[ratherbbankin]

Hi All,

I spent a considerable amount of time here prior to purchasing my 2015 M235i and don't regret my decision one bit. Unfortunately, I've lost my job and fallen on hard times and must sell my baby. I have it posted on Autotrader but have had no luck selling. I have just about every desirable option and the car is in very good shape both mechanically and cosmetically. It is priced just about the lowest around for the condition and options. I've had it listed for going on 4 months now and only had one person even come look at it. I could really use some advice from the forums on how to move my car because my payment is starting to really put a strain on my financial life. Thank you in advance for any guidance or ideas.

Andy

[USA-RET]

I'd run it to a Carmax and see what they will pay for. Surprisingly, many of their offers are quite reasonable.

You can also shop the car to dealerships. A high end used car dealer will often pay on the higher side for a well maintained, nicely optioned Euro.

I would rather have someone buy the car right now than have "tire kickers" waste my time. Additionally, the longer you keep your car, the less value it retains.

If nothing else, you'll feel like you are accomplishing something rather than sitting and waiting for the phone to ring.

Best of luck.

[Unicorn123]

+1

Andy,

This is likely the best option. I assume you have posted it on the forum for sale as well; people who like and desire the 2-Series are likely to look on the forum for a good opportunity. A BMW Dealer may also be an option if the car is clean and well cared for.

Despite how wonderful we all feel the car is on this forum, it does have a limited base of customers that are interested in a hot coupe like the M235.

Good luck.

Unicorn

[wichitagreg]

Carmax

[ratherbbankin]

Originally Posted by Unicorn123

I assume you have posted it on the forum for sale as well;

I have not. I wasn't sure if that was allowed. Which forum board would I use for that?

[overcoil]

Originally Posted by ratherbbankin

I have not. I wasn't sure if that was allowed. Which forum board would I use for that?

https://www.2addicts.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=555

[amw896]

Sorry to hear about your situation. Regarding the sale, like mentioned above, Carmax is probably your best bet to move it quickly. They will also give you close to market value.

[wt888]

CarMax values all cars at FAIR condition. They offered me just below what the dealer offered me on trade in on a mint, low mileage car. They calculate values off wholesale pricing they get from auction databases. They will give you an offer on the low end of fair, but it's an honest no BS price, and you get paid that day. Same when you buy a car from them, they charge a little more, but you get well priced optional warranty experience, in a no haggle, low pressure environment.

If your car is truly a cherry, it's better to sell it private party but you deal with tire kickers and it could take up to 2-3 months. You also have to wait for a buyer with cash or good credit.

If your car hasn't sold this is because of basic supply-demand. Your asking price is most likely too high. Before I bought mine, great deals were sold in days. You listed your location as Earth, which isn't going to help other people give you good advice, but if you're in a cold weather state, private parties mostly don't buy cars like this in the winter. It's warming up, so if you can hold on, lower the price little by little until it sells. I would also try craigslist and carguru. Good luck - I know your financial situation may be tight and your desire to get the most from the sale is within your best interest, but this is irrelevant to the idea of market pricing.

[BEM-S4]

You might want to lob a call into your dealer as well, mine has been hounding me to sell him my M235.

In the meantime put it up on Turo to help offset your carrying costs.

[XutvJet]

How much are you asking, tranny, condition, options, color combo, and mileage?

[Marmugmotleocay]

Carvana will come to your house. They do the paperwork, pay you and take the vehicle. We sold them our extra car. It was very easy.

[ratherbbankin]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

How much are you asking, tranny, condition, options, color combo, and mileage?

Please see the link to my post below.

https://www.2addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1599288

[ratherbbankin]

Originally Posted by wt888

CarMax values all cars at FAIR condition. They offered me just below what the dealer offered me on trade in on a mint, low mileage car. They calculate values off wholesale pricing they get from auction databases. They will give you an offer on the low end of fair, but it's an honest no BS price, and you get paid that day. Same when you buy a car from them, they charge a little more, but you get well priced optional warranty experience, in a no haggle, low pressure environment.

If your car is truly a cherry, it's better to sell it private party but you deal with tire kickers and it could take up to 2-3 months. You also have to wait for a buyer with cash or good credit.

If your car hasn't sold this is because of basic supply-demand. Your asking price is most likely too high. Before I bought mine, great deals were sold in days. You listed your location as Earth, which isn't going to help other people give you good advice, but if you're in a cold weather state, private parties mostly don't buy cars like this in the winter. It's warming up, so if you can hold on, lower the price little by little until it sells. I would also try craigslist and carguru. Good luck - I know your financial situation may be tight and your desire to get the most from the sale is within your best interest, but this is irrelevant to the idea of market pricing.

Yeah, there is no way Carmax is going to give me anywhere close to what this car is worth, and I'm not going to take a $3k ding just to move it quickly. I don't mind dealing with the tire kickers. I wouldn't say it is a cherry, but it is in the top 25% for sure. I've sold a lot of cars and never had this much trouble before. Had it listed for over 4 months. Also, I live in Georgia, so weather shouldn't be an issue. I've lowered the sales price $500/month for the past 4 months, and that hasn't seemed to help at all. I'm hanging in there though. Thanks for the thoughts.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by ratherbbankin

I've sold a lot of cars and never had this much trouble before.

