How much for this...?

[TheRealDC]

D6GMB - I will quite candidly tell people what I think of Harry Fairbairn! Worse than useless. They are the primary reason I'm selling mine. I never experienced such shockingly bad service at any BMW dealership. They have no idea how to organise themselves and cannot fault find diddly squat. I would sooner spend my hard earned at a decent Indy. I got so p'd off with their attitude and, to be perfectly honest, bullsh*t they told, that I am determined never to own another BMW.

Incidentally, my car is a year younger 08/57 29k miles and has most options apart from Sat Nav - on sale at Scottish Motor Services in Glasgow just now, but if I can't sell it by end of Feb, I'll be taxing it and having some summer fun



Cheers .. DC

 

[mikedav]

To be perfectly honest, bullsh*t they told, that I am determined never to own another BMW

Cheers .. DC

Avoiding a brand because of one dealer... A bit daft? Just try another

 

[peddy]

I saw an AUC MC with Nav and Bluetooth going for £18,200 about a month or so ago.

That also seems to imply that a similar private one should be £16k max - unless there was something shady in the service history that required a bargain basement price (i.e. no running in service, 60,000 miles, etc.).

Doesn't BMW approved have to have a proper service history?

 

[mmm-five]

Doesn't BMW approved have to have a proper service history?

Not if some of the tales on some of the forums are to be believed

 

[peddy]

Wow, but technically it should right?

Here's one cheaper and with a whole load of options including Nav and BT...

http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/details/0,,1156___ask-7,00.html?ch=_V0JTRFU5MjA3MExGNzg4MDg=

 

[D6GMB]

D6GMB - I will quite candidly tell people what I think of Harry Fairbairn! Worse than useless. They are the primary reason I'm selling mine. I never experienced such shockingly bad service at any BMW dealership. They have no idea how to organise themselves and cannot fault find diddly squat. I would sooner spend my hard earned at a decent Indy. I got so p'd off with their attitude and, to be perfectly honest, bullsh*t they told, that I am determined never to own another BMW.

Incidentally, my car is a year younger 08/57 29k miles and has most options apart from Sat Nav - on sale at Scottish Motor Services in Glasgow just now, but if I can't sell it by end of Feb, I'll be taxing it and having some summer fun



Cheers .. DC

Oh well looks like another satisfied Harry Fairbairn customer.I could post all the problems/arguments i have won and lost with them over the years but honestly dont have enough time.I know people will say dont deal with them,but they are local and to be tottaly honest i have found if you go in with a bit of knowledge of the fault you have and dont just accept the first answer they give you they tend to back down.For example the end came off my dipstick on the Z4M recently,booked the car in and decided to wait while it was being repaired,was told that this was not covered under warranty and i will quote (this is a trim part and dipsticks and things like that are not covered) told the silly wee woman not to be so daft and go and get me the dealer principle or at least the service manager 5 mins later miraculosly the part is now covered under warranty.This is just one of many small problems i have but i stick to my guns and if need be cause quite a stink which they obviuosly dont like.On one occasion when i had my last Z4 myself a lady with a Mini and a guy with a M3 were all in at the same time complaining of the sh!t attitude and service.The best dealer i have ever dealt with was where i bought my first Z4 from Lloyds of Carlisle just a shame it is nearly 2 hours from where live.

 

[moonigan]

If you look at this one, pretty similar (was also impossible to sell):

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=19316

Mine's not selling particularly well either, but it's not in Imola or Interlagos - although I'm not particularly doing the hard-sell on anyone who calls, especially can't be bothered with those callers demanding a £1k-£2k discount over the phone because they've seen another Z4MC (different spec) cheaper...FFS

I feel sorry for them in some ways, because had they actually come to see it they would see the condition of the car, and would maybe even get a bit knocked off the price for having only 4-5mm on the tyres, or for having sat-nav when they didn't want it

No offence but your car is overpriced by the tune or around £1500 imho. If you are not desperate to sell then its OK to price it the same as a trader but if you want to sell then it needs to be priced under the 18K mark with a view to accepting early £17K. However the biggest problem you have is if the car remains advertised for as long as yours then people start thinking there is something wrong and dont bother picking up the phone. For a £19k private sale I would expect to be buying a 07 car with less than 25K miles, recent INSP 1, not needing tyres, disks or pads, with all the right options/colour combination. Basically the best car on the market.

