Z4 buying advice Pt2. Which would you chose?
- Thread starter Daffy
- Start date
Hard call... personally I'd be looking at car 1 or continuing the search.
Car 3 sounds great but is still over-priced IMO despite the spec and hardtop (which you could always sell to get some £££ back). Is that private or an AUC car?
Car 1 sounds very cheap and the Z4 will handle that mileage with ease. It depends on the amount of miles you do yourself. If you do above-average mileage then you might be better with a lower-mileage car to start with, otherwise in a couple of years you could have a 100,000+ mile Z4 which psychologically will put future buyers off. But if you're only doing 5-6,000 miles per year, you could get a higher mileage Z4 on the basis that you'll add only below-average miles to it which should average it out.
Also, gannet raised the point that low mileage can indicate a car that's spent it's life mainly in town. That's not true in all cases although it is a valid reason, but it could be because:
a) the car's been a weekend toy: not always good either as it could sit all week, and only used for hard driving at weekends.
b) the car's just not been used a lot: this is like mine - not used for short journeys but also not just a weekend toy, I'm just sensible when I use it and would rather cycle than drive for journeys less than 5 miles.
For reference my Z4's a 54-plate 3.0i SE, purchased in Dec 2008 at £10.4k. I travelled 200miles+ each way to buy this privately from north-east England though, with the following spec:
- 18k miles
- 108s (since changed for 202s)
- silver
- not many options: no xenons, no heated seats (since added), no cruise (since added)
- immaculate condition: bodywork, interior, everything
- broken rear springs (price took that into account!)
Car 3 sounds great but is still over-priced IMO despite the spec and hardtop (which you could always sell to get some £££ back). Is that private or an AUC car?
Car 1 sounds very cheap and the Z4 will handle that mileage with ease. It depends on the amount of miles you do yourself. If you do above-average mileage then you might be better with a lower-mileage car to start with, otherwise in a couple of years you could have a 100,000+ mile Z4 which psychologically will put future buyers off. But if you're only doing 5-6,000 miles per year, you could get a higher mileage Z4 on the basis that you'll add only below-average miles to it which should average it out.
Also, gannet raised the point that low mileage can indicate a car that's spent it's life mainly in town. That's not true in all cases although it is a valid reason, but it could be because:
a) the car's been a weekend toy: not always good either as it could sit all week, and only used for hard driving at weekends.
b) the car's just not been used a lot: this is like mine - not used for short journeys but also not just a weekend toy, I'm just sensible when I use it and would rather cycle than drive for journeys less than 5 miles.
For reference my Z4's a 54-plate 3.0i SE, purchased in Dec 2008 at £10.4k. I travelled 200miles+ each way to buy this privately from north-east England though, with the following spec:
- 18k miles
- 108s (since changed for 202s)
- silver
- not many options: no xenons, no heated seats (since added), no cruise (since added)
- immaculate condition: bodywork, interior, everything
- broken rear springs (price took that into account!)
sprainedmind
Member
a11y said:
I didn't realise this was possible. Is it easy and roughly how much does it cost?
Heated seats are on my must-have list, but if it's an easy retrofit then I may consider cars without.
I'm gonna go for car 1.
I've talked with the owner and it'll be £7800 for cash on colelction, the car was bought and has been maintained in Leeds upto 57K (when the class 2 was done) and I've phoned the dealer and found out that it has some options that haven't been listed by the current owner, so he proably doesn't realise that they're even there!
It had new discs and pads all round 2500 miles ago and had new tyres at the last MOT in MAY.
WOOP!
Next Step - M-seats, Satnav Retrofit, M Wheel and a new front bumper....maybe a hardtop too...what the hell.
I've talked with the owner and it'll be £7800 for cash on colelction, the car was bought and has been maintained in Leeds upto 57K (when the class 2 was done) and I've phoned the dealer and found out that it has some options that haven't been listed by the current owner, so he proably doesn't realise that they're even there!
It had new discs and pads all round 2500 miles ago and had new tyres at the last MOT in MAY.
WOOP!
Next Step - M-seats, Satnav Retrofit, M Wheel and a new front bumper....maybe a hardtop too...what the hell.
............ great price....... welcome on board sprainedmind
Member
Daffy said:
1. Have you not actually seen this car yet? Bit brave to be handing over nearly £8k for a car you've not seen isn't it?
2. If you have the money for the next steps listed, couldn't you stretch a bit on the car? £7,800 is just about at the bottom of the scale for an 04 Z4, which would worry me a bit.
sprainedmind said:
A1.) No, I've seen the car. It needed a plate transfer which can only be done during the day, when the DVLA is open. So I told him I'd think about it until Fri/Sat.
A2.) I dont have the money for all of that right away. I'll do the seats first and make my way through as money permits.
I've just been quoted £1500 for a complete sat nav
I think someone's had heating panels installed within their own seats, but it's certainly not common. I was lucky to spot a pair of heated, manual, non-sport seats for sale and simply replaced my seats with these (after swapping over the bases to retain electric adjustment and memory). £45 for a 2nd hand switch panel for the dash and job was done.sprainedmind said:
I was quite suprised by that too - I believe it wasn't that an expensive option from new either. My halogen equipped car still came with the headlamp washers though so visually looks the same, especially since I retrofitted HID bulbs...gannet said:nope not all of them - halogens are not as bad as everyone makes out thougheasty027 said: