Negotiating a car interstate, sight unseen

M

Mangozac

Senior member
 QLD, Australia
Ok so the dream colour combo Z4M has come up but it's 2000km away, interstate. I've been tracking the prices of Z4Ms here in Oz for the past 24 months on a spreadsheet and I believe that it's about $10k overpriced at mid $50ks. Yes, Z4s are expensive here!

The question is, how do I got about negotiating the price down by that much, especially when dealing over the phone/email. The car has been listed for a month at that price so I doubt there's been any interest. There are a couple of others listed for high $50ks, but they have been listed for months and I can't imagine anybody paying that value. Cars in the mid to high $40ks have sold within a few weeks of listing.

The plan will be to get a pre-purchase inspection by a BMW dealer and then have the car shipped up to me sight unseen.

Any suggestions?
 
Well, if its the one you want, start at $40k and see where it lands you? Set a maximum budget and don't go over that. Nothing wrong with shaking the tree and seeing what falls out.

Mention at the end you will send the money as soon as the inspection shows the car to be okay!
 
As above really and get as much information and as many pictures as possible, it's easy now a days via mobile phones and email, I recently imported a car from West Coast America and everything was done this way obviously, the transfer of the money makes you a bit twitchy though, but at some point you will have spoke with the seller and get an understanding of them, best of luck :thumbsup:
 
Bought the majority of my cars this way but I would go pick it up- short flight/train drive there and a great drive home!
 
Make sure the seller knows you are interested but have a budget, try and do it by phone rather than email and it should become clear quickly how feasible it is.
 
paddy wright said:
Bought the majority of my cars this way but I would go pick it up- short flight/train drive there and a great drive home!
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I bought my Z4 this way and had a 250 mile drive home. It would be great to have driven the 2000km the op has on his hands. Lucky sod!

So did you get it geezer?
 
Hi guys, thanks for the replies and sorry for my lack of response - I don't hang out here in The Lounge too often and somehow I missed the replies :(

I got a mate to go and check the car out for me and take a lot of pics, so I've got a really good idea of the condition of it. It's in good condition but not the pristine condition it would need to be in to get anywhere near the price he wants. All wheels have bad gutter rash and it's missing one of the headlight washer covers!

I decided what I think the car is worth and after explaining my reasoning to the seller I made an offer $15k less than his listed price. He was quite unimpressed! He felt that gutter rash on a car of this age is quite acceptable and kept saying how it's a unique colour and so fantastic to drive but I responded that those things were not worth such a premium when other cars in as good a condition and same kms are going for far less. He counter offered $2k less than his starting price so I declined and told him to get back to me when he wants to negotiate a realistic price. I guarantee it's not going to sell anywhere near the price it's at.

That night I messaged him a link to Sepang Bronze roadster with half the kms that was listed for $5k less than he was asking. He didn't take that on board and replied that he was waiting to hear back from a girl who had test driven it that day. I find that hard to believe, because I made him an offer late in the afternoon and I would have expected him to use the fact that he has other interest as a bargaining point!

So that brings us to where I'm at now. I'm going to give it another week and give him a call again. I'll offer the same price I did last time - I'm certainly not going to pay more than the car is worth, even if it is my preferred colour combo!

Will keep you posted!
 
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