P

 

[mmm-five]

No offence but your car is overpriced by the tune or around £1500 imho. If you are not desperate to sell then its OK to price it the same as a trader but if you want to sell then it needs to be priced under the 18K mark with a view to accepting early £17K. However if the car remains advertised for as long as yours then people start thinking there is something wrong and dont bother picking up the phone. For a £19k private sale I would expect to be buying a 07 car with less than 25K miles, recent INSP 1, not needing tyres, disks or pads, with all the right options/colour combination. Basically the best car on the market.P

No offence taken, it's all meant constructively.

While it is not an 07 car with less than 25k miles...

• It's a December '06 car
• It doesn't need an inspection 1 for 13,000 miles as it only had it's last scheduled oil service 2000 miles ago at BMW
• It doesn't need disks or pads
• It'd be a waste of £500 to put new tyres on when they've thousands of miles left in them
• Has all the options
• Can't do anything about people's preference for colour

I'm not so sure if it's only the price that are putting off callers, as it might just be easier to deal with a dealer (with dealer facilities) than deal with a private seller, and I'm not sure if yet another price reduction would help.

If I was to advertise it for £17.5k then it'd be the cheapest Z4MC by some way (and not for a low-spec example either), and I'd always feel that I'd let it go for much less than it was worth.

Looks like I'll just have to keep it :wink:

 

[moonigan]

No offence but your car is overpriced by the tune or around £1500 imho. If you are not desperate to sell then its OK to price it the same as a trader but if you want to sell then it needs to be priced under the 18K mark with a view to accepting early £17K. However if the car remains advertised for as long as yours then people start thinking there is something wrong and dont bother picking up the phone. For a £19k private sale I would expect to be buying a 07 car with less than 25K miles, recent INSP 1, not needing tyres, disks or pads, with all the right options/colour combination. Basically the best car on the market.P

No offence taken, it's all meant constructively.

While it is not an 07 car with less than 25k miles...

• It's a December '06 car
• It doesn't need an inspection 1 for 13,000 miles as it only had it's last scheduled oil service 2000 miles ago at BMW
• It doesn't need disks or pads
• It'd be a waste of £500 to put new tyres on when they've thousands of miles left in them
• Has all the options
• Can't do anything about people's preference for colour

I'm not so sure if it's only the price that are putting off callers, as it might just be easier to deal with a dealer (with dealer facilities) than deal with a private seller, and I'm not sure if yet another price reduction would help.

If I was to advertise it for £17.5k then it'd be the cheapest Z4MC by some way (and not for a low-spec example either), and I'd always feel that I'd let it go for much less than it was worth.

Looks like I'll just have to keep it :wink:

Honest opinion. I would lose the picture number 3 from your advert because from looking at that one picture the drivers seat looks well worn whereas the rest of the car look mint and this would be enough for me to not bother picking up the phone. It may look tip top up close but that picture does nothing for it. As for being the cheapest Z4MC it may be the cheapest on PH but a quick look through the trader and you will find a 56 40K black/black for under 17K. I really hope you realise 19K from your car but I think sellers private and trade are a tad optimisic with their prices at the moment.

P

 

[milu]

Some food for thought on this thread.
I don't think spec is the everything as mmm fives experience shows. If it was then I'm sure someone would have struck a deal with him by now.
I'm looking at my car each month and wondering whether I should sell as this year looks like being a tough one.
Thing is I don't want to give it away( who does?)
It's only done 8300 miles and whilst not dripping with options it's as near to brand new as it could be.
If I sell it may be a long time till I spend big money on a car again, so I would need a good price to make me feel better!

What to do??

 

[pvr]

Well - someone was looking for a Sepang one, so you may be in luck there

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=23597&p=339303&hilit=sepang#p339303

 

[toplad]

No offence but your car is overpriced by the tune or around £1500 imho. If you are not desperate to sell then its OK to price it the same as a trader but if you want to sell then it needs to be priced under the 18K mark with a view to accepting early £17K. However if the car remains advertised for as long as yours then people start thinking there is something wrong and dont bother picking up the phone. For a £19k private sale I would expect to be buying a 07 car with less than 25K miles, recent INSP 1, not needing tyres, disks or pads, with all the right options/colour combination. Basically the best car on the market.P

No offence taken, it's all meant constructively.

While it is not an 07 car with less than 25k miles...

• It's a December '06 car
• It doesn't need an inspection 1 for 13,000 miles as it only had it's last scheduled oil service 2000 miles ago at BMW
• It doesn't need disks or pads
• It'd be a waste of £500 to put new tyres on when they've thousands of miles left in them
• Has all the options
• Can't do anything about people's preference for colour

I'm not so sure if it's only the price that are putting off callers, as it might just be easier to deal with a dealer (with dealer facilities) than deal with a private seller, and I'm not sure if yet another price reduction would help.

If I was to advertise it for £17.5k then it'd be the cheapest Z4MC by some way (and not for a low-spec example either), and I'd always feel that I'd let it go for much less than it was worth.

Looks like I'll just have to keep it :wink:

Honest opinion. I would lose the picture number 3 from your advert because from looking at that one picture the drivers seat looks well worn whereas the rest of the car look mint and this would be enough for me to not bother picking up the phone. It may look tip top up close but that picture does nothing for it. As for being the cheapest Z4MC it may be the cheapest on PH but a quick look through the trader and you will find a 56 40K black/black for under 17K. I really hope you realise 19K from your car but I think sellers private and trade are a tad optimisic with their prices at the moment.

P

Moonign, with all due respect I think £1500 lower is a little unfair.

You’re looking at the cheapest cars in the market and assuming all the cars are the same condition, this definitely isn't the case. You mention one in the trader, have you actually viewed any of these cars your drawing comparsions to?

I view a lot of cars before buying and even cars from a main dealer can be pretty poor sometimes, never mind indie or private sales. There is different price points for a car with the same spec, year and mileage, it's not possible to say what a car should cost based a quick scan of the lowest price in the country and make an arbitrary judgement without viewing the car imo, sure it gives you idea, buts that's all. In my experience the cheaper car are cheaper for a reason.

I do agree however that T’s car has been hanging around a while and this might put people off.

 

[TheRealDC]

To be perfectly honest, bullsh*t they told, that I am determined never to own another BMW

Cheers .. DC

Avoiding a brand because of one dealer... A bit daft? Just try another

Sorry, but the other Glasgow based dealer is no better imho - next nearest is too far to be viable. Also, build quality of BMW's I've owned in the past 15 years has deteriorated to the point where a proactive and helpful dealer is now essential

 

[mikedav]

Milu, what is the spec on yours? I've always fancied a Sepang Z4M...

You’re looking at the cheapest cars in the market and assuming all the cars are the same condition, this definitely isn't the case. You mention one in the trader, have you actually viewed any of these cars your drawing comparsions to?

Agreed. Especially on something like the Z4M, the market is small and odd. Different dealers have different feelings about them. The cheapest Z4M Coupe on Autotrader is £15k (stolen / recovered) and you can pick up a 39k mile 56 with Nav and BMW warranty from £16,995. However the cheapest AUC car with Nav, a 33k mile 56, is £23,850. You cannot argue the £7k extra is for dealer facilities....it's very much a stab in the dark with these.