This is off-topic.

Yeah, the 2 series isn't exactly a popular car, at least in terms of sales numbers.

I'd love to see the geographic distribution of 2 series sales in the States - I'm guessing there are large areas where almost none are sold. I live in a decent-sized metro area and saw one in the wild last week for the first time in 18 months.

/OT

[Cabrio330]

Originally Posted by ratherbbankin

Please see the link to my post below.

https://www.2addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1599288

Make it easier for folks - include your actual town and state rather than just SE USA, and include the full text from your autotrader ad in your sale post here.

Good luck!

[USA-RET]

Originally Posted by ratherbbankin

Yeah, there is no way Carmax is going to give me anywhere close to what this car is worth, and I'm not going to take a $3k ding just to move it quickly. I don't mind dealing with the tire kickers. I wouldn't say it is a cherry, but it is in the top 25% for sure. I've sold a lot of cars and never had this much trouble before. Had it listed for over 4 months. Also, I live in Georgia, so weather shouldn't be an issue. I've lowered the sales price $500/month for the past 4 months, and that hasn't seemed to help at all. I'm hanging in there though. Thanks for the thoughts.

Until you get an actual quote from them, you don't know. Shop it at dealerships too. We all tend to think our cars are worth more than what that actually are. Don't know anything about your car, or your asking price. So don't take offense.

FWIW, if I were shopping for a used BMW, I'd be looking to a BMW dealership that has a CPO (and some recourse if I have issues). If I were looking for a Chevy or Ford, or something like a Corvette I'd be covering the private market. Any Euro car would have to be a low miles "garage queen" "cream puff" for me to consider.

Buying a used BMW (notorious for expensive repairs) from a private party (unless the car was a "cherry", unblemished inside and out w/ very low miles) or (priced well below what I could buy off a dealers lot), I'd be shopping dealerships.

If you shop your car around and start getting offers that are all in the same ballpark, maybe you'll find that your expectations are a bit high.

If you are lowing your car $500 a month for each month it goes unsold, in 6 months you'll be $3K less than what you think it's worth now. Additionally you won't get what you can get today if you shop it a dealerships 6 months from now.

I hope you sell your car for the most money you can....all the above are not intended to insult, but rather to provide some perspective and options.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by USA-RET

...if I were shopping for a used BMW, I'd be looking to a BMW dealership that has a CPO (and some recourse if I have issues). Any Euro car would have to be a low miles "garage queen" "cream puff" for me to consider.

Buying a used BMW (notorious for expensive repairs) from a private party (unless the car was a "cherry", unblemished inside and out w/ very low miles) or (priced well below what I could buy off a dealer's lot), I'd be shopping dealerships.

+1

Most prospective buyers now understand this about BMWs - 30-40 years ago, not so much. As a result, the "priced well below what I could buy off a dealer's lot" is frequently what it takes to move the car on to its next owner.

[Sir Thomas Bombadil]

FYI: I was at an Atlanta dealer in the last few weeks and asked them to price my car for a trade in. It's a 2016 manual, with Navigation, no leather, and about 21k miles.

Dealer offered me $25k for it. Said it would've been $26k but there is a CarFax item for it (some guy scraped my bumper and did some cosmetic damage which was repaired - parked cars are hard to avoid sometimes).

I think they were off by 10-15%, but thought that might be a useful data point in your quest.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by ratherbbankin

Yeah, there is no way Carmax is going to give me anywhere close to what this car is worth, and I'm not going to take a $3k ding just to move it quickly.

It's worth a shot and they are VERY easy to deal with and no pressure.

When I bought my M235, I had a mint 2012 WRX Limited 5 door with 36K miles. I had a hell of time selling it because the new gen WRXs had been out for a few years and were absolutely saturating the used market at the time. After 2 months of trying to sell myself for $23-24K, I went to Carmax and they offered my $22.3K. I sold it to them that day. Three days later is was listed for $25K. Fair deal, IMO.

[arhoads335i]

Sounds like you have a loan on the car. Thanks makes selling the car private party very hard.
Put it up on facebook, the list, and here. It's really not that hard.
In general it's hard to sell a car private party worth more than 20k. That's a lot of cash for most people and in general that money would do better in the stock market than dropping it all on a car.
Carmax is probably your best bet, or carvana. YOu have yet to list your options out for us so idk what to tell you.

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by arhoads335i

Sounds like you have a loan on the car. Thanks makes selling the car private party very hard.
Put it up on facebook, the list, and here. It's really not that hard.
In general it's hard to sell a car private party worth more than 20k. That's a lot of cash for most people and in general that money would do better in the stock market than dropping it all on a car.
Carmax is probably your best bet, or carvana. YOu have yet to list your options out for us so idk what to tell you.

Totally agree. If you've got a loan on the car, selling private party on a $20K+ car can be difficult as most people would rather deal with a dealer that can address everything in one shot.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

Totally agree. If you've got a loan on the car, selling private party on a $20K+ car can be difficult as most people would rather deal with a dealer that can address everything in one shot.

A friendly BMW dealer can do a pass through deal for you as a favor to simplify the process, but good luck finding one to help if you're not then buying another car.