! lol..... houses are great but the biggest money pit.... EVER!