I bought mine in late 2007 and then, you had 6-10 near identical age / mileage / spec cars to chose from, so you could play dealers against each other for a hefty discount. Even then the 'same' car could be £8k apart at different dealers. Now, there is a smaller pool, varying mileage and conditions, and some are going for peanuts, others are overpriced.

Thus I don't think you can say all Z4Ms are worth the lower end of the scale. If I was a seller, I would have the same attitude, I.e. If mines too expensive and you want thousands off my asking price, move along and buy the cheaper one; it's not worth it to me.

 

[milu]

No nav on mine,champagne nappa,heated seats,sun protect glass ,isofix,then the usual.

As someone said,nav wouldnt be too hard to do....i wasn't bothered though.

On the other hand there cant be too many 08 models,with less than 10k miles on.

I love it,and love the fact that i know its history from the outset(well not the first 100 miles lol)and its that which is holding me back from advertising.
Normally i would take the view that i can always buy another....but in this case it wouldnt be possible in the near future i reckon.
Having said that both work-wise and personally im not exactly flush with cash!!

Outrun did mail me a while back,so ive kept it in mind.

 

[toplad]

On the other hand there cant be too many 08 models,with less than 10k miles on.

I love it,and love the fact that i know its history from the outset(well not the first 100 miles lol)and its that which is holding me back from advertising.
Normally i would take the view that i can always buy another....but in this case it wouldnt be possible in the near future i reckon.

.

Thats' sort of how I feel about mine, had it since 12K(now 23K), know it's been looked after and needs nothing for 13.5K miles. It's the best car I've owned, still love driving it, always brings a smile to my face and if I sold it now, what am I going to get without sticking a extra 5K in the pot (997 or CSL). The latest Z4 is aimed to a different market; so that's out, the Z4M Coupe is the last of a dying breed and I wouldn't want to sell it for the sake of a change. It's a pity I can't graft some sort of extra seats on the back window

 

[mikedav]

Thats' sort of how I feel about mine, had it since 12K(now 23K), know it's been looked after and needs nothing for 13.5K miles. It's the best car I've owned, still love driving it, always brings a smile to my face and if I sold it now, what am I going to get without sticking a extra 5K in the pot (997 or CSL).

Agreed, I have had mine nearly 4 years and 39,000 miles (1000 on it when I bought it) and there is very little out there that matches it; if you factor in money, IMO nothing does. You say £5k, but a good CSL is at least £25k, some are £35k (and 7 years old), while even the earliest 54 plate 997s are very late twenties. Compared to those, the Z4M is a giveaway, especially the CSL, which has an awful lot in common with the ZMC.

There really isn't any modern equivalent to them and at current prices, I think it's the car I would be buying if I hadn't already had one!

 

[flimper]

The only reason to get out of a Z4M if you haven't got a spare 10k+ is if you want 4 seats and/or a V8. Otherwise it has to be a keeper at these prices.

 

[D6GMB]

The only reason to get out of a Z4M if you haven't got a spare 10k+ is if you want 4 seats and/or a V8. Otherwise it has to be a keeper at these prices.

That is a very good statement.I cannot think of anything else that drives and go's like the Z4M for the money.
It would need to be something very special for me to part with mine.

 

[moonigan]

Moonign, with all due respect I think £1500 lower is a little unfair.

You think. Well its a simple fact that if a car doesnt sell in a market where others are then its either too expensive or the wrong colour combo or both. I sold an Audi TT QS this time last year and whilst I liked the colour combo (red/black) it was obvious that it was not to other peoples taste. Its was also immaculate with a full service history and low miles. Initially I advertised it at what I thought was fair based on its condition and the prices of other cars. After 4 weeks I'd had a couple of sniffs but nothing concrete. I dropped the price by £1K (from 13.5 to 12.5) and I was fighting them off with a shitty stick and it sold to the first person that viewed it for £12250.

What I'm saying is that regardless of the condition of the car if people doent even bother picking up the phone then it makes no difference if its the worst or best car on the market.