Keep or sell; what would you do?

mjennings23

Senior member
 North West
So I have a new car on order, purely because the Z4 as a daily is becoming a bit tiresome on the shoddy roads of my commute, plus a manual box in ever increasing stop start traffic is no real fun. So I have a new, adaptive ride, automatic daily incoming in around 1-2 months time.

My consideration is, do I keep my Z4 or sell it? Its an 04 on nearly 120k miles, but pretty much every consumable has been replaced in the last few years under my ownership including a full suspension overhaul etc. As such, part of me is screaming that I'll never get back what I've put into it and even though it has had loads of work done, people browing autotrader/ebay arent going to click on the more expensive advert.

Financially it isnt a big concern, tax and insurance look set to be around £5/600 a year costs on a 'classic limited mileage' policy, freeing my NCB up for the new car. I imagine I'd get, at best, £4.5k from selling, and even that might be ambitious. The biggest concern is space; it'll be living outside pretty much year round as I no longer have garage space. Now, I imagine a decent cover would be a useful investment in this case, as well as keeping it washed fairly regularly, anyone else setup in such a way?

I know I'd miss the roof down trips out into the Peaks or North Wales if I let it go, so I'm very hesitant!
 
Sounds like you have made your decision and just need a few of us to agree you should keep it, so you feel better about yourself? :D

Only caveat I would put on that is the issue with a cover. Would you run the risk of paintwork damage on windy days etc?
I don't use one, so I'll leave others to comment on that.
 
In honesty, my current course of action is to list it for sale, but at a price I'd feel happy its worth owing to the amount of work gone into it over 3 years, and work on the basis of 'If someone pays that much it goes, if they dont I keep it' type thing. Like I say I have no need to sell, but at the same time the money would certainly have a use going towards other things.

I was considering a half cover, just to keep the roof reasonably tidy and clear of any muck and dirt that may end up on it. The paintwork is very well sealed so shouldnt be an issue.
 
I'd keep it as it sounds like its worth more to you than to someone else, especially for the £££

My Z is kept outside and isn't a daily, I don't use a cover, I just make sure the paintwork and roof is kept clean and protected.

You'll love having the sports convertible option in the summer!!
 
What are you getting to replace the Z4?

I'd maybe wait until you're happy with the new car before making a decision.
 
Mine is a 2nd car for weekend use only.

I think you would appreciate it more if you weren't driving it daily. (I wouldnt want one as my DD)

I agree that you won't get your asking price and if you already have the maintenance and suspension taken care of, its more valuable to you than anyone else
 
Years ago when I started trading cars I sold my Hartge tuned E30 325i thinking well since I was trading cars I'd always have a car or two or three to use :D plus I could free up the cash. Turns out that even to this day I still regret selling the car for the joy it gave me and financially I got back very little for it compared to what I had put into it and today that car would be worth a fair bit. So moral of the story is think hard about how much you will miss it when it's gone before you decide to sell it.
 
mjennings23 said:
My consideration is, do I keep my Z4 or sell it? Its an 04 on nearly 120k miles

The only people that have the slightest interest in the sub-100k/over-100k are people on this forum; almost everyone else couldn't care less, so I wouldn't be swayed what you read here. This forum probably represents a tiny percentage of all Z4 owners, so sometimes it's too easy to over-value what is, essentially, just an opinion.

Of course, this is just an opinion.
 
The incoming car is a Leon Cupra, so ironically I'll have an auto daily that has a fair bit more poke and better acceleration (once moving, as we know FWD is slow off the line) than the Z4, but its also a much more disconnnected experience in that the steering is very dampened and being a DSG auto box its not involving.

The comments about the value to others vs perceived value to me are fair points, I doubt I'd get back what its worth in terms of my time and expenses over the years. So in that sense, I reckon keeping it round may well make sense. Just a shame I don't have somewhere to leave it tucked up over winters too.
 
I know a guy with a Cupra who's had some work done on it and it's extremely quick for a Volkswagen!.

Remap, new exhaust etc.
 
You have time to decide. Plan on keeping the Z4 through the upcoming summer season and see just how much use and enjoyment you actually get out of it. By the end of summer you will know what's best
 
skelters said:
I know a guy with a Cupra who's had some work done on it and it's extremely quick for a Volkswagen!.

Remap, new exhaust etc.

What manufacturers can pull out of modern turbo engines is very impressive, near 300bhp out of a 2.0 that can be ran to its max every day without issue is good going! Course I expect it'll be a hugely different car to drive, turbo vs NA, FWD vs RWD etc.

Not to mention it doesn't even have a sunroof! :rofl:
 
It's certainly impressive but I still prefer the Z4 to the turbo Audi S3 I had.

Completely different driving experience from both though.
 
My Z4 has only ever been a fundays/weekend car and has always lived outdoors with no issues, and because I don't use it all the time it still feels like a special occasion even now my daily driver is a 330i with the same engine!

It's probably things like the low seating position just in front of the rear wheels - it just feels so much more sporting.

Keeping it for this summer sounds like a good idea. :thumbsup: That way you'll know how having it as a 2nd car works out and won't run the risk of regretting selling!
 
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