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      09-19-2014, 09:25 AM   #12
Sportstick
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Drives: '15 228i and '24 X3 sDrive30i
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Southwest USA

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The answer will vary by geography and area demand. Sources such as edmunds and kbb are good guidance, but each dealer will make an assessment of what kind of traffic he gets on his used car lot, or what his wholesaler will give him to take the car (and then sell it elsewhere or take to auction).

In general, market demand for manual transmission is low and dropping. FOR THE RIGHT BUYER, the car will have value, which is why cars like ours do better than usual in a private sale (all do, but proportionately we do better). My last manual trans car (Mercedes C300) was looked at by one wholesaler on behalf of the selling MB dealer who didn't even want it. He said he gets no traffic for a stick. The wholesaler labeled it a "forum car", which I must admit made me laugh because he's right. The kind of folks who would be interested are US!!

From the dealer perspective, although there is a "right buyer" out there, the chances of them strolling on the lot is lower than the usual buyers, thus the typical resale will likely be low, but the private sale should be quite healthy. When the time comes to sell, presume that you will be marketing through forum ads and BMWCCA classsifieds first.

However, I didn't let any of the above slow me down in buying a stick again. I was not going to lose years of driving fun for the sake of a lower resale. If that had been my approach, I might as well have purchased a Honda.
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